DoD Identifies Army Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

First Lieutenant Tyler H. Brown, 26, of Atlanta, Georgia, died September 14, 2004, in Ar Ramadi, Iraq, when his unit was attacked by enemy forces using small arms fire. Brown was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, Camp Hovey, Tongduchon City, Korea.

The incident is under investigation.

For further information related to this release, call Army Public Affairs at (703) 692-2000.

His classmates at Woodward Academy considered Tyler Brown a "politician in the making."

"He loved to do things for people and never took 'no' for an answer," said Jonathan Cooper, a friend and classmate at Woodward Academy. "He was patriotic, red, white and blue to the core, and we figured he could be president some day."
 

First Lt. Tyler Brown poses at the 'world's most dangerous golf course' near South Korea's 
Demilitarized Zone in this undated photo. Army 1st Lt. Tyler Hall Brown of Atlanta was killed in action Tuesday, September 14, 2004, with his battalion 70 miles west of Baghdad, Iraq

U.S. Army First LieutenantTyler Hall Brown, senior class president at Woodward Academy and Class of 2001 student body president at Georgia Tech, was killed in action Tuesday with his battalion 70 miles west of Baghdad, Iraq. He was 26.

Brown will be buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery on September 28, 2004. A funeral will be held Wednesday at the Cathedral of St. Philip in Atlanta.

His family has established a scholarship fund in his name, said Georgia Tech spokesman Joe Irwin. In lieu of flowers, donations should be made to the Georgia Tech Foundation, Irwin said.

Friends thronged to the Brookhaven home of Brown's parents, Carey and Sally Brown, as word spread Wednesday. Many more telephoned and sent messages of condolence.

"He died for the country he loved, doing what he wanted to do," said older brother Brent Brown, 33. "He lived well and died a hero. He lived life to the fullest, he truly did. He became a role model to me."

Brown said his kid brother "fell in love with politics and our political system" on a trip to Washington while the older brother worked as a summer intern for the late Sen. Paul Coverdell (R-Georgia).

The same man tough enough to earn paratrooper's wings and complete the rigorous Army Ranger training course also had the appreciation for manners to start an etiquette program with his fraternity, Kappa Alpha, Brent Brown said.

The young soldier had traveled widely — to "every continent but Antarctica," his brother said. He said his brother's travels "strengthened him as a person and a soldier. He experienced so many cultures, he saw the good and bad side of humanity.

"We talked to him by phone from Kuwait. . . . He wouldn't talk about his missions. He just said he had the 'best equipment' and the food was excellent. 'Surprisingly very good' is what he said. That it was hot."

Soldiers 'ambushed'

Tyler Brown, who was single, graduated with dual bachelor of science degrees in management and in history, society and technology. Commissioned from the ROTC program at Tech, he was deployed to Iraq early last month from South Korea, among 3,600 troops from the Army's 2nd Infantry Division.

Bob Boulia, public affairs spokesman at Atlanta's Fort McPherson, said the young soldier was killed by small arms fire when his unit, a battalion of the 9th Infantry Regiment, was attacked by insurgents in the Iraqi town of Ar Ramadi.

Details were not available, although Boulia said the soldiers were "ambushed."

A "casualty notification team" — a chaplain and another officer from Fort McPherson — notified Brown's parents at their Brookhaven home Wednesday morning, Boulia said.

"I think in 26 years he touched more lives than most people do in their entire life," said Walker Houk, his brother-in-law.

Bagpipes are played outside of a funeral for Army 1st Lt. Tyler Hall Brown

Friends and loved ones gathered at the Cathedral of St. Philip
for a funeral in honor of Army First Lieutenant Tyler Hall Brown

  ATLANTA - A soldier who was killed in Iraq last week saved the lives of his men by warning them about the sniper fire while lying mortally wounded, his commanding officer said.

Army First Lieutenant Tyler Hall Brown was "an inspirational leader, both on the field of battle and off. In numerous enemy contacts, he was calm, leading his men with bravery and aplomb," Captain Daniel M. Gade said in e-mails to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution this week.

Brown, 26, was killed September 14, 2004, in the town of Ar Ramadi, about 70 miles east of Baghdad, when he was hit in the upper thigh and bled to death, Gade said. "He died of his wounds rather quickly," he wrote from Iraq.

The sniper, who fired at long range, got away, Gade added.

The former Georgia Tech student body president was honored Wednesday in a funeral at the Cathedral of St. Philip in Atlanta. Brown will be buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery on Tuesday.

Gade, 29, said he and Brown became friends in South Korea, where their 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, had been deployed before going to Iraq. The Army unit had been in the Middle East for only two weeks before the sniper attack.

Brown had been approved for service in the 3rd Infantry Regiment, known as the Old Guard, which patrols the Tomb of the Unknowns and serves as an escort on military burials at Arlington, but he instead chose to join his battalion in Iraq "over this prestigious assignment," Gade said.

"Tyler was the finest officer I've ever known ... he loved his men, and they loved him in return," he said.

  Photo Courtesy of Holly, August 2005

Webmaster: Michael Robert Patterson