A New York girl and fashion model, Rose Brohinsky gave her life for her country when her plane was lost at sea in an unexplained accident.

When Rachel “Rose” Brohinsky was born in 1914, her parents were running a butter and egg business in Brooklyn, New York. Rose Brohinsky and her sisters were raised by their parents Nathan and Rebecca Bagrachepky Burke Brohinsky, Russian-Jewish immigrants.[i] Nathan arrived in 1913 and Rebecca and their first daughter, Lena (Lee Brohinsky Rosenthal Rosetti), came to America in 1914. All three spoke both Yiddish and English.[ii] Nathan is described as tall with a medium build sporting black hair and brown eyes.

The couple had five girls, one arriving every two years or so: Lena (Lee), 1912, Rachel (Rose), 1914, Edith Brohinsky Braver, 1916, Minnie Brohinsky Kuchinsky, 1918 and Bertha (Betty) Brohinsky Shapiro in 1919. In 1917, Nathan must register for the draft for WWI. He must have had his wife, Rose, and her sisters on his mind as he listed them as exemptions for why he should not be called into service.

By 1920, Nathan has submitted his citizenship paperwork but Rose’s mother, Rebecca, and older sister, Lena, were resident aliens. Rose and the younger sisters were born United States citizens. Nathan is working as an egg candler in an egg market and the family is renting a home in Brooklyn.[iii] As a candler, his job was to test eggs to see if they had been fertilized and were viable to hatch.[iv]

By 1930, all the girls are in school and the family is still renting a home in Brooklyn. The immigrant family is becoming more Americanized as the girls take English versions of their names. Lena becomes Lee. Rachel becomes Rose and Bertha becomes Betty on the census. The previous ten years has brough changes as her father is now a citizen of the United States and has become the owner of his own butter and egg business.

In 1932, Lee returns home from France with an infant girl, her daughter, Beatrice Brohinsky.[v] They move in with Rose and the rest of the family. It must have been different having a baby in the house again and for Rose to become Aunt Rose. In 1935, sister Lee marries Leon Rosenthal and moves out making Rose, 21, again the oldest child at home.

In 1938, another change happens as Rose loses her mother, Rebecca, who died leaving Nathan a widower.

As war looms on the horizon, more changes have come to the New York family. Rose, 26, is still living at home in 1940 but the location and family have changed. They are now living in Rockaway, Queens, New York. Working still in the dairy industry, Nathan is taking care of his ever changing family. Rose’s sister, Lee, now a naturalized citizen, has become a widow herself. She has moved back home along with Rose’s niece, Beatrice, who is 8 years old. Beatrice is in school, but the sisters are all working. Lee is a bookkeeper. Rose is a model of coats and suits. Minnie is a manicurist in a beauty parlor.[vi]

Three years later, in 1943, sister Lee enters a second marriage with Alfred Rosetti, a jeweler. After that, they move to California.

The changes continue as in June of 1944, Rose also looses her father. A month later, she leaves home to join the WACs.

HER MILITARY STORY

Private First Class Rose Brohinsky, service number A-202927, served in the Women’s Army Corp, WACS. Rose enlisted on July 6, 1944 in New York City.[vii] She served in the 1202nd Army Air Force Base Unit, WACS. At the time of her enlistment, her sister, Lee Rosetti was living in San Francisco and was her next of kin.

According to HonorStates.org, the women who were in the 1202nd were older, with an average age of 28, than the usual recruit and were chosen for their “maturity and work experience.”

In November of 1944, Rose was one of 159 WACs in Accra, British West Africa to serve with the Air Transport Command. Their job was to deliver troops and supplies as well as transfer aircraft.[viii]

HER LAST DAY

PFC Rose Brohinsky was one of 18 members of the Women’s Army Corp on a normally routine 776- mile[ix] flight from Accra, British West Africa to Robert’s Field[x], Liberia. The WACs were onboard as they were being transferred to a new assignment. There were scattered showers that morning but no other weather of note.[xi]

Her plane, piloted by a crew of three[xii], a C-478 #44-76406, disappeared.[xiii]

The plane was last reported over Takoradi, British West Africa, about 150 miles west of Accra, shortly after departure.[xiv]

Little is known about what transpired aboard the plane that day but several calls of “Mayday,” an emergency procedure used as a voice distress signal, were heard. The distress signal was loud and clear, lasting five minutes.[xv] A search was conducted by aircraft and surface craft over a wide area of the French Ivory Coast.[xvi] The search consisted of seven PET’s and British, French and Native forces, who were informed to search waters and coastline. No sign of the plane was found.

The plane is believed to have crashed into the sea near Takoradi, Ghana.[xvii] The Chicago Tribune reported the “[xviii]18 WACs were the first ever reported lost overseas.”

She went missing on May 30, 1945 and was declared dead while missing in action off the coast of Ghana, Africa.[xix] News of the missing plane made newspapers across America on June 6th, 1945.

Her death is noted on a National Jewish Welfare Board death card from the Bureau of War Records.[xx]

PFC Rose Brohinsky was 30.

**READ THE STORIES OF ALL 21 ON THIS FLIGHT **

Click here- https://www.fold3.com/page/653613892/flight-c-47b-44-76406-stories-of-21-missing-in-action/stories

COMMENDATIONS

Purple Heart

World War II Victory Medal

American Campaign Medal

Army Presidential Unit Citation

Army Good Conduct Medal

European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign[xxi]

MEMORIALS

PFC Rose Brohinsky is remembered on the Tablets of the Missing, an American Battle Monument, North Africa American Cemetery in Carthage, Tunisia.

ABOUT THIS STORY

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen here on Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smart phone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story.