Stanley Allen Brines was mason, haberdasher and a WWII veteran who was one of the first U.S. Navy Seals. Born in Boulder, Colorado on May 1, 1926, to Everett Hugh Brines 1890-1984 and Daisy Irene (Allen) Brines 1893-1975. Stan grew up living next to the Hydro-Electric Power Plant his father helped operate in Boulder Canyon outside of Boulder, Colorado. In his autobiography Stan wrote of his days growing up there as wonderful, carefree, happy days growing up in the canyon with his five brothers and sisters, Everett Dale, LuReta June Renfro, Homer Glenn Bill, Dorothy Irene Smith, and Thomas Elbert. Stan was the youngest. The familys little home set-up on a natural terrace above Boulder Creek. Stan and his older brother Tom played outside without care. They called us twins, Stan said. We were just two years apart and were the same height. He said they played outside until his mother called them in for dinner. As a kid they would run to a neighbors hay barn and jump and play in the hay until the farmer would run them off. The family lived on meager wages but got by. The boys used a .22 caliber rifle to shoot deer to put meat on the table even when it was off season. After graduating from Boulder High School he joined the Navy and became a frogman in what would become the elite Navy Seals. I didnt want to be drafted so I joined the Navy, Stan said. I was such a green horn, unworldly, home grown, mountain boy. What a great learning experience the Navy was about to impress (on me). He went to the Great Lakes boot camp for three months of training in Oct of 1944. After a quick leave at home he was back and volunteering for an elite group in Fort Pierce, Florida whos mission was to reconnoiter prospective landing beaches and lead assault forces in the cover of darkness. The Navy called the training program code-name Amphibious Roger but today they are known as the U.S. Navy SEAL program. The first day Stan was surprised they trained hard before breakfast, unlike boot camp. Im OK, I thought. I can do this bring it on, Stan recalled. WOW! Did they ever bring it on. They hit us hard. In the next few days many of the new fellow warriors dropped out. I wanted to go home bad, but not by giving up. He was part of a unit of seven, an officer (ensign) and six men. That was a new concept but today that would be a seal team. They started their day running down the beach, swimming, hand to hand combat instruction, under water demolition, fire arms, jujitsu falls, holds and breaks as well as disarming a sentry in silence. Never forget you are fighting for your life, Stan said his mantra became. He learned the 13 vital points to kill a person, how to live behind enemy lines and find food with no rations available. He even swam in snake infested waters. He said many dropped out and only seven units finished. He even ended his grueling training with a 32 mile forced march. After extensive training Roger Unit #3, as it was called, shipped out to the Asian Pacific Theater of the war. SACO (pronounced SOCKO), Sino-American Cooperative Organization, was a U.S. Naval Group which operated during World War II behind Japanese lines with support of the Chinese. The casualties were low and the group success fully rescued 76 downed airmen and engaged the Japanese with sabotage and combat. Stan drove 1072 miles of the famed Burma Road in a convoy of big transport trucks, 50 6x6 army trucks up the mud sliding narrow roads from Ledo, India to Kunming, China. I had no regrets in leaving China with such a short visit, Stan said. My memories of china and all the worn and beaten people are just not that good. It is a place that I would not want to return. His fond memories were bargaining with merchants on the streets of the very fragrant and often stinky streets of India before he returned home. The war was suddenly over and with Stan sending all his pay home he barely had enough train fare to get him home. Only enough for a pint of milk on the train. After a leave Stan was shipped to his new assignment. They assigned him to a post in the Aleutian Islands, Alaska until his discharge from the Navy 18 June 1946. After the war Stan went to the University of Colorado on the GI Bill. I knew that it was best for me to further my education, Stan recalled. He took English courses but ended up quitting after three quarters. He designed and built many beautiful homes and commercial buildings in and around the Boulder-Denver area. He did it with his two brothers Bill and Dale, called Brines Construction Company. I went to work with a hammer and a nail sack from the lumber yard. I knew nothing about building a house, but Bill and Dale got the idea that they knew where to begin, he said. Stan eventually settled into a profession as a masonry contractor. He married Joanne Arden Pulver a Boulder native about 1949. Together they had a daughter named Jeannine Leslie Brines. That marriage ended after six years. Stanley married Carol Suzanne Mullinex 16 Dec 1958. She had a son named Pat Anderson. Susanne and Stan had a son together Richard Allen Brines in 1962. Then that made us hers, mine and ours. All five of us, Stan recalled. Im not sure what we survived on but it must have been much love. They lived in a small duplex in on North Street in Boulder until he built his own house later. I became involved in the brick masons association of Colorado, Stan said. Stan was a member of the Boulder Cosmopolitan Club, a social activities group, where he was two-time club president. The happy couple was also involved in church. After 30 years in the masonry business building subdivisions Stan decided to call it quits with his company Brines Inc. I laid off my employees and put my equipment up for sale, Stan said. In 1976 they made a professional change to become shop owners in Estes Park, Colorado, a tourist town in the Rockies. The beauty and calmness of this small town seemed to be the draw for us, he said. They sold outerwear and novelties in various shops for the tourists and made a profit. Neither of us knew anything about the business, but the seller assured us he would teach us all that was needed, Stan said. Over the years they established four lovely shops only to have them destroyed after a dam broke during the Lawn Lake flood of 1982. They watched from high ground as the ragging waters entered the town and swept away their stores and with them their livelihood. Its too much to bear, I cried, Stan recalled. Relocating to Fort Collins Stan was semi-retired with his wife of 48 years. Here I am 56-years-old. I cant just stop, Stan said. So he invented and made homemade novelty items to sell. In his retirement years Stan enjoyed playing pool, drawing house plans and being the number one gourd artist in Fort Collins. He sold his art as far away as Japan, even boasting a small show of his art in a gallery in Japan. His art was on display in art galleries around Fort Collins and Parker, Colorado. All of my ups and downs, I shared with the Lord, and he always blessed me, Stan wrote in 2005. Because of him, I have been all the way around the world. I ventured into many different types of businesses, with great success. My marriage to Suzanne is my greatest achievement and joy. Stan died 6 May 2007 in Fort Collins. He is buried at Fort Logan National Cemetery in Denver. Sources: US Census Records, Brines Book of Tales an autobiography by Stanley Allen Brines 2006, Obituary Coloradoan May 9, 2007, U.S. City Directories
Posted on: Mon, 04 Aug 2014 00:42:11 +0000
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