Eugene S. Brown transcript

Eugene Brown was born May 6, 1923 in Council Bluffs, Iowa. He moved with his family to Dubuque, Iowa and finished high school in Bloomington, Wisconsin before attending the University of Wisconsin where he was a member of ROTC. Brown was color blind, which disqualified him from joining the Navy. Instead, he joined the Army in the hopes of becoming an officer. In 1943, he joined the 78th Infantry Division and went overseas for training. Though he was not involved in the initial landing on D-Day, he arrived in France with his unit later in November 1944. He was a driver for the commanding officers of his unit, working under Colonel Frazier for the majority of his service. He was involved at the Battle of the Bulge and Remagen Bridge, Germany. He shares memories of these battles, as well as his narrative of the German surrender. He describes his encounters with French and German citizens he met while abroad. He earned the Combat Infantryman’s Badge and a Bronze Star. He was offered the Purple Heart but turned it down. Brown stated that he was a Christian, which helped his morale during the war. He recounts his experiences in Belin following the German surrender. When he returned home, he attended college under the G.I. Bill, though he never finished his degree. Brown had begun taking photographs while he was in Europe, which then expanded into a photography business after the war. Brown died March 27, 2009.