Harold
Brown
Lt. Colonel, U.S. Air
Force (Retired), 1943 - 1965
Harold Brown flew with the
famed "Tuskegee Airmen"
fighter pilot group in World
War II. Named after a flight
training facility in Tuskegee,
AL the Tuskegee
Airmen comprised the four
squadrons of the Army Air Corps'
332nd fighter pilot group.
In what had been labeled as
an "experimental"
army program, the men were the
first African American fighter
pilots to fly combat missions
in U.S. history.
Members of the 332nd fighter
pilot group encountered numerous
political obstacles before being
able to participate in combat
missions, Brown said. Once allowed
to fight, however, the group
posted an outstanding record,
never losing a single bomber.
"Most of us just fell in
love with the airplanes",
said Brown of World War II fighter
pilots. "Those were the
days when if an aircraft flew
overhead, everyone looked up
to see."
Brown, who spent 23 years in
postwar military service, today
lives in Columbus, Ohio. There
he runs a consulting firm, and
also owns an Internet service
provider called Net Express.
Prior to his latest enterprises,
Brown had been vice president
of academic affairs at Ohio
state university.
Brown who graduated from north
High School in Minneapolis,
said his love of airplanes dates
back to childhood, when he dreamed
of being a pilot while building
model airplanes reading books
like "The Life of a Flying
Cadet."
"I read that book so many
times, I could practically recite
it from memory," Brown
said with a chuckle.
Exerpts above from the article:
War veterans sought
for city's fourth of July parade
Originally printed in the Edina
Sun on July 20, 2001
more
info>> |
