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Charles Leon Brennan • 1919 - 2002 Charles Leon Brennan, 83, 1852-16th St. SW, Lot #28, Minot, ND, died Saturday, November 16, 2002, in a Minot Hospital. Charles was born on August 6, 1919, in Moorhead, Minnesota, the son of Henry and Clara (Johnson) Brennan. He was reared and educated in Fargo and Jamestown and graduated from Jamestown High School in 1939. He worked with his father in grocery stores before joining the United States Air Corps on April 7, 1942, during World War II. He served as a ground tech supply clerk with the 15th Air Force Lightning Fighter Group in Northern Africa and Italy. They were the second Lightning Group to fly the Atlantic and were credited with the first American aerial victory over Tunisia. It celebrated over 750 combat missions. The group took part in the first fighter shuttle run of Russia, successfully strafing the German bases in Poland. They also provided cover for the bombers when the "pulled the rabbit out of the hat" stunt, rescuing more than one thousand American crewman and pilots from Rumania. They swept the skies over Italy, Germany, Greece, Austria, Rumania, Yugoslavia, France, Bulgaria, and Czechoslovakia. He was awarded the African European-Middle East Campaign Ribbon with four bronze battle stars for the Tunisian, Sicilian, and Italian Campaigns as well as the air offensive over Europe, and the War Department Unit citation awarded the Group for meritorious achievement against the enemy. Upon his discharge he managed the grocery store in Washburn and later the Super Valu in Garrison for 25 years. On March 17, 1946, he married Alice Michel in Donnybrook. They lived in Garrison until later moving to Minot. He started to work for the Minot Air Force Base Commissary in 1971 and later retired from there. His wife died on April 4, 2000 and he continued to live in Minot. He was a member of Vincent United Methodist Church, Minot. He was also a 50 year member of the American Legion Post in Garrison. He was a member of the Loyal Order of Moose, a life member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Elks all of Minot. Survivors: sons, Rodney Brennan and his wife, Peggy, Wichita Falls, Texas and Jack Brennan and Polly, Minot; daughters, Linda Rostad and her husband, Bruce, Minot and Charlene Greenawalt, Fayetteville, TN; 10 grandchildren, Adam and Alison Brennan, Annette Jordan, Richard and Donald Rostad, Catina Fox, Greg and Marc Greenawalt, Charles Joseph and Stephanie Brennan; six great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his wife, Alice, parents, Clara and Henry and brothers, Rodney and Jack. Funeral: Wednesday, November 20, 2002 at 2 p.m. at Vincent United Methodist Church, Minot Burial: Sunset Memorial Gardens, Minot Visitation: Tuesday, November 19, 2002 from noon until 7 p.m. at the Thompson-Larson Funeral Home, Minot, ND. Officiant: Rev. Bill Bates Music: Ken Bowles, vocalist Honorary Bearers: Morning coffee club Active Bearers: Adam Brennan, Alison Brennan, Richard
Rostad, Donald Rostad, Greg Greenawalt |