Captain Fred B Brink Jr – Service # O-726564

Fred B “Sonny” Brink Jr was born 21 May 1921 in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, the son of Fred Bernard Brink (1889-1971) and Caroline Blazik (1896-1983). Father Fred was born in Germany and mother Caroline was born in Austria. In 1940, the family was living in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and father Fred was owner/manager of a pool hall restaurant. As a boy scout, Fred was a bugler and would play Taps at funerals of local veterans.

Fred enlisted the day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 Dec 1941 and served in the 7th Reconnaissance Group, 13th Photographic Squadron. In Nov 1942, he flew photographic reconnaissance missions in an unarmed P-38 Lightning fighters in North Africa. He earned the Purple Heart by breaking his back while crash landing in Tunisia in early 1943. Instead of keeping away from the front, Fred successfully petitioned the Army to return to service in England. He was assigned to special duty, flying 1 of 4 secret “droopsnoot” P-38s equipped with radio equipment on missions.

Fred was killed in action 26 Oct 1944 in the North Sea. An account of his MIA states Fred had gone down at 1345 hours about 40 miles east of Orfordness in the North Sea as a result of engine failure on his P-38 reconnaissance plane at 30,000 feet. Two minutes later, the other engine died at 22,000 feet. Later, it was revealed that A/S rescue had picked up several articles and equipment. The last communication with Fred was “both engines are gone, I’m going into the sea in 1 minute”.

He is memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing at Cambridge American Cemetery in England. Fred was awarded the Air Medal with 3 clusters and posthumously awarded the Purple Heart.

In 1994, a niece’s casual quest for veterans in her family tree found that Fred never received the hero’s gravestone he earned and on 26 Oct that year, a grave marker was installed in Arlington National Cemetery (section MH, grave 703) and they held a family memorial with military honors. Also, there is a cenotaph in Resthaven Gardens Cemetery in Oklahoma City.

Captain Fred B Brink Jr, we thank you for your dedication, service and sacrifice for our country. You are not forgotten.

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 421,000+ of the US WWII fallen saved on Together We Served and Fold3. Can you help write these stories? These stories will be accessible via smartphone app at any war memorial or cemetery.

If you noticed anything erroneous in this profile or have additional information to contribute, please contact me at wolfmaniaus56@gmail.com.

SBTSProject/OK/Oklahoma

Sources –
Page 20 WWII Army and Army Air Force Casualty List - Fold3 – Oklahoma County, OK
Fred B Brink, Jr in American Battle Monuments Commission - Fold3
Page 4 Missing Air Crew Reports, WWII - Fold3
Fred B Brink Jr. (1921-1944) - Find a Grave Memorial – Arlington
Capt Fred B. Brink Jr. (1921-1944) - Find a Grave Memorial – Resthaven Gardens, OK
Capt Frederick B “Fred” Brink Jr. (1921-1944) - Find a Grave Memorial – Cambridge
Cook County, Illinois, U.S., Birth Certificates Index, 1871-1922 - Ancestry.com
1940 United States Federal Census - Ancestry.com
11 Nov 1994, Page 1 - The Desert Sun at Newspapers.com
Fred B Brink : Captain from Oklahoma, World War II Casualty (honorstates.org)

Brink, Fred B, Jr., Capt