Nathan Patrick Brown
Private First Class, U.S. Army
Operation Iraqi Freedom

Nathan Patrick Brown was born on 13 June 1982 in Glens Falls, NY, the son of Ricky L. and Kathy J. Ryan Brown. He attended South Glens Falls High School.

Nathan enjoyed paint ball, computers, playing his bass guitar, music, and video games. He also liked fantasy novels and being with his family and friends in the National Guard. Nathan was always a history enthusiast and his family thought he would have been a politician someday.

At the time of his deployment to Iraq, Nathan was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 108th Infantry, 1st Armored Division, Army National Guard, Glens Falls, NY. At mid-morning on Easter Sunday, 11 April 2004, Nathan and thirty other soldiers were on their way back to base in 5-ton trucks after completing a six-day mission in the desert. However, they were first given orders to push insurgents out of Samarra and back to the south. The usually busy streets of Samarra, located sixty miles north of Baghdad, were quiet. About 2-3 minutes before Nathan's unit was to dismount, a Rifle Propelled Grenade (RPG) fired by an insurgent struck Nathan in the chest, just above his armor vest, killing him instantly. Three other soldiers from the National Guard were injured in the ambush. At the time of his death, Nathan had only been in Iraq for six weeks.

Medals and Awards

Bronze Star Medal
Purple Heart
New York State Medal of Valor

Burial and Honors

Funeral services for Private First Class Nathan Patrick Brown were held in St. Alphonsus Church and he was buried with full military honors at Gerald B.H. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery. Shots echoed across rolling green hills and cornfields as a seven-member rifle team fired its salute.

Nathan also received a special honor when members of the 3rd Battalion, 142nd Aviation Regiment of the New York Army National Guard flew five UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters from Albany International Airport to the service in a Missing Man Formation.

In addition to his parents, survivors included his brother, Christopher L. Brown of South Glens Falls; two sisters, Megan R. Brown and Victoria L. Brown of South Glens Falls; half-brother, Matthew Secor of South Glens Falls; half-sister, Sarah Secor of South Glens Falls; his fiancee, Sara Grace Hill of Queensbury; maternal grandmother, Beatrice I. Ryan of South Glens Falls; grandfather and World War II veteran, Paul H. Ryan Sr. of Dothan, AL.; paternal grandparents, Raymond and Josie Brown of Glens Falls; great-grandmother, Lillian Wooley of Queensbury; great-grandfather, Amarante Chavez of Albuquerque, NM; several aunts, uncles and cousins; and his special friends, Bobby Brooks, Andrew Cormier, Josh Tucker, Greg O'Malley, Rob Havens, Keith Stewart and all his buddies who served with him in Iraq.