Timothy D. Brown
Specialist, United States Army National Guard
October 7, 1982 – November 4, 2005
Age – 23
Cedar Springs, MI
Operation Iraqi Freedom
1st Battalion Company B, 125th Infantry, Michigan National Guard, Saginaw, MI
Killed when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle during combat operations in Habbaniyah, Iraq.
As a child, Tim Brown used to play soldier with his friends in the woods near his home. After the September 11 terrorist attacks, Brown decided to live his dream of becoming a soldier by joining the Michigan Army National Guard, where he served in the infantry. Brown always wanted to be a soldier since he was a little kid. Brown was an outdoorsman who loved hunting and camping, and soccer.
He was over in Iraq doing his job. He used to e-mail his parents and tell them he was safe and sound because he didn’t want them to worry. He told other members of the family about the horror of war, but he kept the bad stuff away from his parents. He felt what he was doing was important and that most of the people he saw in Iraq were glad they were there. He really loved the kids over there and liked helping them joked that everyone loved having the kids around because it meant nobody was going to shoot at them.
Brown — who joined the Michigan Army National Guard in October 2003 after graduating from Cedar Springs High School — had been scheduled for leave the war in October. But he stepped aside to allow another soldier — who had a family — to take his place instead, saying that the other soldier needed a break from the conflict more than he did.