Rank: Staff Sergeant
Unit: B Troop, 1st Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment
MOS: 11D – Armor Reconnaissance Specialist
Awards: Bronze Star Medal with Valor Device, Purple Heart Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal
Badges: Combat Infantryman Badge
Unit awards: Presidential Unit Citation, Valorous Unit Award, Vietnamese Gallantry Cross with Palm device
Enlisted by: Regular
Date of birth: 14-Jul-1941
Hometown: Wellington, Alabama
Marital status: Married to Carolyn S. Brewster
Campaign: Vietnam Conflict
Start of tour: 31-Oct-1967
Incident date: 13-May-1968
Date of casualty: 13-May-1968
Age at death: 26
Cause of death: Hostile, Died. Small Arms Fire. Gun or small arms fire.
Ollis Brerwster died from wound received while on combat operation when engaged hostile force in firefight.
Five Blackhorse troopers died in this incident:
SSG Ollis Brewster
SGT Ralph Raymond Collins Jr
SGT Douglas George Factora
SGT Bobby James
CPL Frederick F. Walters
Location of fatality: Hua Nghia, South Vietnam
Place of interment: Bethel Baptist Church Cemetery, Alexandria, Alabama, USA
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BRONZE STAR MEDAL
WITH VALOR DEVICE
POSTHUMOUS
STAFF SERGEANT OLLIS BREWSTER
13 MAY 1968
B TROOP, 1st SQUADRON
11TH ARMORED CAVALRY REGIMENT
Staff Sergeant Brewster distinguished himself by valorous actions on 13 May 1968, while serving as an Armored Cavalry Assault Vehicle Commander with Troop B, 1st Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, on a reconnaissance in force mission against a well armed North Vietnamese Arny force in the Republic of Vietnam. During the seven hour engagement, Sergeant Brewster repeatedly exposed himself to rocket, machine gun and small arms fire in order to press the attack against the enemy fortifications. Although wounded by shrapnel from an exploding rocket round, Sergeant Brewster refused to stop for medical aid and continued to assault the enemy. In the process, he was mortally wounded by small arms fire. Staff Sergeant Brewster’s personal bravery and devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit and the United States Army.
Headquarters, 9th Infantry Division General Orders No. 4697 (14 June 1968)