Marshall Brown

ASN:34235720

Tec 5 Marshall Brown

Marshall Charles Brown registered for the draft on October 16, 1940. Born August 31, 1915, he was from Montgomery, Louisiana and employed by D.J. Brown, in Montgomery, Louisiana. 

Enlisting in the army on March 14, 1942, this twenty-five-year-old was 5’-8”, 145 pounds with a ruddy complexion, brown eyes, black hair and no other obvious physical characteristics.

Private Brown became a member of the 319th Field Artillery, A-Battery of the 82nd Airborne Division, and traveled with the battalion aboard the SS Santa Rosa to North Africa arriving in Casablanca May 10, 1943.

Company Morning Reports

Company Morning Reports were produced every morning by the individual Army units to record personnel matters. The following events for Marshall Brown were reported:

  • July 18, 1944, from duty to furlough 5 days to Birmingham, England at 0600. Station: Papillon Hall, 4 miles west of Market Harborough, Leicestershire, England WF 1406.

  • July 23, 1944, from furlough 5 days in Birmingham, England to duty 2200. Station: Papillon Hall, 4 miles west of Market Harborough, Leicestershire, England WF 1406.

  • February 16, 1945, appointed Tech 5 per letter order HQ 319th Glider FA Bn 1 Feb 1945. Station: Stavelot, Belgium VK7201, Nor D’Guerre.

  • June 19, 1945, transferred to Battery “A” 681st Glider Field Artillery Battalion, MOS 060. (cook) Station: Camp Epinal, France.

  • He also appeared in the A-Battery group photo taken June 20, 1945 in Epinal, France.

Marshall Brown fought in the major campaigns of Sicily, Naples-Foggia, Normandy, Holland, Ardennes, and Central Europe. (See photos below - courtesy of the Brown Family)

A-Battery group photo - June 20, 1945 - Epinal, France - Marshall Brown, top row, 9th soldier from the right

The Adjusted Service Rating Score (ASR) was a system the U.S. Army used at the end of the war to determine when soldiers were eligible for discharge. Tech 5 Brown was one of many “High Point” soldiers with a score over 85 points.

He departed Europe with the 319th aboard the SS Wakefield from Marseilles, France, on September 6, 1945, arriving in Boston harbor September 14, 1945. By train the men were transported to Camp Myles Standish, then to processing centers at an army facility nearest their home. Marshall Brown was discharged from the U.S. Army on September 21, 1945.

His service was awarded with the Good Conduct Medal, Distinguished Merit Badge with Oak Leaf Cluster, European/African Middle Eastern Service Medal, Belgian Fourragere, six Bronze Battle Stars, Bronze Arrowhead, Glider Badge and World War II Victory Medal.

Marshall Brown, 66, died December 26, 1981. God bless this hero.