Honoree: Jeffery S. Brown


Jeffery S. Brown
Dates: Died August 8, 2006
Hometown: Trinity Center, CA
Branch of Service: Army
Rank: Sergeant
Player: Cameron Tankersley

Sergeant Jeffery S. Brown, 25, of Trinity Center, Calif., was assigned to the 82nd Medical Company, Air Ambulance, at Fort Riley, KS. He died August 8, 2006, when his UH-60 Black Hawk crashed into a lake near Rutbah, Iraq. His remains were subsequently recovered on August 10, 2006.

SGT Brown started as a fullback on the football team that won the Northern California State Championship at Trinity High School, where he graduated in 2000. He enlisted in the Army the following July and was on his second deployment to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom when he passed. SGT Brown receive a Bronze Star and an Air Medal for his work aboard the aircraft. The officials said they believed SGT Brown had made a heroic effort to land the Black Hawk.

SGT Brown was an outdoorsman, loved riding motorcycles and came to embody California’s “laid-back” lifestyle among his peers. Dan Ledbetter, a fellow soldier, said, “Flying and pulling duty with him was always such a joy. Smiling, happy and playing the guitar is how I’ll remember him.”

SGT Brown is survived by his father Edwin and mother Diane.