Nelson Marion BROWN, Sr., was born August 8, 1917 at Bridgewater, Adair County, Iowa, the son of Nelson Perry BROWN (1892-1972) and Halcion Mae (SPEED) BROWN (1894-1987). He married on April 25, 1942, Jacksonville, Florida, to Minerva Maxine DeWITT (1921-1992), the daughter of Herbert Howell DeWITT (1880-1952) and Josephine Rebecca (EDWARDS) DeWITT (1885-1958). He served with the U.S. Navy during World War II, and just prior to the outbreak of the Korean War, he enlisted with the U.S. Air Force. During the Korean War Master Sergeant BROWN was a crew member of a B-29A Superfortress Bomber with the 371st Bomber Squadron, 307th Bomber Wing based at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa. On September 13, 1952, while making a bomb run on the Suiho Hydroelectric Plant, his aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire. He was listed as Missing in Action and was presumed dead on February 28, 1954. Master Sergeant BROWN was awarded the Air Medal, the Purple Heart, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal. There is a gravestone in his honor at the Mount Zion Cemetery, Adams County, Iowa. Master Sergeant BROWN was thirty-five years old.

Submitted by Sharon R. Becker, April of 2009