1/Sgt. Horace M Brown III. 35751793
1st Sergeant Horace M. Brown III. 35751793 US Army. He was born on October 17, 1923, in Keyser, West Virginia, the son of Horace Marshall Brown Jr. and Matilda Wickline Brown. In 1940 he was 5 foot 11 inches tall weighed 165 Pounds and had brown hair and brown eyes. He graduated from Charles Town High School in 1941. He entered the US army on January 4, 1943 at Fort Hayes Columbus Ohio, at the age of 19. He entered Company A, 253rd Infantry, 63rd Infantry Division, on October 26, 1943. He served as a Sgt in 4th Platoon. He latter served in HQ Platoon and was the 1st Sgt of the Company. There is a chance that he would have been one of the 23 remaining uninjured riflemen from Company A, 253rd Infantry on April 6, 1945 when First lieutenant, James Edward Robinson Jr. Lead them on the attack for Kreßbach.
The Next day on April 7, 1945 in the vicinity of Kreßbach Germany, when the order to withdraw was given Sgt Brown started on the mission of accounting all platoons and attached tank crews with exact route of withdrawal At this time the enemy had begun infiltrating lighting fires in barns and destroyed two of the 4 tanks Technical Sergeant Brown made his way under enemy sniper and automatic weapons fire to the platoons with the plan of withdrawal and successfully lead the company to defensive positions outside of town with minimum of casualties.
He was Awarded the Combat Infantry Badge, the Bronze Star Medal with V and Oak Leaf cluster, the Purple Heart Medal with oak leaf cluster, the Good Conduct Medal, The American Theater of operations, the European Theater of Operations Medal ETO with 2 battle star, the World War Two Victory Medal, and the Army of Occupation Medal.
After the war he married Dorothy Lee Ellen Barr in 1946. They had two children. He received a Bachelor’s degree in business from Southern Methodist University and worked for Cullum and Boren, Dallas, TX. He later attended mortuary school in Philadelphia, PA. He worked as the funeral director at Melvin T. Strider Colonial Funeral Home in Ranson, WV for 55 Years. He died on February 20, 2014, in Charles Town, West Virginia, at the age of 90, and was buried there.
1- 63rd Infantry Division records
2- Photograph and information from Marsha Wassel
3- U.S. WWII Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947
4- the 1930 United States Federal Census
5- the 1940 United States Federal Census
6- the West Virginia, Marriages Index, 1785-1971
7- U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014