New York Army National Guard Pfc. Nathan P. Brown

Died April 11, 2004 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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21, of South Glens Falls, N.Y.; assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 108th Infantry, 1st Armored Division, Army National Guard, Glens Falls, N.Y.; killed April 11 when his patrol was ambushed in Samarra, Iraq.

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New York guardsman remembered with full honors

By Kirstan Conley

Associated Press

GLENS FALLS, N.Y. — An American flag and Rick Brown’s face were reflected in the windows of St. Alphonsus Church here Tuesday.

Brown stared straight ahead as the flag was draped over the silver casket of his 21-year-old son, who was killed while serving in Iraq.

About 1,000 people waited inside the church to follow the fresh-faced New York Army National Guardsmen, who eventually would lead Nathan Brown’s body along the banks of the Hudson River to his plot in the Saratoga National Cemetery.

Brown, who attended South Glens Falls High School, died April 11 when a rocket-propelled grenade hit his Humvee in Samarra, Iraq, about 60 miles north of Baghdad. The attack also injured friends from Brown’s hometown who served with him in the Army National Guard’s 2nd Battalion, 108th Infantry, based in Glens Falls.

Bishop Howard Hubbard of Albany noted how Brown’s death came on Easter Sunday, the same day people in the young soldier’s hometown celebrated the resurrection of Christ. The Christian faith, Hubbard said, is one of paradox: death brings life and suffering brings glory.

Members of Brown’s battalion carried his casket. Men in dress uniforms retired from battles dating back to World War II flushed as they strained to hold back tears.

Brown planned to get married and enroll in Adirondack Community College when he returned. Staff Sgt. Arthur Coon gave a eulogy, saying he was proud to recruit Brown. He said the military sent Brown a defective backpack, then a second one to replace it.

“He arrived to say his final goodbye and gave me the backpack,” Coon said. “It seemed like a simple gesture. He gave me the new one and kept the damaged one.”

Coon said he wants people to remember Brown’s generosity and positive attitude. He said a planned arsenal in Glens Falls should be named in Brown’s honor.

Brown’s friends, Robert Havens and Joe Nassivera, embraced after breaking down in tears as they tried to put in words what their friendship with Brown meant. Friends recalled Brown building forts, playing along the river and causing mischief.

Brown was buried with full military honors. Shots echoed across rolling green hills and cornfields as a seven-member rifle team fired its salute.

The soldier also received a special honor when members of the 3rd Battalion, 142nd Aviation Regiment of the New York Army National Guard flew five UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters from Albany International Airport to the service in a Missing Man Formation.

Maj. Gen. Thomas Maguire, a two-star general and the state’s highest-ranking National Guard officer, presented the family with a Bronze Star, a Purple Heart and a New York State Medal of Valor. The state Senate approved a resolution honoring Brown’s memory.

“What can I say and what can I do to mend the heartbreak of the family?” asked state Sen. Elizabeth Little of Warren County. “At a time when words seem very inadequate, I think the only thing we can do is through our presence and through our actions here today in this resolution and through our thoughts and prayers express our sorrow and sympathy to family and our gratitude.”

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Upstate National Guard soldier killed; four wounded

SOUTH GLENS FALLS, N.Y. — A 21-year-old soldier was killed and four other members of his upstate battalion were injured in Iraq.

Pfc. Nathan Brown of South Glens Falls died when a rocket-propelled grenade hit the Humvee he was riding in Sunday in the Iraqi town of Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad.

“A mother’s worst nightmare obviously came true for me,” his mother Kathy Brown said. “I’m very angry. It’s senseless. If they don’t want freedom, we should just leave.”

Brown was assigned to the Army National Guard’s 2nd Battalion, 108th Infantry, 1st Armored Division based in Glens Falls, about 45 miles north of Albany.

Other members of the battalion were also injured. They were identified as Staff Sgt. Troy Mechanick, 32, of Hudson Falls; Pfc. Chad Byrne, 22, of Fort Edward; Spc. Robert Hemsing Jr., 21, of Glens Falls; and a soldier from Gloversville who was not immediately identified.

“They got in a real bad firefight,” Nathan Brown’s uncle, Tom Ryan told The Associated Press. “It’s the quintessential war story about what happens in battle. This war is just so terrible. We want everyone to know that this is what happens in war, and maybe we better think twice about the consequences before going to war.”

Kathy Brown said her son, whose job was to secure transportation routes, was to be married next year. He loved the military but not the war, and had written to her about going into an orphanage in Iraq to help deliver meals to children, she said. “He did not approve of what the president was doing, I can tell you that.”

Kathy and Raymond Brown, their three surviving children and other family members plan to gather soon at the Albany International Airport to receive Nathan Brown’s body. Ryan said plans are under way for burial at the Saratoga National Cemetery.

Hemsing’s father, Robert Hemsing Sr. of Argyle, said the soldiers were riding in a Humvee down a street in Samarra when an Iraqi fired a rocket-propelled grenade from a building window and struck the vehicle.

Hemsing said he had talked three times Monday with his son, who was in a hospital in Germany. “My son said his foot is broken, he’s got injuries to both hands, and that he thought he got shot on the left side of his face and he can’t hear too well,” Hemsing said. “I feel really relieved my son’s alive.”

Gail Byrne of Fort Edward, said Monday that her son had one ear mutilated in the attack, had lost hearing in the other and had metal fragments lodged in his face.

Wayne Mechanick said he was called at 7:30 a.m. Monday and told his son was in critical condition.

Troy Mechanick’s mother, Christine Murray, said she had heard her son had suffered extensive injuries to his right side, and she said medical officials wouldn’t say whether he was paralyzed. Murray said she heard from her son, who told her he was headed to Germany for further medical care Monday.

Lt. Col. Paul Fanning, of the Joint Forces Headquarters of the New York National Guard, said Brown is the first New York Army National Guard mobilized infantry soldier to die in enemy actions since World War II. The New York guard lost two military policemen from western New York in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

“This battalion has soldiers from New York City, the Hudson Valley, the Capital District, central New York, right out to Buffalo,” he said. “We were called to help with the ice storms in 1998, with the World Trade Center, to guard nuclear sites. Now, we’re performing as combat soldiers in Iraq. We’re extremely proud of them, and most especially of Private First Class Nathan Brown, who was a volunteer, like all of us.”

— Associated Press