PSG Douglas Brown's family found!

[Jim Sheppard]

I just got a shot Private Message from the nephew of our PSG Brown, Charlie Company. Anyone who was from Charlie Company in our original group remembers this solid NCO who was "Field First" for three Basic Training cycles and one AIT cycle at Fort Hood. I am looking forward to speaking with his Nephew and relaying our thoughts. Hopefully we can have some of his family members attend one of our Memorial services in the future. I suppose it's not "out of the question" for some to attend this year?...since PSG Brown is buried at Columbus, Georgia and might have family nearby?

I will keep you posted.

It's so strange how these things "pop up". Just yesterday I had an hour long conversation with former Charlie 3rd Platoon Leader Bob Driscoll about PSG Brown. In fact, I was about to send off a note to Barbara Ann to ask her to renew our search efforts for Brown's family!

[Randy Smith]

Bravo Jim, I hope you are right about the family being close to the reunion and able to attend. It would be great. I came to Ft. Hood as medical coverage and was there for less than a year but I remember PSG Brown. A no nonsense career soldier who realized what was on the line for the troops he was training and wasn't about to give any less than his best efforts in getting them ready to go to Nam. Thanks again for your efforts and just to show you that my heart is in the right place, I have come by some photos from Danny Henson (a former "B" Co. medic) of us leaving Ft Hood. Buses, Bands, Formations, the whole show and I am going to bring them to you and create even more work for ya. Me ---You See you soon brother. Randy.

[wfm7]

Am I the only one who still has "Hey There Georgie Girl" seared into my brain as a result of those bus loading ceremonies?

[Jim Sheppard]

Randy! You have been "sand-bagging" those photos on me! ALL THE WHILE I slave over millions of photos of palm trees and thatched huts! It will be a welcome change to have a record of this part of our history.

As for PSG Brown. We all used to poke fun at him for his deep southern drawl. In Basic Training, when he would give the order of platoons for the chow line at the mess hall...no one could diferentiate between his rendition of the words "One", "Two", "Three", and "Four"...it sounded like "whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa". You are right though. I watched him train all those men for three basic training cycles. We all wondered how these Drill Instructors would be in Combat...and he was a rock. I will always remember him standing up & directing fire...shouting to his men "They're over there...right there!" before he was killed. I have another story of how I left my M16 "unattended" in the field when we broke for chow and he "hid it"...only giving it back when I had frantically searched the entire company. It was a hard lesson and I was totally embarrassed...but it never left my side again. He taught me a lesson ...and wasn't even in my platoon. That "Field First" role stuck with him...he really did not have the boundary of a specific platoon. We were all better for having him as one of our top NCOs.