CHAPLAIN JAMES GOOD BROWN - 381ST BG THE ONLY CHAPLAIN TO EVER FLY A COMBAT MISSION! One of the branches of all three services during WWII, often seen on newsreels but seldom talked about in the war histories, is the Chaplains branch. Covering all the denominations and often very close to the action. Chaplain James Good Brown served with the 381st Bombardment Group (H) of the Eighth US Airforce at Ridgewell Aerodrome in England, Station 167 from 1943-1945. Chaplains were forbidden to go into combat or carry a gun by International Rules of War, but after much persuasion and some local flying for familiarization he achieved his aim to fly with his boys on a combat mission. On March 2nd 1944 he flew in a B17 Flying Fortress on a mission to Frankfurt, Germany, take off 08:30am. Returned 4:30 pm. It is assumed that he is the only Chaplain to fly a combat mission! One other indication of his commitment is as follows. He was invited to preach in a London church one Sunday. There being no trains from Great Yeldham (the nearest town to Ridgewell) to London on a Sunday during the war, he cycled the 60 miles to London leaving at 12:00noon after his Ridgewell service and arriving at the London church at 6:00pm for the 6:30pm service. He then cycled back to a now very foggy Ridgewell after the service, arriving soaked from the condensation of the fog and to the surprise of the MPs on the base gate! Colonel Browns journey into the chaplaincy began before he was even born. His parents, Rev. William Henry and Minnie Ella Brown, desperately wanted a son who could follow in his fathers footsteps and join the ministry. On their third attempt -- his two elder siblings being girls -- James was born. As early as I can remember, I wanted to become a minister, Colonel Brown said. I had no choice, really. My parents wanted me to be one, so thats what I grew up wanting to be. So, while other kids his age would often get in trouble, young James was the model child. He said he never fought, lied, cheated or stole, and, to him, this was how it had to be. My parents had given me the middle name of Good, he explained. So, I felt an obligation to live up to that name and be exactly that - good. Upon graduating from high school, Colonel Brown attended Albright College in Reading, Pa., and earned a degree in theology. Wanting to learn more, he then applied and was accepted to Yale University in 1931, where he earned a divinity degree. While at Yale, Colonel Brown also became the minister for a small church in Goshen, Conn., and raised three young daughters with his first wife, Marry Curry, who he met while studying at Albright. But his search for wisdom in the hope of finding understanding was not yet satisfied, he said, and he returned to Yale in 1936 for his doctorate degree. My friends would tell me, You cant raise a family, be a minister and go back to school, he said. But I just told them that yes I could. Several years later I had my doctorate. Then, in the late 1930s, war broke out in Europe and the United States was soon involved. Each week, Colonel Brown remembers seeing fewer and fewer young men scattered among his congregation and eventually he tired of saying goodbye to so many of them. So, in 1943, Colonel Brown became a chaplain and was assigned to the 381st Bomb Group of the U.S. Army Air Forces. For the next three years he would experience both the horrors of war and the resiliency of the human spirit, each of which impacted him tremendously and shaped the way he would forever approach his own life. However, it was the men he would come to know who would have the biggest impact on him. They had a faith and a belief in what they were doing, for which they were willing to die, Colonel Brown said. These men felt it was their duty to defend democracy and they never thought twice about traveling across the world to do it ... even knowing that they may die in the process. Inspired by the men, Colonel Brown felt it his duty to lead them and provide hope as best he could on the ground, because once they were in the skies they were in Gods hands, he said. It was these times that the colonel felt the most frustrated. He remembers watching the B-17s and their crews flying off in the mornings and counting how many returned later in the day. We lost so many good men, he said. All they wanted was to return home to their wives, their children, their mothers and fathers. But instead they climbed into those planes and flew into danger. And sometimes they never came back. Tired of being left behind on the ground, Colonel Brown asked the units commander if he could go on a mission. At first, the answer was a definitive no. But the colonel kept asking until the commander eventually gave in and allowed the chaplain to fly on a mission. The commander kept telling me that I couldnt go because I was a noncombatant and he would be breaking the rules of war if he allowed me to, the colonel recounted. So, as far as I know, Im the only chaplain thats ever flown on a combat mission. Still, this one act further endeared the chaplain into the hearts of the men he served. So much so they wouldnt let him leave. Colonel Brown was the only chaplain in the 8th Air Force who served in the same unit for his entire time in the war. I can remember my fellow chaplains complaining they were constantly being bounced around from one unit to another, Colonel Brown said. Not me, though. I was with the 381st all three years I served. Colonel Brown was 41 years old when the 381st was formed. Being sometimes twice as old as the men he gave spiritual guidance to, he was more aware of the sacrifices of these young men than perhaps they were at the time they flew. Because of this, the relationship between Colonel Brown and the 381st men often resembled that of a father-son relationship. His apprehension when they took off, relief and joy on their return and grief when they did not was very apparent, said John Comer, a B-17 turret gunner with the 381st. After the war, Colonel Brown returned home and completed 50 years of active service as a minister in several Connecticut churches before he retired in 1976. He also published his first book, The Mighty Men of the 381st: Heroes All, which tells the units story during World War II. For me, it wasnt so much a book as a memorial, Colonel Brown said. Its a testament to both the living and the dead, lest we forget. Chaplain Brown, original group chaplain and legendary figure in 381st BG history, passed away on Christmas Day in 2008 at the age of 107.
Posted on: Tue, 04 Nov 2014 13:35:55 +0000
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