Re: After 50 Years, Answers

Date: June 21, 2004

"An ending — After more than 50 years, remains of Winterville resident's grandfather found

By Ben Deck, The Daily Reflector

Growing up, Robert Brewington didn't think about his paternal grandfather very often.

That's because Sgt. 1st Class Carl Brewington was killed in action during the Korean War, and when Robert was born in 1963, his grandmother had remarried.

He knew of his lost grandfather, but called another man "granddad," he said.

But a recent phone call brought the war — and a remote spot in North Korea called Chosin — into sharp focus for Robert, who is now a Greenville police officer.

"I'm learning more and more every day," Robert said.

Carl Brewington is one of many soldiers killed at Chosin. His remains, identified in recent months, were among many found in a mass grave.

Brewington's unit, the 31st Regimental Combat Team of the 7th Infantry Division, had been deep in North Korean territory when they were surrounded by Chinese soldiers and overrun.

In 1979, farmers discovered remains while digging post holes for a fence, but they covered the grave. It was abandoned until 2001.

An American crew began in September unearthing the remains, but was told to leave. It returned in October and recovered the remains of 12 men, 11 Americans and one North Korean. Carl Brewington and Sgt. 1st Class Billy Grady Donahoe are the only two that have been identified so far.

Chosin Reservoir, where the men died, was the site of a major battle during the Korean War. U.S. forces faced North Korean and Chinese soldiers and held their ground in four locations, according to an Army Web site. At a fifth location, army forces, including Carl Brewington's unit, were overrun by vast numbers of Chinese troops.

The Chinese used a tactic called a "human wave" attack, in which large numbers of soldiers rushed on foot toward opposing troops. Korea veterans have said soldiers facing down such an attack could run out of ammunition and be forced into desperate hand-to-hand fighting.

"I never knew this stuff about my grandfather," Robert said. "This is all new to me."

Several weeks ago, Robert Brewington's father, Bob Brewington, received a telephone call from a casualty assistance officer at Fort Bragg. The Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command at Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii has spent the past three years compiling details about Carl Brewington’s death.

Robert Brewington's brother, Randy Brewington, had also begun researching the war and their grandfather's death. Both Randy and the military have helped Robert come to know how his grandfather died.

Randy, a Cumberland County sheriff's deputy, started looking into the circumstances of their grandfather's death about the same time the military was compiling information to provide the family.

He was in the midst of his research when the Army called the family with word of the identification, Robert said. "It was just one of those unique things that happened at the same time."

In July, the military will drape an Army blanket and a full dress uniform over the bones of Carl Brewington. Soldiers will escort the remains from Hawaii to Missouri, where the Brewington family will lay Carl Brewington to rest.

"It's just amazing after 50 years that his remains were identified," Robert said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report
Ben Deck can be contacted at bdeck@coxnews.com

© 2004 Cox Newspapers, Inc. - The Daily Reflector "