Raymond Ralph Brown
PFC Raymond R. Brown was a Marine Corps gunner who flew with VMSB-241.
He was shot down and reported missing in the battle of Midway on 4 June 1942.
Branch
Marine Corps Regular
Service Number 249584
Current Status
Remains not recovered.
Pursuit Category
Based on circumstances of loss, this individual is considered permanently non-recoverable.
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
January 11, 1912
at Clarina, IA
Parents
Raymond Presley Brown
Nina Pearl (Waterman) Brown
Education
Westport High School
Occupation & Employer
Details unknown
Service Life
Entered Service
August 9, 1940
at Dallas, TX
Home Of Record
Houston, TX
Next Of Kin
Mother, Mrs. Nina Brown
Military Specialty
Radioman/Gunner
Primary Unit
VMSB-241
Campaigns Served
Midway
Individual Decorations
Distinguished Flying Cross
Purple Heart
Additional Service Details
Brown served in the inactive USMC Reserve from 1935 to 1939.
Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
Private First Class Raymond Brown was a Marine radioman and gunner with VMSB-241, a scout-bomber squadron based at Midway Island in 1942. He was part of the First Section, Second Division, and usually flew with “a curly haired giant” from Spokane, 2Lt. Bruce H. Ek, as his pilot.
At 0610 hours on 4 June 1942, VMSB-241 took off from Midway and rendezvoused at “Point Affirm” – a safe distance from the airfield, out of the way of an incoming Japanese strike force. A radio message sent them on course to attack an enemy carrier; a two-hour flight brought them within sight of the IJN Hiryū. The carrier sent up a wall of flak, and her fighters quickly climbed to engage the unescorted American bombers.
In the chaos and violence of the attack, Brown’s Dauntless (SBD-2 #2184) fell victim to a Japanese fighter or anti-aircraft gunner. No eyewitness accounts report seeing Ek and Brown fall, but they did not return from the Hiryū strike. Both Marines were officially declared dead on 5 June 1943.
Burial Information or Disposition
Shot down at sea; remains not recovered.
Next Of Kin Address
Address of mother, Mrs. Nina P. Brown.
Location Of Loss
Brown was shot down at an unspecified point after departing from Midway.
