Biography
Berry Brevik (Civil Engineering 1918), letter to the Alumni Association, August 28, 1945:
"Attention: "Red" Barron
Our son, Richard Stanley Brevik, ex '47, in Aeronautical Engineering, enlisted in the Army Air Corps in February 1943 and was commissioned a pilot as second lieutenant in April 1944 after which he received additional training in bombing and radar. Early in the spring of this year he and his crew were stationed in Alaska and assigned to a base in the Aleutians from which the bombed the Kurile Island, concentrating most heavily on Shumushu and Paramushiro islands.
In his last letter written June 15th, Dick had completed seven missions and had been awarded the bronze star and the Asiatic Pacific ribbon. He was a member of the "I bombed Japan club" an organization composed of Eleventh Air Force combat personnel. The missions are reported to be the longest over water combat flights (more than 2,000 miles round trip) yet attempted in World War II, according to a statement originating at the Eleventh Air Corps Headquarters.
On June 23, we were notified by the War Department that Dick was missing since June 16 over the Kurile Islands. Reports from the commanding officer are rather discouraging in that members of the squadron reported that Dicks plane fell into the sea after attacking enemy vessels. Later reports indicate that some members of the crew were sighted in a life raft - so there is some hope.
Dick was a member of Sigma Chi fraternity while attending Iowa State and looked forward to returning as soon as possible to complete his studies."
Second Lieutenant Richard Stanley Brevik died of his injuries after "ditching" his plane into the Sea of Okhotsk after the bombing run described in his father's letter. He had actually enlisted in Army Air Corps at Des Moines, Iowa on November 14, 1942 while a student at Iowa State. He reported for duty on February 18, 1943, at Sheppard Field at Wichita Falls, Texas. He left behind a wife and son who lived in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. His parents and sister lived in Appleton, Wisconsin.