Dr. H. Brewer Is Prisoner of the Japanese

Nurses Talked With Former Blairite Shortly Prior To Escape

Mrs. Harlow Brewer of Blair received word indirectly of the safety of her husband Dr. Harlow Brewer of Manila. Dr. Brewer was stationed on the Philippine Islands at the time of the Jap invasion, and no direct communication has been made with him since last November. A recent letter from the war department had informed Mrs. Brewer that Dr. Brewer was reported as missing.

Nurses who had escaped from Corregidor brought the news, contacting Mrs. Brewer’s sister, Miss Emma Beekmann of San Francisco; she in turn, put through a long distance telephone call to Blair last evening. The nurses had seen Dr. Brewer the day before their escape. They reported that he was then in good health and in excellent spirits, although quite thin due to an enforced fish and rice diet.

Mrs. Brewer expects to receive a detailed letter from her sister the latter part of this week.

#2-Pilot Tribune 25 June 1942

Learn Brewer Safe to End

Nurses From Bataan Conversed With Blairite Before Leaving Islands

Dr. Harlow Brewer, former Blair dentist, was alive, well and “Very cheerful” the night before Corregidor fortress in the Philippines fell to the Japanese, his wife learned last night in a telephone call from her sister, Miss Emma Beckmann, who is now in San Francisco. Miss Beekmann had just returned from Letterman hospital in San Francisco, where she talked with evacuated American nurses from the Philippines, who recently were returned to the United States after a roundabout evacuation from Corregidor via Australia.

The nurses said they know Dr. Brewer well while they were on duty, and that they last talked to him the night before they were evacuated. He was in good spirits, they added – one of the few cheerful persons in the fort. They said he was extremely thin, having had only rice to eat for some time.

They said that when Manila fell earlier, the Blairite was put in charge of evacuating medical supplies from Manila to Bataan.

This was perhaps the most recent word any American family has had concerning kin left on Corregidor when it fell and was received happily by Mrs. Brewer. The nurses also told Miss Emma Beekmann that they were not acquainted with Sergeant Gifford Dixon, jr., of Blair, son of Mr. and Mrs. G. L. Dixon, but that they were positive his name was not on any casualty lists, which they scanned closely at all times.

#3-15 July, 1943 - The Enterprise

JAPS REPORT CAPT. BREWER IS DEAD

Was Previously Reported To Be A Prisoner In Philippines

RED CROSS REPORTS NO DETAILS

Captain Harlow I. J. Brewer, previously reported to be a Japanese prisoner of war, has died in the Philippines according to official word received late last week by Mrs. Alice Brewer of Blair. The announcement was made by the Japanese government, via the International Red Cross. No details were given.

Word of Captain Brewer’s death came as a heavy blow to his widow and other relatives who had been optimistic and cheerful through many months of silence. Since the infamous Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December, 1941, they had anxiously awaited direct word from Captain Brewer, but no message has ever arrived. War officials reported several months ago that he was a Japanese prisoner.

The message received by Mrs. Brewer follows:

“Reports now received from the Japanese government, through the International Red Cross, state that your husband, Captain Harlow I. J. Brewer, who was previously reported a prisoner of war, died in the Philippine Islands. The Secretary of War shares your grief and extends his deepest sympathies. Letter follows.”

Captain Brewer was born on October 30, 1912 at Ravenna, Nebraska where his mother still resides. He was graduated from the Callaway High School and later entered the University of Nebraska Dental College, from which he graduated in 1936. He was affiliated with Delta Upsilon fraternity and Xi Psi dental fraternity.

On October 13, 1935 Captain Brewer was married to Miss Alice Beekman, youngest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. C. J. Beekman of Blair. One son, John Harlow, now four years of age, was born to them.

Dr. Brewer practiced dentistry in Blair from 1936 until 1940; in 1940 he was called into active duty, and after a short period of service at Fort Snelling, Minnesota, he was sent to the Philippines in January, 1941. Mrs. Brewer and John spent several months with him in Manila, but later returned to the United States, together with other pre-war civilian evacuees.

The deepest sympathy is extended to the late Captain Brewer’s wide, son and mother by his many friends in this community.

#4-Pilot Tribune 15 July 1943

Report Capt. Brewer

(Photo)(Caption: Capt. Harlow Brewer Reported dead in the Philippines.)

Word is Given by Japs

Blairite Met Death In The Philippines

Former Blair Dentist, Husband of Former Alice Beekmann, Now Reported Dead in War after Previously Being Listed as Prisoner

Word came Saturday evening from the war department that Capt. Harlow Brewer, 30, former Blair dentist who was previously reported a prisoner of the Japanese following the fall of the Philippines, had died there.

The telegram came a day after Dr. Brewer’s wife, the former Alice Beekmann, and son John, 4, had left on a trip to Wisconsin. They returned to Blair when notified of the word.

The telegram:

“Report now received from the Japanese government through the International Red Cross that your husband, Capt. Harlow I. Brewer, who was previously reported a prisoner of war, died in the Philippine Islands. The secretary of war shares your grief and extends his deep sympathy. Letter follows.”

From the tone of the message, it was believed Dr. Brewer met death while the islands siege was still on. Messages lately being received by other Nebraska families concerning Americans who have died since the fighting ended there have mentioned that the casualty died “a prisoner of war,” and have customarily given the date of death.

Since all American military personnel left on the island was first listed officially as missing, then as presumed prisoners, it is believed the names of Dr. Brewer and others killed in the final stages of the Philip (rest missing)

#5-Pilot Tribune 25 Feb 1943

(Photo)

Dr. Brewer is Prisoner

Former Blair Dentist Held By Japanese After Fall of Islands

The war department in a telegram to Mrs. Alice Brewer Tuesday night, informed her that her husband, Dr. Harlow Brewer, former Blair dentist, is a prisoner of the Japanese following the fall of the Philippines.

Dr. Brewer was a captain in the dental corps at the time the Japanese laid siege to the islands. His wife and son, John, 4, had returned from Manila several months before the war broke out, and had not heard from him for nearly a year.

#6-Enterprise 29 March 1945

CAPT. H. BREWER DIED IN HOSPITAL

Some of the first definite information regarding the death of Capt. Harlow Brewer, of Blair, was received this week by the members of the C. J. Beekman family from Capt. Jack Oblink, of Lincoln, Nebraska, who is home on a leave from duties in the Philippines.

Capt. Oblink reported that he was with Capt. Brewer at the time of his death both men having been in the Cabanature Prison Camp on the Islands. Capt. Brewer, he said, took sick after being confined in the camp for a time and died in a hospital following a month’s illness. Capt. Brewer was buried in an American Cemetery, he stated.

During the time of his imprisonment, Capt. Brewer served as a medical doctor and was highly thought of, the Lincoln man said.

~~~ Obituary courtesy of the Washington County Genealogical Society. Newspaper clippings on file in the Blair Public Library at Blair, Nebraska.~~~