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Contact Info
Home Town Monroe, Michigan
Last Address Georgetown, Texas
Date of Passing Oct 27, 2007
Location of Interment Central Texas State Veterans Cemetery - Killeen, Texas
Wall/Plot Coordinates Unknown
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Son of Colonal Brice C.W. and Vida McLechlin Custer.
Brice C. Custer died on October 27, 2007 in Georgetown, TX. Brice was born on May 30, 1927 in Monroe, Michigan, the adopted home town of General George Armstrong Custer and the rest of the Custer family. Brice was the great-grand nephew of the General and prior to his death, he was his oldest living relative.
Brice is survived by his wife, Emily; and son and daughter-in-law, Brice Jr. and Deanna; daughter and son-in-law, Celia and Ray Stefl; son and daughter-in-law, Garry Owen and Jeanette; and grandchildren, Ryan, Thomas, Garrett, Jordan, Joshua, and Emily.
Brice was proud of his heritage and considered his famous relative to be an outstanding military commander as well as an exceptional human being. Because of the assault on the General's competence and character in recent decades, primarily by Hollywood, Brice was motivated to write a book refuting the misinformation being propagated.
Brice moved from Monroe, MI. after his freshman year in high school to Santa Clara, CA. Mid-way through his senior year in high school, Brice enlisted in the U.S. Navy at the age of 17 in January, 1945. After his discharge, he returned to Michigan to attend Michigan State University and received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering in 1950. With the outbreak of the Korean War, Brice spent several months undergoing eye exercises which resulted in his attaining 20/20 vision and his subsequent passing of the pilot's physical and enlistment into the Air Force's Aviation Cadet program. Brice received his wings and commission in January, 1953 followed by F-84 gunnery school and the assignment to Korea with the 8th Fighter-Bomber Squadron. Brice later acquired a Master's Degree in Nuclear Engineering with subsequent assignments in the Physics Department at the Air Force Academy and the Nuclear Weapons Branch of the Defense Intelligence Agency.
After leaving the Air Force in 1970, Brice was a Department Head at Trident Technical College in South Carolina for 10 years followed by 10 years as a Staff Engineer at the Lockheed Missile and Space Company and the entered retirement.
Brice and Emily enjoyed their life in the Air Force with their children, traveling the country and making many friends. They eventually moved to Georgetown, TX. where they have lived since 1996.
The family wishes to express their appreciation for all the care and compassion provided to them from Scott & White Hospital, Dr. Christopher Hearne, Texas Home Health Hospice, Shirley Higgins and Asera Care Hospice, and the Gabriels Funeral Chapel .In lieu of flowers the family suggests contributions to a charity of your choice. Brice will be laid to rest at the Central Texas State Veteran's Cemetery in Killeen at a later date.
Description The Korean War; 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) began when North Korea invaded South Korea. The United Nations, with the United States as the principal force, came to the aid of South Korea. China came to the aid of North Korea, and the Soviet Union gave some assistance.
Korea was ruled by Japan from 1910 until the closing days of World War II. In August 1945, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan, as a result of an agreement with the United States, and liberated Korea north of the 38th parallel. U.S. forces subsequently moved into the south. By 1948, as a product of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States, Korea was split into two regions, with separate governments. Both governments claimed to be the legitimate government of all of Korea, and neither side accepted the border as permanent. The conflict escalated into open warfare when North Korean forces—supported by the Soviet Union and China—moved into the south on 25 June 1950. On that day, the United Nations Security Council recognized this North Korean act as invasion and called for an immediate ceasefire. On 27 June, the Security Council adopted S/RES/83: Complaint of aggression upon the Republic of Korea and decided the formation and dispatch of the UN Forces in Korea. Twenty-one countries of the United Nations eventually contributed to the UN force, with the United States providing 88% of the UN's military personnel.
After the first two months of the conflict, South Korean forces were on the point of defeat, forced back to the Pusan Perimeter. In September 1950, an amphibious UN counter-offensive was launched at Inchon, and cut off many of the North Korean troops. Those that escaped envelopment and capture were rapidly forced back north all the way to the border with China at the Yalu River, or into the mountainous interior. At this point, in October 1950, Chinese forces crossed the Yalu and entered the war. Chinese intervention triggered a retreat of UN forces which continued until mid-1951.
After these reversals of fortune, which saw Seoul change hands four times, the last two years of conflict became a war of attrition, with the front line close to the 38th parallel. The war in the air, however, was never a stalemate. North Korea was subject to a massive bombing campaign. Jet fighters confronted each other in air-to-air combat for the first time in history, and Soviet pilots covertly flew in defense of their communist allies.
The fighting ended on 27 July 1953, when an armistice was signed. The agreement created the Korean Demilitarized Zone to separate North and South Korea, and allowed the return of prisoners. However, no peace treaty has been signed, and the two Koreas are technically still at war. Periodic clashes, many of which are deadly, have continued to the present.
