Stories of Honor: Korean War vet Ray Brown, USMC, served on the USS Saipan off coast of South Korea | Local

Ray’s uncle Albert, fought within the Pacific Theater of Operations throughout World Struggle II, at Guadalcanal and the Philippines. His older brother, Allen W. Brown Jr., enlisted within the Marines in 1949. He underwent infantry coaching and later attended the U.S. Naval Academy.

Following his ordination as an Episcopal priest, he served a tour of obligation in Vietnam, incomes the Bronze Star and the Legion of Advantage. In 2016, Al died from a mixture of Agent Orange publicity and post-traumatic stress dysfunction.

Ray’s youthful brother, Reed, was assigned as chaplain assistant for chaplains at Parris Island, South Carolina. After his tour of obligation, he was ordained as an Episcopal priest and earned a Ph.D. in psychiatry.

And Ray joined the Marines in September 1951. He served for 3 years and sailed around the globe on the plane provider USS Saipan, which included a six-month stint off the coast of South Korea close to the top of the Korean Struggle.

After incomes a bachelor’s diploma from Brown College, he graduated from Philadelphia Divinity College, now the Episcopal Divinity College.

“Briefly, three brothers served within the Marine Corps, and all Episcopal clergymen,” he stated.

Brown graduated from Hoosac Excessive, Hoosac, New York, in 1951. He stated his solely sport was soccer, “since I used to be too small for soccer.” After boot camp at Parris Island, Brown took his subsequent coaching on the Marine Corps Air Station in Cherry Level, North Carolina. Due to his pursuits in radio and airplanes, he went into aviation electronics and the bottom crews, working with the V.M.F. World Struggle II Wildcats.

Within the spring of 1952, he was assigned to the provider USS Halfway, for a six-month cruise patrolling the Mediterranean Sea, because of the widespread “concern of Communism.”

Upon their return to the air base in North Carolina, Brown underwent extra plane assist coaching, and was assigned to the third Marine Air Wing aboard the usSaipan CVL-48.

They solid off of Norfolk Naval Base in September 1953, went by the Panama Canal, and sailed on to Japan, by way of San Diego and Pearl Harbor. Subsequent got here the Saipan’s “Dwelling Away From Dwelling” within the Far East, Sasebo Harbor on the island of Kyushu.

“The Saipan joined Activity Pressure 95, a United Nations Command charged with blocking and escorting alongside the coast of South Korea,” in keeping with the guide USS SAIPAN CVL-48, VMA-324 HU-I, Far East and Across the World 1953-1954. “Duties included the reconnaissance and surveillance of the Yellow Beach of South Korea and air inspection of the ‘pleasant islands’ alongside the thirty eighth parallel.”

In January 1954, Saipan interrupted her patrols to offer air assist for Japanese-manned LSTs ferrying former Chinese language POWs from Inchon to new properties on Taiwan.

Subsequent, the provider entered Yokohama space to characterize the U.S. Navy on the Japanese “Black Ship” competition commemorating the go to of Admiral Perry and the following opening of Japan to western commerce, in keeping with the guide.

“We have been the primary ship to enter Nagasaki Harbor,” Brown associated, “and to look out from flight deck onto that wasteland the place 50,000 have been killed … I can nonetheless image that in thoughts.

“We have been met by a greeting committee from the federal government of some not-so-grateful Japanese, however everybody was nice.”

When the Indo China battle intensified in mid-April, 25 AU-type planes have been flown from the provider’s flight deck to French forces at Tourane (now DaNang) Air Base, by VMA-324 pilots.

“The Troubador pilots launched from the flight deck at a standstill within the Bay Of Tonkin, as a result of we did not need the Communists to know what we have been doing,” Brown recounted. The plane have been turned over to the French, and “Dien Bien Phu fell two weeks later, on Easter Sunday, 1954.”

They patrolled off the coast of Korea till mid-Might, earlier than returning to Sasebo. The following ports of name have been Manilla and Nagasaki, earlier than setting sail throughout the equator for Singapore and Colombo, Ceylon, to finish their voyage around the globe.

The Saipan steamed by the Suez Canal, after which on July 18, “VMA-324 was offloaded in Mayport, Florida,” the Saipan guide said, “…Norfolk and HOME was reached on 20 July.”

Employees Sgt. Brown was discharged Sept. 4, 1954, and enrolled at Brown College beneath the GI Invoice.

“I all the time advised everybody I wanted to go to a school the place I may bear in mind the identify,” he quipped.

Brown’s first task after attaining ordained priesthood, introduced him to Northwest Montana, in 1962.

In 1966, he arrived in Helena, the place he served as dean of St. Peter’s Episcopal Cathedral for 9 years. He then served as the primary Administrator of the Montana Human Rights Fee (1975-83); O.P.I., Title IX, Vocation Training (1983-86); Chief, Civil Rights Bureau, Montana Division Transportation (1986-92); and Tribal Liaison, Director’s Workplace, D.O.T. (1992-97).

Brown and his spouse Joyce have been married in 1978 at Frontier City. They’ve two kids, Nick VanBrown and Sam. Ray additionally has kids from an earlier marriage (Katharine); Ray Jr. (Capt. Montana Nationwide Guard, retired 2007), Tim, Kathy (deceased) and Lura.

His dozens of neighborhood and statewide tasks and awards are too prolonged to say right here, however his superb profile could be considered at https://digitalcommons.mtech.edu/crucible_bios/52/.

Since 2016, on the age of 84, he started managing the Marine’s Toys for Tots Montana Native American program.

Relating to his service within the Marine Corps, “It was an attention-grabbing journey and I acquired a superb training,” Brown concluded. “I don’t have a Ph. D., however I do have DD-214…”

Curt Synness, a Navy veteran, could be reached at 406-594-2878 or curt52synness@gmail.com. He’s additionally on Twitter @curtsynness_IR