2nd Lt. Edward G. Brickley
United States Army Air Corps (1943-1945)

Edward G. Brickley was born on May 8, 1920 to Louise Krapf Brickley and Edward L. Brickley in Bellevue. The Brickley family moved to Brookline and settled at 1905 Woodward Avenue. Edward had four brothers, Charles, Thomas, Daniel and John, and two sisters, Dorothy and Rosemarie.

The Brickley family were members of Resurrection Parish, where Edward attended Elementary School. After graduating from South Hills High School in 1938, where he was voted the "Funniest" Boy and listed as most representative of the hit song "Footloose and Fancy Free," he went to work for International Business Machines.

On November 21, 1942, twenty-one year old Edward enlisted in the Army Air Corps. He qualified for flight training, and after receiving his certification was trained as a Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter pilot. 2nd Lt. Edward G. Brickley was assigned to the 27th Fighter Squadron, 1st Fighter Group of the 12th Air Force.

Called the "Fighting Eagles," the 27th Fighter Squadron was the oldest active fighter squadron in the Army Air Corps, first organized in 1917. In the Summer of 1943, when Lt. Brickley joined the unit, the squadron was based in Mateur, Tunisia, and flying primarily fighter intercept and bomber escort missions.

Lt. Brickley flew in the August 25 and August 30 Italian missions that won the squadron Distinguished Unit Citations. The 27th Fighter Squadron moved to a new base on Sardinia and on October 31, 1943, and was reassigned to the 15th Air Force.

A brief move to a base at Giola del Colle, Italy in December was followed a month later by a move to a permanent base at nearby Salsola Airfield. From there Brickley's squadron assumed the primary mission of escorting bombers that attacked targets in Italy, France, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, Rumania, Yugoslavia, and Greece.

Another Distinguished Unit Citation was won on May 18, 1944 during a mission over the Ploesti Oilfields in Rumania. On January 8, 1945 the squadron moved to Vincenzo Airfield. By now it's primary mission had been changed to that of fighter bomber attacks and free-roaming strafing runs over enemy territory.

Four P-38 Lightning Fighter-Bombers from the 27th Fighter Squadron over Germany in 1945.

Lt. Edward G. Brickley flew missions into April of 1945, when the end of the war was in sight. Then, on April 15 his plane was shot down and he perished during a raid over Germany. Brickley died only three weeks before the German surrender ended hostilities in Europe.

Back home in Brookline, Lt. Brickley's name was seen in the Pittsburgh Press on May 14, 1945 and he was listed as Missing In Action. It wasn't until March of 1946 when the Brickley family received official notice of their son's death. A memorial service was held in his honor on April 3, 1946 at Resurrection Church.

Lt. Edward G. Brickley's body was permanently interred at the Loraine American Cemetery and Memorial in St. Avold, France. His body lies in Block J, Row 23, Grave 2. This is the same cemetery where fellow Brookline soldier Thomas Cullison's name is memorialized on the Tablets of The Missing.

* Written by Clint Burton: April 5, 2018 *

The Brookline War Memorial

Listed below are many of the sons of Brookline who gave their
lives to preserve freedom and contain aggression during
World War I, World War II, Korea and Vietnam.

“It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died.
Rather, we should thank God that such men lived.”
General George S. Patton
 

World War I (1917-1919)

The World War I Memorial - Washington D.C.

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World War II (1941-1945)

The World War II Memorial - Washington D.C.

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Korean War (1950-1953)

Korean War Memorial - Washington D.C.

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Vietnam War (1965-1973)

Vietnam War Memorial - Washington D.C.

The Brookline Monument - The Cannon

<Brookline War Memorial> <> <Brookline History>