Frederick Vincent Brossard was born on March 31, 1916 in Logan, Utah. He served in the 437th Troop Carrier Group as a Second Lieutenant and was the Navigator of the C-47 #43-30719 aircraft during World War II. On December 16, 1943 at 10:30pm the plane departed from Port Lyautey in French Morocco bound for RAF Station St. Eval in southwest England. The nine-and-half hour path took them mostly over open water, including the Bay of Biscay, where German aircraft frequently patrolled; as a result, Allied planes operated under strict radio silence. Prior to reaching this airspace, the C-47 was scheduled to change course at the halfway point near Cape Finisterre in northern Spain. But for reasons never fully explained, 43-30719 headed due north for Ireland and directly into the eye of a brutal winter storm.

At approximately 7:00 am on a cold, dark morning, the crew found themselves above County Kerry – home of the highest summits in the country. Lt. Scharf presumably dropped altitude in search of recognizable landmarks, unaware that they were flying dangerously low in an area of 3,000 ft. peaks. Heading southwards direction, the C-47 slammed into a north-facing ridge. All men were killed in the crash. The crew members were interred in the Lisnabreeny Former American Military Cemetery in England. The cemetery closed in 1948 and their remains were exhumed and transferred. 2LT Brossard is buried now in the Cambridge American Cemetery, Cambridge, United Kingdom.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, irishamerica.com, www.abmc.gov