Remembering Paul W. Brown

Just recently, a military banner sponsored by the Brown family was installed for Paul W. Brown, one of Colton’s very own. Brown grew up in Colton and attended Colton High School. He was on the varsity basketball team during this time and wasn't sure that his academics would get him to where he wanted to be. Brown eventually shifting his focus from school to the military when he and several of his friends enlisted towards the end of Fall of 1942. Brown had already signed up, as required, for the draft. He had originally wanted to join the Navy but by the time he had finished his physical and filled out all the paperwork, the Navy had closed their enlistments. Only one among the group made it in. On March 1st of 1943, Brown was drafted and had to report to Los Angeles; Brown felt that this was his chance to make a new start for himself. However, not much time passed before those feelings went away. “It appeared I had begun a nightmare,” Paul had been quoted stating. Disappointed with his induction into the Army rather than the Navy, Brown was eager to go home to his place of refuge. Brown would not see home for two years and two months. Brown was shipped out to Fort McClelland, Alabama where he began a vigorous 13-week infantry basic training course. When the training was completed, Brown was astonished with the results. “I felt I could lick the world,” he confessed. “I had tremendous stamina and physical strength.” Being in such great shape gave Brown confidence in himself that he never really had. Though he was still homesick, Brown felt a sense of accomplishment. Not long after he completed basic training, he was shipped from camp to camp before he was finally shipped overseas in early September of 1943 to a French province in North Africa where he was assigned to F Company, 2nd Battalion, 135th Regiment, 34th Infantry Division. This is where he completed his invasion training. During his training, he became very good friends with fellow Ammunition Carriers, Bill Fishinger and Eddie Frick. Once Brown finished special training, he was then transported to Anzio in Southern Italy to replace another infantry division. One morning in May 1944, the 34th Infantry Division was scheduled to be relieved by the 45th Division however, that same morning, they were attached. Soon after gun fire began, one of the rounds struck at Brown’s feet. “It was...extremely deafening and the immediate feeling was as though someone had struck me in my right leg with a baseball bat,” Brown recalled in a memoir written for his family. Brown’s assistant gunner, Ralph Kasica, was also struck from the same round and later passed away in the hospital as a result of his injuries. It was later discovered that deep wounds were covering Brown's right leg and he suffered a flesh wound in the middle of his abdomen. Surgeries, lodged shrapnel, infections, Malaria, boils, and a 21-day trip back to the States in late August of 1944 came next. In late August of 1944, Brown boarded the Steamship Chateau Thierry, an Army Hospital Ship, headed for the United States; however, the trip was delayed for at least 10 days to repair a broken crankshaft. The voyage back to the States took a total of 21 days. Brown recalled the thousands of people that had come out to pay tribute to the wounded soldiers returning home from the battlefields of WWII. “It was a very emotional experience,” he recalled in his memoir. After a short stay in an Army Hospital in Charleston, South Carolina and Dibble General Hospital in Menlo Park, California, Brown was granted leave for a long awaited visit with his family after which he reported back to the hospital where he began rehabilitation for his leg and was eventually released to a rehab facility. In April of 1945, Brown was re-assigned to Camp Haan where he was honorably discharged from the Army shortly after his arrival. Brown was honored with a combat infantry badge, 2 Bronze Stars, a Purple Heart, a European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Ribbon, a Conduct Ribbon, and a Silver Star, the 3rd highest valor achievable in the military service. After his honorable discharge, he met Hazel Smith who soon became his wife. Together, they had four daughters. After being unemployed for some time, Paul was able to find work with a trucking company, later moving to the Colton Police Department, then Matich, a railroad construction company, where he retired from after 26 years and spent the remainder of his days with his family. On his free time, Paul loved to use the computer. He would spend all day trying to gather information on people he had the pleasure of serving with. His daughter, Suzie, mentioned that it was his way of coping. When he wasn’t at the computer, Paul was often found with the Colton High School football team. He attended every practice and every game. In Brown’s later years, he struggled with congested heart failure and underwent a few bypasses. In the end, he succumbed to a bleeding ulcer in October of 2005. Following Paul’s death, the Colton High School football team put out a chair and a jersey specially made for Brown. Before every game, the football team would touch the jersey. He was also honored at the game with a moment of silence. In honor of Brown and his memory, his family had his military banner placed on La Cadena and 7th Street, in front of Centerpointe Church where all will have the chance to honor him and his service to the country.