"Bet you never knew you had a Lindbergh in the family."

Richard Carroll Brown was born May 16, 1920 in Hamilton, NY to Daniel D. Brown (1894-1950) from Binghamton, NY and Kathryn C. Carroll (1893-1956) from the Irish Free State. According to the 1930 U.S. Census, he had an older brother Daniel and two older sisters, Dorothy M. and Margaret H. (Daniel was also killed in World War II. His plane was lost over Italy). The family lived on Chester Ave. in Oneonta, NY. His father was a Detective for the Railroad, which had a large presence in Oneonta at that time. The 1940 U.S. Census recorded the family still living on Chester Ave. in Oneonta. with some changes since the 1930 Census. His younger brother Robert had been born and was now living with them and his sister Margaret had married Stuart Harrington who, along with their daughter Patricia, also lived with them.

Air Corp physical examination records show Richard had whooping cough, mumps, measles and chickenpox in childhood. He also had his tonsils out as a child. He had pneumonia and trench mouth in 1932. He broke his right ankle in 1936. Richard graduated from Oneonta High School in 1937 and was a member of the varsity baseball, football, track and basketball teams. He attended the State Teachers College in Oneonta after graduating where he played basketball and tennis.

He enlisted in the Air Corps as an Aviation Cadet on January 15, 1942 in Albany, NY. He was 6'-1” and weighed 173 pounds with green eyes and black hair. He received his commission on July 26, 1942 at Stockton, California. During WWII, Stockton Field was garrisoned by the 68th Air Base Group (Special) under the Air Corps Advance Flying School. He also spent time in August 1942 at Will Rogers Field in Oklahoma. While stationed in Oklahoma he married Miss Catherine Plaus, from Schenectady, NY a senior at Oneonta State Teachers College. He was assigned to the 67th Bomber Squadron, 44th Bomber Group, 8th Air Force and shortly thereafter flew to England.

In February of 1943 he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross serving as a co-pilot for “Maggie” a Liberator which was credited with “knocking down two German fighters and sharing in a third“ while on bomber sweeps over France. His father learned of his son's heroics while listening to the local radio. “There we were listening to the radio”, said his dad, “when all of a sudden I nearly jumped out of my chair. They were telling about Dick way over there in England being decorated, and it was quite a thrill.” Newspapers of the day were full of Maggie's feats referring to the Liberators as “streaking across the English channel with RAF fighter escorts” to pound Dunkirk and then the very next day plastering the St. Nazaire submarine base. The Brown family had much to be proud of.

Just a month later, on March 22, 1943, 1st Lt. Brown was part of a 10-man crew on B-24 No. 41-23832 on a bombing run over Wilhelmshaven Germany. There was an enemy ship yard there. According to S/Sgt. Lester G. Klug, one of the two crew members to survive this mission, after taking damage before and after the bombing run, it was necessary for the crew to bail out over the North Sea near the Island of Alte Mellum. To S/Sgt. Klug’s knowledge none of the crew was injured prior to bailing out and all chutes were accounted for in the air. After coming down in very rough seas, Klug stated he lost consciousness and was picked up by an enemy patrol boat. Two days after his capture, now in a German hospital on Helgoland, he identified the bodies of five of the aircrew. None of the survivors, nor those he identified were Lt. Brown. Lt. Richard C. Brown was presumed killed in action. His body was never recovered.  He First Lt. Lyman R. Hunter visited the Brown family later that year to present Mrs. Brown his Air Medal and two Oak Leaf Clusters.

Lt. Brown is memorialized in the Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial, Margraten, Eijsden-Margraten Municipality, Limburg, Netherlands. His name in etched on two plaques in his hometown. One just outside the main office in his local high school in Oneonta, NY and another in Neawha Park, in Oneonta, NY.

Forever Promise Project. This service member is honored at the Netherlands American Cemetery, where every name on the Tablets of the Missing has been “adopted” by the Dutch since 1945. To learn more about the adoption program and be placed in contact with the Dutch adopter of your loved one, please visit the Forever Promise Project https://www.foreverpromise.org/ 

If you notice anything erroneous in this profile or have additional information to contribute to it, please contact Jim Greenberg at nez13820@gmail.com.

Sources:

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56297159/richard-carroll-brown: accessed 02 March 2023), memorial page for 1Lt Richard Carroll Brown (16 May 1920–22 Mar 1943), Find a Grave Memorial ID 56297159, citing Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial, Margraten, Eijsden-Margraten Municipality, Limburg, Netherlands; Maintained by Loren Bender (contributor 47060026). 

History California Posts, Campus, Stations and Airfields, accessed July 20, 2022 at http://militarymuseum.org/StocktonField.html

Individual Deceased Personnel File, IDPF for Brown, Richard C., O-727,161 1st Lt. Air Corps Germany, photocopy of manila folder including images of official documents on status of recovery of body. 85 pages.

Lt. Richard Brown Reported Missing in European Area, The Oneonta Herald, April 1, 1943.

Lt. R.C. Brown Oneonta, Wins Flying Cross, Oneonta Herald, Feb 25, 1943.

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

Oneonta flying Cadet To Graduate Soon, Oneonta Herald, July 23, 1942.

Year:1940; Census Place:Oneonta, Otsego, New York; Roll:m-t0627-02717; Page:8B; Enumeration District:39-32

Year:1930; Census Place:Oneonta, Otsego, New York; Page:8B; Enumeration District:0027; FHL microfilm:2341370

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