The November meeting of the Thomasville Chapter National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) featured an interesting program by Col. Joseph E. Brown, U.S. Army (ret.) who spoke about his father, Col. Harry Brown, a member of the “Greatest Generation.” 

Brown was introduced by his wife, Theresa Brown, a member of the Thomasville Chapter DAR. He is a graduate of Georgia Tech. As a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army, Brown served under Gen. William Westmoreland in the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. He also taught at West Point, worked abroad at the American Embassy in Germany, served in Vietnam and the Pentagon before retiring. 

Harry Brown, the father of Joe Brown was born on November 9, 1896. He was raised on a farm in Dallas, Georgia. After graduation from Dallas High School in 1914, he attended the University of Georgia and studied scientific management, which is known as industrial engineering today. 

While at Georgia, Brown joined the First Squadron, Georgia Cavalry with the Georgia National Guard and was deployed on June 19, 1916 to help secure the Mexican border. The unit deployed to Europe on October 7, 1918, one month before the war ended, and Brown continued to serve in Europe through 1919. 

After his service as a sergeant major in World War I, Brown moved to Chicago to work at the Chicago Trust Company during the Roaring 20s. He joined the Illinois National Guard and was commissioned as a first lieutenant. 

After leaving the National Guard, he moved to Minnesota to serve as a hospital administrator in Minneapolis. During that time, he met and married a nurse and their son, Joe was born in 1937. 

At age 46, Harry Brown decided he wanted to join the Army Air Corps as a captain. In October 1942, he deployed to the First Bomb Wing in England and served with Gen. Curtis LeMay. They trained bombardiers who learned the key cities in Germany and helped direct the targeting of bombs during World War II. Brown also served under Gen. Omar Bradley to help with the refugees generated during the war and was decorated for his service. Tactical actions that Brown was involved with included contacting Gen. George Patton at the direction of Gen. Bradley to prepare and execute a counterattack during the Battle of the Bulge.

In 1945, Brown was made the chief administrative officer for the VA hospital that Gen. Bradley was running. He was in charge of locating new VA hospitals and homes and running the VA hospitals. Brown then became the head of the Federal Civil Defense for the Southeastern Region. Since there were worries about nuclear attacks of major cities, Brown decided to move the headquarters from Atlanta to Thomasville. 

Brown also served as a deputy administrator of the Federal Civil Defense in Battle Creek, Michigan. After that, he was selected to lead the Department of Water Resources in North Carolina for Governor Hodges and Governor Sanford and worked with the hurricane relief efforts.

After the program, Thomasville Chapter DAR Regent Charlotte Brown thanked Col. Brown and announced that the chapter plans to donate the book, “Twenty-One Steps: Guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier” by Jeff Gottesfeld and illustrated by Matt Tavares, to the Thomas County Public Library in his honor. November 11, 2021, marked the 100th anniversary of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.

Chapter Regent Charlotte Brown also thanked veterans in attendance at the November meeting. Veterans were recognized for service, identifying their name, rank, and branch and received a lapel pin displaying an eagle and the American flag with the word veteran.

The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution was founded in 1890 to promote historic preservation, education, and patriotism. Its members are descended from the patriots who won American independence during the Revolutionary War. With more than 190,000 members in approximately 3,000 chapters worldwide, DAR is one of the world’s largest and most active service organizations. More than one million women have joined the DAR since it was founded. To learn more about the work of today’s DAR, visit www.DAR.org.

For more information about the Thomasville Chapter DAR, visit thomasville.georgiastatedar.org or the Chapter’s Facebook page at facebook.com/ThomasvilleChapterNSDAR