William J. Brown

William J. Brown was born in April 1923 in Staten Island, New York. He remarked that he was a very active child, who never feared taking on a challenging task. Brown graduated from high school in 1941; he got a job in the shipyard where his father was employed, working as a boiler maker. He remembered President Roosevelt speaking on the radio frequently about the ongoing war in Europe. Brown figured that it would only be a matter of time before the United States became more involved in the conflict than simply sending military supplies to England.

Brown was completely shocked by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. He vividly recalled how he was playing cards at a friend’s house when the radio in the background relayed the information about the devastation in Hawaii.  It was surprising to him that the Japanese would attack the United States while Japanese emissaries were visiting Washington D.C.  Before the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt’s Executive Order 8875 created the Office of Price Administration (OPA). The OPA’s main responsibility was to place a ceiling on prices of most goods, and to limit consumption by rationing.  Americans received their first ration cards in May 1942. Brown noted that there were rationing limits on everything, including gas, food and clothing, and specific times where all lights were shut off as per the Civil Defense Council. Every American had to learn to “do without.”

Knowing that war meant he and his friends would be drafted, Brown decided that he would prefer the Naval Air Service, as he already had three maternal uncles in the Navy. He took an entrance exam, only to be turned down, as they had met their quota. Artie, a friend from high school, asked Brown to enlist in the Marine Corps with him, but Brown did not feel like he would be a good fit. Artie was killed on Guadalcanal, leaving Brown to question his own fate had he joined the Marines. Brown was interviewed by the Army; although not his first choice, it became his branch of service. Because of his previous work as a boilermaker, he was experienced in working with tools and heavy machinery, giving him mechanical skills valued by the Army.

Brown was assigned to the Armor branch of the Army. He received a haircut and a uniform, dog tags (which NEVER came off) and numerous vaccinations for everything imaginable before boarding an old, converted cargo train with other servicemen to travel across the country through the Midwest and picking others up along the way, before reaching their destination, Camp Polk (now Fort Polk), Louisiana, for basic and advanced training. Brown described what he saw along the way as very beautiful country, and places he never knew about, places he would soon travel overseas to protect.

At Camp Polk, Brown described how he was initially not thrilled to be assigned to the Armor branch, which he referred to as the Tank Corps, a World War I term; yet, once he sat down in a tank, he knew that is where he belonged. He was assigned as a driver and tank commander. Before Brown and his crew could learn more combat skills, such as using a machine gun, they were required to know basic maintenance for each part of the tank and to be able to fix and repair anything that might go wrong. Brown was up for the challenge.

Brown spoke of his uniform in Louisiana, which included leggings to go over his khaki pants, for the prevention of chiggers and snakes crawling up his legs. The variety of insects and reptiles in Louisiana were something new to a boy from New York, but he learned quickly how important it was to wear leggings and to be on the lookout for snakes.

In their free time, which was not often, Brown and three friends he made at camp would head into town to the local store to grab beer and chips and chat about what their lives were like at home. They also enjoyed the food at camp, even though it was not with their families, and they did not complain. Brown felt that the training at Camp Polk was easy for him, as he was an athletic young man, and recalled playing “cowboys and Indians” while hiding in ditches as a child. He often wrote letters home, but did not phone, since calls were very expensive.

Attention to tank maintenance was stressed in his training. Soon after completion and a couple of maneuvers, Brown’s unit, Company D of the 36th Tank Battalion of the 8th Armored Division, was sent to Europe by way of Camp Kilmer, New Jersey. His battalion boarded an old oil tanker ship, the name of which he could not recall, for the journey. After approximately five days crossing the Atlantic Ocean, they arrived in Tidworth, England in November 1944, and were soon headed to France with new tanks that had to be thoroughly cleaned before departure. Arriving at Le Havre, France, in January 1945, the division was rushed forward to the Battle of the Bulge through a blinding snowstorm, gaining the 8^th the nickname “Thundering Herd.” 

There were five tank companies in each battalion with fifteen tanks per company, plus a tank for the commander and an assault gun. A, B and C companies were armed with 3 platoons of five M4A3 Sherman tanks and Company D, Brown’s company, with M24 Chafee light tanks they had been issued in England. He said an important thing he learned as a tank commander was to never stop his tank in an advance, and always keep moving. Brown said this was usually not an issue if they had gasoline and other supplies, such as maps and radios. The men of the battalion stayed with their tanks 24/7 and used their helmets as makeshift sinks to stay clean.

In March, Brown’s battalion was ordered to advance on Rheinberg, Germany, and to capture a bridge over a canal and gain footing for allied troops. Initially successful, the battalion was soon counterattacked by Germans; the 36^th’s tanks, including his own, were hit “like ducks in a row.” After his tank was hit, Brown experienced excruciating pain in his back, and could not hear anything due to the blast.

Brown knew from hiding in ditches as a child during war games that that tactic would be his crew’s only way out of the battle. After dismounting from the disabled vehicle, he directed the crew to take cover in a nearby ditch and remain silent to avoid attention. They were, however, discovered by a sympathetic German officer who arranged for a medic to attend to a bloodied Brown and his crew. The German officer then advised them they were prisoners of war. They were given cognac and taken to a house where they were told to lay on the kitchen floor. Brown could not fall asleep due to his wounds, and he rested in an upright position as well as he could. The prisoners of war were not forced to work due to the injuries most of them had sustained at Rheinberg, and German officers provided them with more basic medical care and food, for which Brown was very grateful. Although the attack was ultimately successful for the Americans, the cost was high. Company D’s Commander lost a foot as the result of stepping on a mine, and two platoon leaders were killed in action.

Brown and his fellow POWs were sent to a farmhouse used as a base of operations for the German troops. They laid in a field until they were locked in an ambulance. The ambulance soon came under Allied fire, and the driver prepared to take off. Brown took his shoe and broke the window to escape, running to the farmhouse for cover. After entering the house, Brown and his fellow prisoners discovered German troops hiding out there, but their attention was focused more on an injured German officer than the Americans.

The American prisoners, along with Canadian prisoners, were moved to Holland, where Brown’s back injury was compounded by infection; he became increasingly ill due to the worsening infection of his back wounds. The swelling was lanced by a German medical officer, which provided some temporary relief. As the Allies advanced, Brown was transported again, this time by boxcar, which came under fire. He survived and, after three months of imprisonment, was freed by Canadian troops, who would have operated on his back, but Americans arrived and claimed him.

An American doctor finally operated on Brown and removed a large piece of shrapnel from his back at a tent hospital. He kept it with him as a souvenir, but on his return voyage to the United States, the four by one-inch piece of metal was unfortunately stolen from his belongings on the ship. Brown commented that it may have been mistaken for silver.

Brown was home on furlough when the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki; he recalled feeling relieved that the war had finally come to an end. He believed, as did many World War II veterans, that even though there was a great loss of life from the bombs, more people, civilians, and soldiers were saved overall since it ended the war.

Brown was officially honorably discharged from the Army in December 1945; he received a Purple Heart, along with a European Campaign Medal for his service to his country.

Additional Resources:

• Rheinberg After Action Report
• 36th Tank Battalion, Company D Roster