ROBERT S. BROWN, MAJ, USMC
Robert Brown '31
Lucky Bag
From the 1931 Lucky Bag:
Robert Samuel Brown
Caruthersville, Missouri
"Freckles" "Pappy" "Brownie"
Freckles, having the true spirit of his state decided to come to the Academy "to be shown" the ways of the Navy after two years at Mississippi A. and M. The "Steam" Department continually showed him more than he wanted and often had him worried, but he always managed to rally soon enough to keep them from relieving him of his leave problems. No wonder he heaved his steam kit "over the side" upon graduating.
Freckles spent his spare time working out in a variety of sports and was always ready for a game on the mat, in the pool, or on the field. He was a familiar figure in class football, and in the gym he was quite at home on the bars and rope.
Quiet, unassuming, and a bit reticent, Freckles does not reveal at once his fund of subtle humor and keenness which have so endeared him to those who are fortunate enough to know him. Always cheerful and ready to lend a hand, he is a true friend.
"Hey, look here, what makes this gadget work?"
Class Basketball 3; Class Football 2; 2 P. O.
Robert Samuel Brown
Caruthersville, Missouri
"Freckles" "Pappy" "Brownie"
Freckles, having the true spirit of his state decided to come to the Academy "to be shown" the ways of the Navy after two years at Mississippi A. and M. The "Steam" Department continually showed him more than he wanted and often had him worried, but he always managed to rally soon enough to keep them from relieving him of his leave problems. No wonder he heaved his steam kit "over the side" upon graduating.
Freckles spent his spare time working out in a variety of sports and was always ready for a game on the mat, in the pool, or on the field. He was a familiar figure in class football, and in the gym he was quite at home on the bars and rope.
Quiet, unassuming, and a bit reticent, Freckles does not reveal at once his fund of subtle humor and keenness which have so endeared him to those who are fortunate enough to know him. Always cheerful and ready to lend a hand, he is a true friend.
"Hey, look here, what makes this gadget work?"
Class Basketball 3; Class Football 2; 2 P. O.
Loss
Robert was killed in action with Japanese forces on September 14, 1942 on Guadalcanal. He was the operations officer for the First Marine Raider Battalion.
Obituary
From Arlington National Cemetery.net:
My father, Major Robert S. Brown, was born 6 August 1907 in Wilson, Mississippi County, Arkansas.
He attended the University of Mississippi for two years before receiving an appointment to the U. S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland. He graduated with the Class of 1931 and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps.
He attended Marine Officer's Basic School at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. His duty stations included Naval Air Station, Lakehurst, New Jersey, Parris Island, South Carolina, Commanding Officer of the Marine Detachment aboard the USS Ranger on her shakedown cruise to Argentina, Marine Barracks, Guam, the American Legation, Peking, China and MCB, Quantico, Virginia.
We were at Quantico when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. My father was the S-3 Officer, First Marine Raider Battalion, under the command of Colonel Merritt Edson. Robert Brown, rsbrown@clark.net
From USMC Raiders:
Major Robert S. Brown was Colonel Edson’s operations officer, tactical coordinator, and planner; in short, his factotum, During the withdrawal to the final defensive position on the first night, when secure communication was impossible, except tete-a-tete, he ranged across the entire width of the front, relaying orders, reorganizing the defense, and leading units into new positions. During the fighting on the night of 13-14 September, he again was all over the battlefield, verifying the situation for Edson and providing assistance and advice to the unit commanders.
His wife was listed as next of kin.
Photographs
From his 1927 college yearbook; he was an engineering student and member of Kemper County Club
Other Information
From The Democrat-Argus, Caruthersville, Missouri, May 26, 1942, via researcher Kathy Franz:
Robert S. Brown, son of Mrs. Helen H. Brown and brother of George Brown of this city, was among 310 men advanced from Captain to Major by the United States Army Corps last week.
George Brown said that he believed a recent issue of a Cape Girardeau paper was in error in implying that his brother was a prisoner of war. Reference to Robert Brown should have been as to his promotion, not as a prisoner of war.
“It would be mighty quick work on the Japs’ part if he were a prisoner of war,” George said, “because Robert was in Quantico, Va., about a month ago.” He said that he did not know where his brother is stationed now.
From the Caruthersville Journal, October 8, 1942, via researcher Kathy Franz:
Major Robert Samuel Brown, 35, of the U. S. Marines, son of Mrs. H. H. Brown and the late Mr. Brown of West Sixth Street, has been reported killed in action by the Navy Department, while on active duty with the Marines in Guadalcanal in the Solomons.
Robert . . . was born at Wilson, Ark., on August 6, 1907 and spent his early life in that community. He graduated from the Wilson High School and attended Mississippi A. and M. College for two years. The Brown family moved to Caruthersville about this time and were living here when Robert received his appointment from Congressman Driver of Wilson to the Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md.
He was graduated from the Naval Academy in 1931 and was a ranking student in the large class of cadets. By virtue of his being a ranking student he was permitted to choose the branch of service he preferred and chose the Marine Corps and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant. Promotion since that time came rather rapidly to young Brown. In 1934 he was made First Lieutenant and in 1937 Captain. In 1937 he was sent on Foreign service and spent three years in Guam and China. He returned to Quantico, Va., for further study in April, 1942, and was promoted to the rank of Major.
He left the United States in April, 1942 for active war duty and met his death in one of the fierce assaults made by the Japanese forces trying to land new troops on Guadalcanal in the Solomons in the last few weeks. His mother has heard from him at fairly regular intervals in the past few months and was almost certain that he was in this area.
Major Brown was married to Miss Betty Johnson, daughter of a prominent lawyer of Philadelphia, Pa., in October, 1931, following his graduation from the Naval Academy. In addition to his wife and mother, Major Brown is survived by a son, Robert Samuel, Jr., who with his mother is living with his grandparents in Philadelphia, two brothers, Howard H. Brown, Biloxi, Miss., and George Brown in Officers Training School at Camp Davis, N. C., and a sister, Mrs. Verne Forcum, a nurse of Dyersburg, Tenn.
Career
From Together We Served:
- 1931-1932, TBS The Basic School (Faculty Staff)
- 1932-1932, Marine Corps Det, NAS Lakehurst, NJ
- 1932-1932, Naval Aviation Schools Command (NASC), Pensacola, FL
- 1932-1933, Marine Barracks Norfolk Naval Base (NOB), VA
- 1933-1934, Sea School MarBks NNSY Portsmouth VA
- 1934-1935, USS Ranger (CVA-61)
- 1935-1937, H&S Bn/Brig MCRD Parris Island
- 1937-1938, Marine Barracks Guam
- 1938-1939, MARDET American Legation, Peking, China
- 1939-1940, USMC (United States Marine Corps)/Formal Schools
- 1940-1941, 5th Marine Regiment/1st Bn, 5th Marine Regiment (1/5)
- 1941-1942, 0302, 1st Raider Bn/HQ Co
From Hall of Valor:
The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Navy Cross (Posthumously) to Major Robert Samuel Brown (MCSN: 0-4661), United States Marine Corps, for extraordinary heroism and distinguished service as Operations Officer of the FIRST Marine Raider Battalion, during the enemy Japanese attack on Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, on the night of 13 and 14 September 1942. Adeptly reorganizing troops which had withdrawn from the main line of resistance to the rear of the reserve line, Major Brown committed them to action under direction of the Battalion Commander. Afterward, reporting for duty at a point along the line where a hostile breakthrough was imminent, he, with proficient skill and complete disregard for his own personal safety, assisted in the defense of the position until he was wounded by the explosion of a Japanese hand grenade. While he was being evacuated from the Battalion aid station, the ambulance in which he was a passenger was subjected to merciless machine gun fire and he was killed. He gallantly gave his life for his country.
General Orders: SPOT AWARD, Commander in Chief Pacific Forces: Serial 19 (January 2, 1943)
Action Date: September 13 - 14, 1942
Service: Marine Corps
Rank: Major
Company: Operations Officer
Battalion: 1st Marine Raider Battalion
Map
The "Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps" was published annually from 1815 through at least the 1970s; it provided rank, command or station, and occasionally billet until the beginning of World War II when command/station was no longer included. Scanned copies were reviewed and data entered from the mid-1840s through 1922, when more-frequent Navy Directories were available.
The Navy Directory was a publication that provided information on the command, billet, and rank of every active and retired naval officer. Single editions have been found online from January 1915 and March 1918, and then from three to six editions per year from 1923 through 1940; the final edition is from April 1941.
The entries in both series of documents are sometimes cryptic and confusing. They are often inconsistent, even within an edition, with the name of commands; this is especially true for aviation squadrons in the 1920s and early 1930s.
Alumni listed at the same command may or may not have had significant interactions; they could have shared a stateroom or workspace, stood many hours of watch together… or, especially at the larger commands, they might not have known each other at all. The information provides the opportunity to draw connections that are otherwise invisible, though, and gives a fuller view of the professional experiences of these alumni in Memorial Hall.
July 1931
October 1931
January 1932
April 1932
October 1932
January 1933
April 1933
July 1933
October 1933
April 1934
July 1934
LTjg William Pennewill '29 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 3B)
LTjg Bruce Van Voorhis '29 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 5B)
LTjg John Burgess '30 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 5B)
October 1934
LTjg Clair Miller '29 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 3B)
LTjg Robert Haven '30 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 5B)
LTjg Alden Irons '31 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 3B)
January 1935
LTjg Oscar Pate, Jr. '27 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 1B)
LTjg William Pennewill '29 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 3B)
LTjg Clair Miller '29 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 3B)
LTjg Robert Haven '30 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 5B)
LTjg Gilbert Carpenter '30 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 1B)
LTjg Lorenz Forbes '31 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 3B)
LTjg William Freshour '31 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 5B)
LTjg Alden Irons '31 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 3B)
April 1935
October 1935
January 1936
April 1936
July 1936
January 1937
April 1937
September 1937
January 1938
July 1938
January 1939
October 1939
June 1940
November 1940
April 1941
The "category" links below lead to lists of related Honorees; use them to explore further the service and sacrifice of alumni in Memorial Hall.
