Army Staff Sgt. Harrison Brown

Died April 8, 2007 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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31, of Prichard, Ala.; assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Benning, Ga.; died April 8 in Baghdad when his unit came in contact with enemy forces using an improvised explosive device and small-arms fire. Also killed was Pfc. David N. Simmons.

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Soldier from Prichard, Alabama, killed in Iraq

The Associated Press

MOBILE, Ala. — A soldier from Prichard was killed by a roadside bomb while riding in an Army Humvee in Iraq, family members said.

Family and friends said Army Staff Sgt. Harrison “Duck” Brown, 31, was killed April 8 while on either his third or fourth tour of duty in Iraq.

Brown’s sister, Mary Dozier of Mobile, said the married father of three was a 1994 graduate of Blount High School and had recently visited Mobile for Mardi Gras while on leave before returning to Iraq.

Brown was a wide receiver on a Blount football team that won a Class 5A state championship.

Brown had “a great attitude and was a good student,” Blount coach Ben Harris said. “If you want a son, you want one like him.”

Harris said Brown received a scholarship to play football for Tuskegee University.

Dozier said her brother was married to Delisha Brown, who also graduated from Blount in 1994. She currently lives at Fort Benning, Ga., where her husband was based.

Dozier said her brother played one year of college football at Tuskegee but left to join the Army, where he served for about 13 years.

Brown’s longtime friend Jabari Dotch described him as a hero.

“He’s my hero. Everybody needs to know he was a hero,” Dotch said

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Alabama soldier killed in Iraq eulogized as hero, role model

By Garry Mitchell

The Associated Press

PRICHARD, Ala. — A Ft. Benning, Ga.-based solider killed in Iraq was eulogized April 20 at his funeral as a “gentle giant” hero and a role model growing up in his hometown of Prichard.

More than 1,000 mourners filled the Nazaree Full Gospel Church in Mobile to bid farewell to Army Staff Sgt. Harrison “Duck” Brown, 31, who was killed April 8 in a bomb blast that hit his Humvee.

Brown, assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, at Fort Benning, was on his third tour of duty in Iraq.

“This young man is a hero. He died as a hero and from what we’ve heard today, he lived as a hero,” said the Rev. Dr. Ralph Huling, pastor of St. James Missionary Baptist Church in Columbus, Ga., where Brown, his wife, Delisha, and three daughters — 9, 12 and 14 — worshipped.

A small musical ensemble played “When the Saints Go Marching In” as the 1,200-seat church in Mobile filled. A soloist sang “Amazing Grace.” The service swelled into a hand-clapping celebration of Brown’s life.

Among those exchanging upbeat memories of Brown before his flag-draped coffin was his uncle, Hezekiah Brown of Elizabeth City, N.C., who described his nephew as a “gentle giant who never wanted to hurt anybody.”

Others remembered how Brown influenced their lives with his admirable behavior.

Blount High School coach Ben Harris recalled Brown as a wide receiver on his team from 1991 until his graduation in 1994.

“He was a fine person all around,” Harris said.

Alvin Daniels, a former Blount classmate, said it’s a sad time, but Brown liked being in the Army.

“He was a good fellow, real quiet, laid-back,” Daniels said.

Brown also played on the school’s baseball and basketball teams before enrolling at Tuskegee University, where he played football for one year on a scholarship.

Brown left Tuskegee after his freshman year and enlisted in the Army to support his growing family.

Brig. Gen. William Forrester of Fort Rucker, Ala., represented the Army at the service, with an Honor Guard also from Rucker. Brown was posthumously awarded a Bronze Star for valor and a Purple Heart.

Scores of veterans on motorcycles from the Patriot Guard escorted the funeral procession with police.

Prichard officials announced plans to name a street for Brow. Resolutions honoring Brown from the Alabama Legislature and the city of Mobile also were delivered to Brown’s family.

Burial was in the National Cemetery in Mobile.