Forgotten no more: At 107, WWI veteran to be honored

Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2001 | 11:07 a.m.

So segregated was the U.S. Army in the early 20th century that private William Daniel Brown and other black soldiers were assigned to French units upon their arrival in France on June 14, 1918.

But Brown, the grandson of slaves, would never let bigotry or ignorance dull his love for all people.

"In my life I never cared about a person's nationality, the color of their skin or anything else because we are all God's people," said Brown, a Las Vegas resident of 27 years -- exactly one quarter of his life.

"I grew up in the country, and we all lived the same -- poor. We were all working people. There was no rich people anywhere that I knew."

Brown's contributions to the war effort were overlooked by his own government. In 1998 the French government also overlooked Brown on the 80th anniversary of the armistice, when it awarded the Legion of Honor -- its highest national award -- to 900 American World War I veterans who fought on French soil.

That oversight will be corrected Thursday on Brown's 108th birthday when he is named a Chevalier of the National Order of the Legion of Honor and receives the medal at a ceremony at Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 173.

The efforts of Brown's niece Jennie Jefferson; Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev.; the VFW; and others made it possible for the forgotten and reluctant warrior to be remembered during his lifetime.

"I never cared for war -- I have always been a man of peace," said Brown, who was born in a log cabin and was educated in a one-room school house. "I was drafted and couldn't wait until I got out. I was lucky to get out without being wounded. My brother (Johnny) was gassed and caught a little shrapnel."

Johnny Brown, one of William's eight younger siblings, lived to be 86. William Brown outlived all seven brothers and his sister. He was twice widowed and never had children.

Asked how the loss of almost everyone he has ever known and loved has affected him, Brown shares the philosophy that has gotten him through an entire century and parts of two others: "I live life one day at a time, and I don't worry about anything."

Berkley said she is amazed at Brown and how he has lived his long and fruitful life despite the prejudices he had to have faced.

"I remember being in college (in the 1960s), and black veterans of the Vietnam War would speak to us about the prejudices they faced at that time," she said. "Can you imagine what Mr. Brown had to endure in 1918?"

Brown admits that as a black man his duties were not the stuff of which motion pictures are made.

"I was assigned to repair barbwire (on a hillside trench)," Brown said. "I'd fix it at night, and the Germans would shoot it up during the day and I'd go back at night and fix it again."

Brown said being on the hill gave him an advantage against deadly mustard gas. He could see the shells explode below and get his gas mask on before the choking cloud could rise to his position.

Berkley said she looks forward to meeting Brown, noting that while both of her grandmothers and her mother lived into their 90s, she has never met anyone as old as Brown.

Brown was born on Aug. 23, 1894, in Dewitt County, Texas. He and his family faced a hard life. He lost his mother at an early age, though his laborer father lived to be 75.

"When I was a boy there was no grocery stores to go to buy your food -- you ate what you grew," he said. "If you didn't work hard and raise crops, you didn't eat."

After the war Brown left the service and returned to Cuero, Texas, where he did odd jobs. In 1935 he married his first wife, Louise. They moved to California, where Brown worked in an old soldier's home for $5 a day.

He later worked for Pacific Motor Trucking Co., hauling freight around Riverside, Calif. Louise died in 1957. Brown and his second wife, Lucille, were married for 20 years until her death in 1980.

In recent years Jefferson, who takes care of her uncle in her North Las Vegas home, became agitated when she watched TV news reports of other war veterans receiving belated honors while her uncle was constantly overlooked.

Jefferson, a local schoolteacher, started making calls. One was to the VFW, which contacted Berkley's office. An aide of the congresswoman expedited the paperwork for Brown to receive the medal from France.

The VFW, VA and other organizations are racing against the clock to find forgotten veterans such as Brown so they can receive deserved accolades before they die.

The Office of Veterans Affairs estimates that on Sept. 30 there will be only about 2,200 remaining World War I American veterans. By Sept. 30, 2005, it is expected that only about 400 will be left. That number is expected to shrink to a dozen by Sept. 30, 2013, and to one by Sept. 30, 2018, the VA says.

But Brown does not think about such statistics. He enjoys his days watching television, which he says is the greatest invention in his lifetime. He quit driving in his mid-80s. He can walk around the house without assistance, but chooses to use a walker for balance.

Brown, a member of New Jerusalem Baptist Church and VFW Post 017533, says he has never smoked and does not drink alcohol. He ate red meat for many years, but "I had to cut it out after losing my teeth," he says.

In addition to avoiding stress, Brown credits his longevity to his diet that includes oatmeal every morning and a healthy daily serving of cottage cheese.

As for unfulfilled goals, Brown, who first voted for Woodrow Wilson for president, said his greatest desire in life is to meet former President Bill Clinton, who ironically is in Las Vegas today to speak at a convention.

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