Captain Robert "Lefty" Brett
CAPTAIN ROBERT “LEFTY” BRETT MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP
Robert “Lefty” Brett was the son of Florence and Robert Brett, Sr. of Corvallis. His parents met in 1943 at Fort Benton, Montana; Robert was in military training and Florence was in nursing school. Robert went off to World War II. More than two years later they were married, and the young family spent time in Texas, Minnesota, Wyoming, Japan, and Montana. Living under the flight pattern of B52 Bombers impressed Lefty. In the 1960s, Robert Brett was assigned to Adair Air Force Station, north of Corvallis. When Robert was sent to Vietnam in 1966-67, Florence moved to Corvallis and Lefty attended Corvallis High School. Lefty graduated in 1966 and attended Oregon State University where, among other things, he enrolled in Air Force ROTC and learned to fly. In 1969, he married Patrice Costello and in 1970 he graduated from OSU and received a commission as an Air Force second lieutenant. In early 1972, Lefty and Patrice were blessed with a daughter, Camille (“Cami”).
Lefty loved to fly. He was proud of his father, who spent thirty-one years in the Air Force, and it was his dream to fly with the Air Force Thunderbirds. Leaving his family was hard, especially since Cami was only eight months old, but he wanted to serve his country in Vietnam. He was in Vietnam only four days when, on September 29, 1972, Lefty and his co-pilot skimmed 200 feet above the ground in an F-111 on a night raid to North Vietnam. Their plane went down somewhere in the jungle and remained “lost” for almost 30 years, with Lefty listed as missing in action. The wreckage was finally discovered in 2000, and in February 2002 the remains of Lefty Brett and his co-piolot were identified. Lefty was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery.
On October 12, 2002, more than thirty years later, family, loved ones, friends, and Air Force cadets who had not even been born when Lefty disappeared attended the “Celebration of Life” at Saint Mary’s Catholic Church.
The following verse by Laurence Binyon was used to remember Lefty.
For the Fallen
They shall not grow old.
As we that are left grow old.
Age shall not weary them,
not the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun…
and in the morning…
we will remember them.
Several scholarships in Lefty’s memory have been established over the years through the OSU Foundation. This scholarship was established through the Benton County Foundation and the Military Science Scholarship Endowment Fund with donations from family and funds raised by Air Force cadets.