Eugene Arnold Brest Jr. was born December 21, 1920 in Utica, NY to Eugene Ambrose Brest (1895-1958) and Anna H. Coon (1902-1985). (His gravestone notes his birth year as 1921 but NY State Birth records, military records and his Draft Registration Card recorded his birth year as 1920.) His parents were married on April 19, 1919 in Waterville, NY. He was their only child. In 1925 the NY State Census recorded the family living in Troy, NY. His dad was a clerk in a machine office. His mom was a homemaker. By 1935 they had moved to Sauquoit, NY and by 1940 moved again, this time to Herkimer, NY. Eugene Jr. graduated from Ilion High School in 1939 and worked as an inspector at the Remington Rand Plant 2 in Ilion.

When Eugene Jr. registered for the draft on February 14, 1942 in Ilion, NY he was 5'-6" tall and weighed 151 pounds with brown eyes and brown hair. He was living at 43 Catherine St., Mohawk, NY. He doesn't wait to be drafted enlisting in the Army on May 28, 1942 with service number 12079891. He received his Army training in Kentucky, Utah, Arkansas, and Texas and was sent overseas with the 13th Armored Division in December 1944.

The 13th Armored Division was attached to the 3rd Army and in early April 1945 was assembled near Homberg and Kassel Germany. Eugene's family received a letter from him on April 6, 1945 from Koblenz, Germany stating he had seen "some combat action." By mid April the 13th Armored was in the thick of the fight and moving toward the Rhone River near Honnef and Altenkirchen as part of the Allied effort to reduce the Ruhr Pocket. By April 10 they were advancing across western Germany.

On April 16 they were advancing north and northwest from the Sieg River area toward Bergisch Gladback, just northeast of Cologne. Cpl. Brest is seriously wounded in action April 16, 1945 by an Artillery shell and evacuated to a hospital. They are unable to save him and he died a day later, April 17, 1945. Cpl Brest is one of 32 former students of Ilion High School killed in World War II.

Cpl. Brest is laid to rest in the Mohawk Cemetery, Mohawk, NY. 

Author's Note: Cpl. Brest's IDPF has been requested from the National Archives in St. Louis and his story will be updated when that file is received.  Date of request: May 11, 2026. 

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project. This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 421,000+ of the US WWII fallen on Together We Served and Fold3.

(Please see - http://www.storiesbehindthestars.org).

Can you help us write these stories? Together We Served and Fold3/Find A Grave have smartphone apps that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery and read these stories of WWII fallen.

If you noticed anything erroneous in this profile or have additional information to contribute, please contact Jim Greenberg at jim.greenberg@oneonta.edu.

SBTSProject/New York/Oneida

Sources

"130 Ilion Seniors Approved for Graduation", Utica Daily Press, Utica, NY, June 26, 1939, pg. 14.

Alphabetical Master Cards, 1942–1947; Series VI, Card Files—Bureau of War Records, Master Index Cards, 1943–1947; National Jewish Welfare Board, Bureau of War Records, 1940–1969; I-52; boxes 273–362. New York, New York: American Jewish Historical Society, Center for Jewish History.

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/98476282/eugene_a-brest: accessed May 10, 2026), memorial page for Corp Eugene A. Brest (1921–1945), Find a Grave Memorial ID 98476282, citing Mohawk Cemetery, Mohawk, Herkimer County, New York, USA; Maintained by B Rozpad (contributor 50074804).

Fold3, US, WWII Hospital Admission Card Files, 1942-1954 (https://www.fold3.com/publication/1088/us-wwii-hospital-admission-card-files-1942-1954 : accessed May 10, 2026), database and images, https://www.fold3.com/publication/1088/us-wwii-hospital-admission-card-files-1942-1954

"Ilion Lists 42 War Dead on Village Honor Roll", The Evening Telegram, Herkimer, NY, July 13, 1945, pg. 2.

"Illion Pauses To Utter Prayer For War Dead", The Evening Telegram, Herkimer, NY, December 7, 1953, pg. 5.

"Mohawk Service Men", The Ilion Sentinel, Ilion, NY, May 10, 1945, pg. 8

National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; Wwii Draft Registration Cards For New York State, 10/16/1940 - 03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147

New York State Department of Health; Albany, NY, USA; New York State Birth Index

New York State Department of Health; Albany, NY, USA; New York State Marriage Index

"Pastor Talks at Service for Ilion High War Dead", The Evening Telegram, Herkimer, NY, May 28, 1948, pg. 5

The Mirror for 1939, Ilion High School Yearbook, Ilion, NY

"Wounds Fatal to Mohawk Soldier", The Ilion Sentinel, Ilion, NY, May 17, 1945, pg. 1

Year: 1940; Census Place: Herkimer, Herkimer, New York; Roll: m-t0627-02542; Page: 1A; Enumeration District: 22-39

Supporting Documents