Lloyd Brown, 86, died peacefully on Sunday, January 27, 2013 after an extended illness.
Proud of his family's soldiering since the Revolutionary War, he enlisted April 30, 1946, on his 18th birthday, joining the 10th infantry H Company where he received his combat infantryman badge and three major campaign stars. Fighting as a machine gunner through the Ardennes, numerous Rhineland crossings, Austria, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia, he also fought as part of Patton's Fifth Infantry during the "Battle of the Bulge," receiving a meritorious unit, several expert, and award citations. In Austria, Leland Bell of Clayton, Ga., he and two others captured thirty German soldiers when they was lost but convinced the high school English teacher they were surrounded, for which they were nominated for the Bronze Star. Mr. Brown worked in the Pentagon awaiting deployment to the Pacific when the war ended. His first cousin and best friend, C.L. Leigh, who also served under Patton, drove him back from Fort McPherson into civilian life, Carson-Newman College and a marriage to Audrey Christian, his high school sweetheart.
Working for a decade at the U.S. Postal Service in Rossville, as chairman of the Fund Raising Committee he mortgaged his first home in order to help build Fort Oglethorpe First Baptist. He worked hard issuing bonds to build the new church, also serving as a deacon and Sunday School teacher.
In 1962, he became a special agent with the Intelligence Division of the U.S. Treasury in Atlanta where he traced organized crime from the Northeast into the South, prosecuting major crime figures for tax evasion. He received numerous Special Achievement Awards for celebrated cases. Trained with the Secret Service in Washington he also participated in several historical details. Having received his Juris Doctorate and becoming a member of the American Bar Association in 1974, he retired from the IRS and practiced law in Atlanta and north Georgia, soon returning close to the Chickamauga Battlefield, home to his Kelly, McDonald, and Brotherton family farms.
He tirelessly served his community: Commander of VFW Post #5257; numerous Kiwanis awards during his 50-year active participation, (including Kiwanian of the Year in 1998), serving as trustee for several institutions, and a popular speaker for almost every major civic organization in downtown Chattanooga. Grateful for the New Testament given him as a p.f.c., he frequently witnessed for and worked at numerous Gideon Society events.
He was selected as Catoosa County's "Veteran of the Year" for his lifelong service to his nation. Returning to the church he had helped build, he was active in several building campaigns as well as many other roles, including his involvement with his beloved Builders Class.
He is survived by his loving wife of 64 years, Audrey C. Brown; sisters, Evelyn Morgan (Cad) and Dathyne Covington; his daughter, Christian B. Cundiff (Gary); his granddaughters, Heather Schmidt (Mike) and Caitlin Anne Cundiff; his great-grandson, Luke Michael Schmidt; niece, Kay (Tim) King; and grand-niece, Kelly (Chris) Nott and great-nephew, Morgan King.
Funeral services will be at 1 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 31, in the funeral home chapel with Reverend Jason Thomas officiating. Interment will be in National Cemetery.
Visit www.heritagefh.com to share words of comfort with the family and view the memorial tribute.
The family will receive friends from 4-9 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 30, at Heritage Funeral Home, Battlefield Parkway.