George Frederick Brown Jr. was born January 18, 1924 in Port Dickson, Broome County, NY to George Frederick Brown Sr.(1899-1949) and Mary Camilla Reese (1899-1962). His parents were married on March 30, 1923 in Watertown, NY. His dad was original from Syracuse, NY. His mom was originally from Watertown, NY. George Jr. was the oldest of their four children which included David (1926-2015), Gary (b abt.1934) and Janet (b abt. 1936). The 1940 US Census recorded the family living on Proctor Blvd, Utica, NY. His dad was a veteran of World War I and later a traveling salesman. George graduated from Utica Free Academy in 1941. While there he was known as "Fred" and was in the French Club, the Yearbook Staff, on the Debate Team and on the Classical Club.

George registered for the draft on June 30, 1942 in Utica, NY. He was 6'-1" tall and weighted 145 pounds with blue eyes and brown hair. He was working at Savage Arms Corporation on Turner St. in Utica, NY at the time. Records are scares after he entered the service. We do know that in the summer of 1944 he completed a nine week pilot training course on four-engine bombers at Maxwell Field, Alabama. We also know that at some point he was commissioned an officer and assigned the service number O-831104.

Lt. Brown must have joined the 506 Bomb Squadron sometime after they were established at Shipdham, England as they arrived there in February 1943. We know he was at Maxwell Field, Alabama in the summer of 1944.

On March 15, 1945 Lt. Brown is awarded the Air Medal and on April 1, 1945 he is awarded an Oak Leaf Cluster for his Air Medal. Four days later, on April 5, 1945 the 506th bombed the marshaling yards at Plauen, Germany. Adverse weather conditions resulted in bombing of the secondary target, the transportation network at Plauen. Ten aircraft from the 506th participated. Lt. George F. Brown and his crew were forced down in enemy territory. Lt. Brown was flying a B-24 J-150-CO, SN #44-40-158, A/C #158, Bar Q, Tinker Belle. At the time they were in radio contact with our ships and reported the #1 engine to be feathered. They were making a controlled decent through clouds with the intent of reaching an airdrome in friendly territory. He had three P-51's for escort.

One of the surviving crew, picked up later, S/Sgt. Howard Burkhart, testified that they had lost one engine to mechanical failure before arriving at the target so they couldn't keep up with the formation. The #1 engine was feathered, #2 was on fire and Lt. Brown was wounded. Engines #3 and #4 were smoking and the radio operator, S/Sgt. Travis Nash was killed by flak. The decision was made to try to land at Brussels, Belgium but they didn't make it. Flak, along with small arms fire, got them about 60 miles east of Koln. In Norman Kiefer's A History of the 506th Bomb Squadron, pg. 641, Lt. Brown's fate was summed up by Sgt. Burkhart. "Lt. Brown had bailed out with the rest of the crew, but no one saw him again. No other information has been found to clear up the mystery of what happened to him. He eventually was determined to have been killed in action. It is possible that he was killed while parachuting, or was killed by civilians or soldiers while trying to avoid capture or even died from his head wound."

Lt. Brown's remains have never been found. He was declared killed in action on April 5, 1945. A cenotaph to him was placed in the North Watertown Cemetery, Watertown, NY.

Author's Note: There were two George Frederick Browns that graduated from Utica schools in 1941. One from Utica Free Academy (UFA) and the other from Proctor High School. I'm pretty sure Lt. George Brown Jr. was the one that graduated from UFA but care should be taken if you are doing genealogy work.

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project. This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 421,000+ of the US WWII fallen on Together We Served and Fold3.

(Please see - http://www.storiesbehindthestars.org).

Can you help us write these stories? Together We Served and Fold3/Find A Grave have smartphone apps that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery and read these stories of WWII fallen.

If you noticed anything erroneous in this profile or have additional information to contribute, please contact Jim Greenberg at jim.greenberg@oneonta.edu.

SBTSProject/New York/Oneida

Sources

Academician, Yearbook of the Utica Free Academy, Utica, NY, 1941.

Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1847-1849, 1907-1936 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016.

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/157126346/george_frederick-brown: accessed May 21, 2026), memorial page for George Frederick Brown Jr. (18 Jan 1924–5 Apr 1945), Find a Grave Memorial ID 157126346, citing North Watertown Cemetery, Watertown, Jefferson County, New York, USA; Maintained by B Rozpad (contributor 50074804).

Kiefer, Norman, "A History of the 506th Bomb Squadron, The Green-Nosed Flying 8 Balls", accessed at http://506bombsquadron.com/ on May 27, 2026.

National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; Wwii Draft Registration Cards For New York State, 10/16/1940 - 03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147

National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri: Air Force Award Cards [Air Medal]: Brooks, Samuel – Brown, Herschel; Record Group 64: Records of the National Archivews and Records Administration; NAID: 138712264;Series: Award Cards

New York State Department of Health; Albany, NY, USA; New York State Birth Index

"Promotions, Transfers of Area Service Men", The Observer-Dispatch, Utica, NY, July 2, 1944, pg. [illegible].

"U.S., School Yearbooks, 1880-2012"; School Name: Utica Free Academy; Year: 1941

Year: 1930; Census Place: Utica, Oneida, New York; Page: 2B; Enumeration District: 0152; FHL microfilm: 2341357

Supporting Documents

Full Missing Air Crew Report (MACR) 

Other Supporting Documents