ELK RIVER HEROES

In each edition of Elk River Living we feature and celebrate a member from our community. If you would like to submit someone you know, please contact Cyndi Tawney at cyndi@elkriverliving.com.

Honoring Gale Brown

(Thank you to Gale Brown and his granddaughters, Regina Conley Bethencourt and Jaimie Althage, for their wonderful help with this article)

This month ERL would like to salute honorary Veteran Gale Brown. While his journey in life resulted in him losing his eyesight after World War II, he chose to focus on what he could give back to others. At 95 years of age, he continues to exhibit compassion, strength and gratitude.

After graduating from Gauley Bridge High School, Gale went to work as a coal miner in Gamoca Coal Mines. He then discovered that as a coal miner he would be deferred from the active draft list.

Gale Brown with Company Commander, Chief Petty Officer Bartosh at Curtis Bay, MD, Jan. 1944.

For many that may have been their desire, but Gale wanted to serve in the military. He went to the draft office and rejected his deferment and he was then drafted into the united States Coast Guard in 1943. He completed his basic training in Curtis Bay, MD where he attended radio technical school. He was among the top 40 who were chosen to attend Capitol Radio Engineering Institute (CREI). After his graduation from CREI, he selected three locations for his next base assignment: Hawaii, Alaska, and Puerto Rico. He laughed and said, “The military chose for me and I found myself in Norfolk, VA at a radio repair base.”

Gale completed amphibious training while in Norfolk. They were being trained for a ship that was just being built, the LST 1148. “I helped put her in the water at Seneca,” he said. At age 19, he became the Electronics Technician in charge of all of the electronic equipment on his ship during WWII. Today, he is the only living member of the LST 1148 original crew. He also served on the uSS Finback submarine in 1946. Gale explained, “This was the same submarine that rescued downed pilot, George H. W. Bush, in 1942. We were on the same submarine, just at different times.” He stated that he also served on the USS Corporal and on the USS Medregal submarines.

Gale landed on the Island of Sasebo at the southern tip of Japan which was less than 40 miles away from Nagasaki, Japan, on October 31, 1945, just 83 days after the atomic bomb was dropped. Gale’s assignment was to salvage electronics from the kamikaze planes that were parked there. In a feature article in The Catholic University of America Magazine, (Spring 2016) Gale’s granddaughter, Regina Conley Bethencourt, wrote, “It wasn’t until many decades later that experts would change the radius exposure danger to 150 miles from the epicenter of the Nagasaki blast.”

Gale Brown and Congressman (now Chief Justice) Evan Jenkins, taken at the dedication of the new Greenbrier County Veterans Clinic in May 2017.

Gale said, “After the bombs were dropped in Japan, the war was virtually over. As a radio technician, I was not eligible for the points system for discharge, so the Navy negotiated with me so that I could be discharged if I would serve as electronics technician on the LCI 323 on its journey from San Diego to New Orleans and oversee the removal of the electrical equipment there.” Gale agreed, and was discharged at Lake Pontchartrain on March 29, 1946.

Gale had started classes in electrical engineering at the university of Maryland in September 1946 but was only about three years in when he began to experience problems with his eyesight. He then decided to transfer to Ohio State University to pursue a degree in history. Regina also wrote in her article that later in April 1951, 4 years after he was out of the service, “Doctors at Ohio State university Hospital finally linked Brown’s symptoms to Bechet’s disease, an immunological syndrome associated with low-dose ionizing radiation that destroyed his eyesight and he was declared legally blind.”

Gale Brown and United States Senator Shelley Moore Capito at the 2004 Golden Delicious Apple Festival in Clay, WV. He was the parade leader, and she was the Grand Marshal.

It was shortly after that when his eyesight continued to worsen that he decided to return to the University of Maryland and study sociology. After graduating with his sociology degree in 1952, he then trained as a teacher of the blind at The Catholic university of America. After graduating, he worked for the Maryland State Board of Education (School for the Blind) for two years. In 1956, his certification from The Catholic University of America made him the first teacher of the blind certified by the state of Maryland. Later he worked in Prince George’s County, Maryland for 14 years as a teacher of the visually handicapped. He placed the first totally blind child in Maryland public schools in 1956; this achievement was also highlighted in Regina’s article in The Catholic University of America Magazine (Spring 2016). Gale then transferred to Clay, WV where he worked as a special education teacher for 20 years.

Gale Brown received 75 Year continuous membership of the American Legion. Current member of Post #61. Gale Brown is now a 76 year member.

He is an alumni of The Catholic University of America and Capitol Radio Engineering Institute (CREI) of Washington, DC. He is also an honorary member of the USS West Virginia, one of the 24 trident nuclear submarines. He has a Masters Degree from University of Maryland and a Masters Degree plus 30 from College of Graduate Studies (COGS) in West Virginia. He has lifetime teaching certifications in both Maryland and West Virginia. He is also an advanced graduate student in Maryland and West Virginia which comes with many educational perks.

Gale has been a member of the American Legion and the VFW for 76 years and is a current member of Hoyt E. Newman Clendenin Post 61 of the American Legion in Clendenin. He was awarded a Commemorative 45 Year Perfect Attendance Pin and paid life membership from the Clay Lions Club. He served as their secretary and treasurer for 22 years. The Clay Lions Club also awarded him the Melvin Jones Award and the Leonard Jarrett Award which are the most prestigious honors given to Lions Club members in WV.

Gale Brown with Keith Townsend, President of American Legion Post #61

Gale was born May 10, 1925 in Wyndal, WV and he will celebrate his 96th birthday this year. Gale said he is proud to have had his photograph taken with notable politicians including former President Harry S. Truman, Senator Shelley Moore Capito, and Congressman Evan H. Jenkins. He also has personally met President John F. Kennedy and Helen Keller. His meeting with Heller Keller was featured in the June 2008 issue of the International Association of Lions Clubs magazine.

He has been married to Delores Hintz Brown for over 62 years and they now live in Indore, WV. He has 4 children, 18 grandchildren and 14 great grandchildren. He said, “My granddaughter, Jaimie Althage, her husband, Philip, and their children moved here to help take care of us in our elder years. Our house is filled with joy, laughter and great-grandchildren and we are so thankful.”

The Elk River community is proud to honor Gale Brown as one of our celebrated veterans.