Community celebrates WWII veteran’s 100th birthday

Aug 4, 2023

Community members gathered to celebrate Ray Brown’s 100th birthday at City Park Saturday.(Photo by Kristen Hainkel)

PARKERSBURG — Various family members, friends, and community members gathered Saturday at City Park to celebrate World War II veteran Ray Brown’s 100th birthday.

“I’m really proud of all these people,” Brown said of the attendees.

He said along with his family, he knew many of them from attending Trinity Methodist Church on 10th Avenue.

“My mother carried me in there when I was 2 years old,” Brown said.

His son Roger Brown said Brown treated others with respect.

“He’s had a good life. He has a personality to treat people with respect and dignity. He’s never lost his faith in God,” Roger Brown said, adding the number of attendees at Saturday’s event was a good tribute to his dad.

Brown served as a corporal in the 17th Airborne of the U.S. Army during WWII. He participated in the Battle of the Bulge in Bastogne, Belgium, and Operation Varsity crossing the Rhine River in northern Germany.

On Jan. 7, 1945, his unit was ordered to “take the hill,” a family issued proclamation said. He faced knee high snow depths and German attacks. Brown described that day in the proclamation as “the coldest day, the hottest day, the shortest day, the longest day,” of his life.

Brown was hospitalized for 54 days due to frozen feet and legs. After being released, he was reassigned to the 194th Glider infantry since the 193rd had perished in the Bulge.

On March 24, 1945, his unit took to the skies in two glider planes to cross the Rhine River into Northern Germany. This battle is known as Operation Varsity.

At the Parkersburg City Council meeting July 25, Mayor Tom Joyce declared Sunday, July 30, as Ray Brown Day.

“Mr. Brown is a true patriot who loves his God, Country, and family. He fought for our freedom and is truly a representative of the ‘Greatest Generation,'” Joyce said in the proclamation.

During the party, Brown wore a black baseball cap that said “100 never looked so good!”

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