John Bruther

My father, John Richard Bruther, died Saturday 1/17/15 night at 11:05 pm at the age of 94. He was born 4/25/1920 in Trenton, New Jersey. He is survived by his 3 children, 5 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren. It was quick… Just 30 days ago he was happy living alone in his home in Sun City West Arizona. He came out to Los Angeles for the yearly Bruther family Christmas party and 17 family members got to talk to him and take pictures with him. He went into the Sherman Oaks Hospital on 1/1/15 died in his sleep on 1/17/15.
He volunteered as a pilot 2 months after Pearl Harbor was hit. He entered training in Jan 1942 and graduated from Moody field, GA. He saw action in the African and Silician campaigns with the 12th and 82nd Bombardment Squadrons. He spent five months in India aiding ‘Merrill’s Marauders”. He received a citation from the President for support of the British 8th army. He earned the Distinguished Flying Cross. He flew 58 missions as a B25 pilot even though the only 40 were required to serve out his active duty time. He knew that often only half the planes that left on a given mission would come back, and the more experienced pilots had a better chance of bringing their crews back alive. He only quit when he found out was that he last pilot of his original bomb group that was still alive. He then transferred to training new pilots in Valdosta, Georgia. Near the end of the war… a point system was setup to let the most senior staff to leave the Air service. Points were earned for missions, hazardous duty, field promotions and acts of valor. He was the first military pilot East of the Mississippi to be let out with the most points (141) earned by a longshot! He was my hero!
His son, Captain Thomas Joseph Bruther, piloted C141s out of March AFB during Operations Desert Storm, and is now a seasoned Delta 767 pilot. He was in lead pilot in charge of the “Funeral fly over detail” during training at Reese AFB, TX, but never witnessed one from the ground. They were very proud of each other.
I was surprised to recently learn that my father earned not only the DFC, but 6 Oak Leaf clusters! He will be buried in Riverside Cemetery next to March Air Force Base (where the new Memorial to DFC recipients is to be built). After his funeral, family and friends will be having a memorial lunch at the March Airfield Museum across the street where a B-25 is on static display.