Betty L. Brown transcript

Betty L. Brown was born in Graymont, Georgia on August 21, 1930, to T.F. and Clotyde (Berryhill)Lewis. Brown and her mother cared for her father after an automobile accident and, during the Great Depression, her family lost their possessions at tax season. Brown's aunt had two sons stationed at Pearl Harbor, and she learned about the war's start while visiting Brown's family. Brown describes a couple of her cousins' service experiences; one fought at the Battle of the Bulge and another fought with Major General Chennault. In her first year of high school, the high school gym was turned into a camouflage factory. The minimum age required to work there was sixteen, but Brown lied to recruiters and was immediately hired. She details the process of making camouflage and her colleagues at the factory. She also describes the silence surrounding the war in the classroom, life on rations, aluminum drives, and the day President Roosevelt died. Brown eventually married her husband, Grayson Brown, and had two sons and two daughters. She was a resident of Okeechobee, FL, at the time of her death on October 28, 2015. Her obituary can be found at https://www.okeechobeefuneralhome.com/obituaries/Betty-Brown-28/#!/Obituary.

Note written by Jenna Pope