JACKSON - Two Mississippi soldiers who shared the same last name were among the latest casualties of the war in Iraq.
Spc. Larry K. Brown, a graduate of Bailey Magnet High School in Jackson, was killed last week while fighting in Iraq, the U.S. Department of Defense said Tuesday.
Cpl. Henry L. Brown of Natchez was killed in Iraq on Tuesday, his mother, Rhonda James-Brown told The Associated Press today.
Both men were 22.
Rhonda James-Brown said military officials came to her home in Natchez on Tuesday morning with the news. She said the details of his death have not been released.
"He was my only son, my only baby - I don't want to believe he's gone," she said.
Mrs. Brown, 50, said she was told by military officials that some type of mortar round exploded on the building where here son was located.
She said her son's wife was in Kuwait and it would be a few days before she would return to this country.
"She said she would send the body back home, back to us," Rhonda James-Brown said.
Henry Brown was a member of the Army's HHC 2nd Brigade Command Group Unit 93 200 in Fort Stewart, Ga.
The Defense Department did not immediately release any details about Larry Brown's death, except to say that he was killed in action Saturday. His family lives in Jackson.
Larry Brown was assigned to the Army's C Company, 1st Battalion, 41st Infantry Regiment of Fort Riley, Kan. He joined the Army on Oct. 19, 2000, and had been stationed at Fort Riley as an infantryman since April, 20, 2001.
"He just felt like he wanted to be doing more," said his mother, Rosemary Brown. "He was doing what he wanted to do. We were all proud."
His sister, 16-year-old LaKeidra Davis, said her brother seemed happy when he called her from Kuwait on March 12. She remembered her brother's passion for basketball and his sense of humor.
"He was very comforting at bad times. He always had the right thing to say," she said. "He used to make me laugh …. He'd make a joke about anything; it would be so funny."
Henry Brown graduated from Natchez High School in 1999, where he was a member of the JROTC. He taught Sunday school to children between the ages of 7 and 14 at Greater New Bethel Missionary Church.
"You could come to him and talk to him about anything," said Natchez High senior Jonathan Baldwin.
Frank Woods Jr., one of Henry Brown's best friends, described him as a person of deep faith.
"He was a family-oriented person, a person of religious background, someone you could always depend on. If he had it, it was yours," Woods said.
Larry Brown, who also graduated in 1999, played basketball, baseball and ran track at Bailey Magnet High School, but his sister said basketball was her brother's passion.
"He always wanted me to date a basketball player," LaKeidra Davis said.
Geometry teacher Stacy Windham, who taught Larry Brown and currently teaches Davis, said she remembered Larry Brown as a very polite person who got along well with others.
She said a proud Lakeidra Davis had brought pictures of her brother to class last week.
"He looked very handsome in his uniform," Windham said. "I keep seeing that picture of him smiling. I think he would understand he was fighting for a greater good."
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