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thedrifter
11-03-06, 06:34 AM
Of honor, sacrifice and enduring faith
Friday, November 03, 2006
BY MARK DiIONNO
Star-Ledger Staff

Ken Brown was talking about his younger brother, Donny, the teenager who followed him into the Marines.

"I tried to talk him out of it. I told him flat-out what was going on over there. But he had a mind of his own. He did what he wanted to do."

Ken Brown, who did four years in the Marine Corps and three tours in the Iraqi triangle of hell -- Baghdad, Ramadi and Fallujah -- said this without anger or regret. Just practiced Marine composure, his hands at ease on the dining room table in his parents' split-level in Succasunna. The Marine acceptance that death happens.

Like the death of Marine Cpl. Tyler S. Trovillion, whom Ken Brown describes as "not a blood brother, but a brother nonetheless." Trovillion fought side-by-side with Ken Brown in the first 1st Marine Division, and died in Ramadi the same way Ken Brown's blood brother would die two years later. A roadside bomb. Ken Brown wears a band with Trovillion's name on his right wrist.

Now Sgt. Ken Brown, only 23, has lost his blood brother, his kid brother, Marine Lance Cpl. Donald Steven Brown, killed in Haditha, Iraq, Oct. 25.

Don Brown was 19. One year removed from high school graduation and one year into a four-year hitch. Already engaged to be married to a girl from right down the street. The youngest of four children of Philip and Annette Brown.

He was a kid like so many who have died in Iraq recently. A fresh recruit. A kid who knew the full risk, but believed in service to his country. A kid next door to you or me, or the Doremus family of Succasunna, who are flying their front yard American flag at half-staff in his honor. A son, a brother, a nephew, an uncle, or in some cases, a sister, daughter, niece or aunt. Sooner or later this war comes home to everyone. Don Brown was the seventh Marine or soldier from Morris County to die in Iraq, the 62nd with ties to New Jersey, and one of 2,815 Americans. Two-thirds of them have been between the ages of 18 and 25.

"He told me he wanted to be a history teacher, but first he wanted to be a part of history," said Annette Brown, Don's mother, not through tears, but the practiced composure of a military mom who, too, knew the risks.

And like so many families who endure this loss through so many decades of so many wars, the Browns want to leave the controversy and political posturing to others, and instead speak of pride and honor and faith.

"We don't want any negative spin on this," said Philip Brown, the dead Marine's father. "Don's gone. We lost a son and that's sad. But I have no hard feelings against the president, the Marines or the country. We were proud of Ken and we're proud of Don.

"He made up his mind to go and he went. Ken talked to him and told him what was what, but that didn't dent his determination. He wanted to be a Marine. He wanted to be a Marine sniper. He wanted to be one of the best. He found honor in that."

And so on Wednesday night, the day before Pfc. Donald Brown's funeral with full military honors, the family gathered. Ken, up from Florida where he goes to college, brother Joshua and sister Michele Riera and their kids. Aunts and uncles and friends. A driveway filled with cars from Michigan, New York, Florida and New Jersey.

There was laughter. There were stories. Photo albums were passed around. There were also quiet gatherings in hallways and foyers and rooms off the expansive living room and dining room, with its table fully extended to hold a dozen people, and the kitchen, where plates and cups and utensils were stacked for the next large feeding of those people over the next days.

One of the children sat on the arm of a living room love seat, swinging her feet and singing, "When you're happy and you know it, clap your hands ..." soaking up the attention in a room full of aunts and uncles and grandparents the way only a 4-year-old princess can.

"When you're happy and you know it stomp your feet ..."

No one moved to quiet the girl, because she was not breaking a pall.

"You hear joking and celebration and that's how we're dealing with it," said Philip Brown. "We believe Don's in heaven with our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. We believe we'll all be together again and if there's parties in heaven, we'll have a big one because he has a lot of relatives that believe the same way."

Ken Brown talked about his brother through different stages of their life: the pesky kid who used to flail on him the way little brothers do; the competitive high-schooler who used to ask their track coach about Kenny's old times so he could aim for them; the young Marine who wanted to use the military and its training and education benefits as a foundation for the rest of his life.

A normal kid who wanted a normal life. He wanted to be a history teacher, but first he wanted to be a part of history. And now he is.

Mark DiIonno may be reached at mdiionno@starledger.com.

Ellie