Lucky Bag Yearbook

From the 1961 Lucky Bag:

FRANK MONROE BROWN, JR.

Brownie — 5th Company

Brownie came to Navy via a detour to Lehigh University where his engineering studies and experiences at many fraternity parties gave him a good foundation with which to make the best of life here at the Academy. He’s been able to use his musical abilities to good advantage in the Drum and Bugle Corps and Concert Band. Frank, along with the salt air and brisk breezes that accompanied ocean sailing, could often be bound aboard the Freedom. His love for challenges and excitement will certainly be welcome in Navy Air.

Loss

Frank was lost when the F-4B Phantom II (BuNo 152315) he was piloting crashed into the South China Sea following a bad catapult shot from USS Constellation (CV 64) at 0435 local time on September 19, 1966.

Other Information

From the November 1966 issue of Shipmate:

Lt. Frank M. Brown, Jr., USN, died on 19 Sept. in an aircraft accident at sea in the Far East, while serving as a pilot in USS CONSTELLATION. Memorial services were held at the Airman Memorial Chapel, Naval Air Station, Miramar, Calif., and in the First Methodist Church at Tunkhannock, Pa.

Lt. Brown, who was born in Scranton, Pa., attended Lehigh University a year before entering the Naval Academy, from where he was graduated in 1961. As a midshipman he was a member of the sailing team, the Drum and Bugle Corps and the concert band. He was designated a naval aviator at Pensacola, Fla., with further training at Meridian, Miss., and Beeville, Tex. He served as an instructor at the Combat Information Center at Glance, Ga., and in Phantom RAG (F4s) at Key West, Fla. His duty stations included VG-31 at Naval Air Station Cecil Field, Jacksonville; in USS Saratoga, and in VG-151, NAS Miramar.

He is survived by his widow, the former Marguerite Riley…; his father, Mr. Frank M. Brown of Tunkhannock; his mother, Mrs. Robert Kizer of Towanda, Pa., and a grandmother, Mrs. Dorothy Brown of Tunkhannock.

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Congressman Joseph L. Carrigg appointed Frank as an alternate to the Naval Academy in May, 1957.

In July, 1963, Frank married Marguerite Caroline Riley at the St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Brunswick, Georgia. He was stationed at Glynco Air Station.

Per the Tunkhannock New Age newspaper on January 20, 1966: Frank “flies as a radar intercept officer with Fighter Squadron 31, home-based at Oceana Naval Air Station, Virginia Beach, Va. During operations at sea, the squadron operates from the attack carrier USS Saratoga.

“As a radar intercept officer, occupying the second seat of the two-place, all-weather fighter F-4B ‘Phantom II,’ his duties evolve about the radar fire control system which launches the Phantom’s Sparrow III and Sidewinder air-to-air missiles. His compartment contains radar equipment which establishes contact with enemy aircraft, gives directions to the missiles after it has been fired and guides it to the target.

“His plane is one of the world’s most versatile and powerful aircraft. The Phantom II is a twin-engine jet, capable of reaching speeds in excess of 1,600 miles per hour and can climb to altitudes above 100,000 feet. It has a wing span of 38 feet and overall length is 58 feet, 3 inches.”

He has a memory marker in Arlington National Cemetery.

Photographs

From the November 1966 issue of Shipmate.

From the Tunkhannock New Age on December 13, 1962

Remembrances

From Virtual Wall:

I served with Frank, on my second tour during the early days of Rolling Thunder, with USN Fighter Squadron 151. Our squadron flew the F-4 Phantom.

Frank and his RIO, David Henry, went down in the South China Sea after a bad cat shot, fully loaded with bombs and fuel. They were serving their country, the same as all Vietnam Veterans did.

Our squadron lost other air crews that have not made it to the Virtual Wall, yet. A couple of other guys in my squadron ended up spending the remainder of their war in the Hanoi Hilton. As I was leaving my third tour (September, 1967) we lost another air crew - but I’m not sure who they were.

Do not forget these men, and all the others, who have given their lives to defend our country! Freedom is not Free! Rich Knoch, VF-151 (1965-67), richknoch@cs.com, 20 Jun 2005

From Wall of Faces:

Frank Brown was my Dad’s first cousin. I never met him, he died 4 months before I was born. I have his photo and have thought about him often over the years and wondered what he was like. My grandmother loved him very much and spoke very highly of him when I was growing up.

I want to say how much I appreciate the sacrifice he made for the sake of freedom. Even though I never met him, I don’t think I will ever forget him. DANIEL J. BROWN, 12/11/02

Deck Log

The deck log of USS Constellation (CV 64) makes only this reference to Frank: “0435 aircraft side number 112, F-4B, Lt Brown pilot, went into water. Vogelgesang assumed search and rescue duty.” The ship was located at roughly 18° 43.5’N, 107° 42.0’E; this was further north — closer to North Vietnam — than Yankee Station.

Memorials

Frank is among those names on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. As his loss was not due directly to hostile action, though, he does not appear in the Vietnam War section of the Killed In Action panel in Memorial Hall.

Memorial Hall Error?

Frank is not listed on the killed in action panel in the front of Memorial Hall. While not an obvious error, inclusion on the panel for crashes like this (incidental to combat flights) has been inconsistent across WWII, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.