James Brown remembered

OWENSVILLE, Ind. - James Brown entered high school like a lot of freshmen - skinny, a little on the immature side and lacking direction, his former football coach said.

But Rick Stefanich could see the potential in Brown, as a player and a young man. He was aggressive and a competitor. And with some bulk, he could be a heck of a tight end.

Stefanich, a coach at Gibson Southern High School, pulled Brown aside and told him he could be an incredible leader. "It's just going to be a matter of which way you want to lead," Stefanich recalled saying. "Are you going to lead in a good way or are you going to lead in a negative way?"

Brown took the talk to heart, added muscle to his 6-foot-1 frame and became one of the best players on the football team.

His drive to better himself carried over into his personal life. Inspired by the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Brown joined the Marines.

He proposed to his high school sweetheart, Jamie Coleman, 19, in February and left for Iraq four months ago with the intent of returning in February to marry her.

Those plans ended Thursday, when Lance Cpl. James Brown, 20, was killed while on foot patrol in Anbar province in Iraq. He was shot in the neck with a single round of small arms fire, said Marine Staff Sgt. Tim Kosky of Terre Haute, Ind. The bullet went through his neck and severed his spine, killing Brown instantly.

Brown of Owensville was deployed from Camp Lejeune, N.C., with the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marines.

"I was worried about him," said Stefanich, who spoke with Brown before he left. Brown occasionally would stop by the football field during practice to chat. Stefanich wanted to take him and Coleman out to dinner to celebrate their engagement, but Brown was always busy with family commitments and would say, "We'll do it next time."

"Honestly, I thought if anybody could go over there and survive it, it was going to be him," Stefanich said.

Brown is survived by his father, James Ling of Evansville; mother, Joanne Van Antwerp of Owensville; sister, Carma Dart, 17; and brother, Dillen Friend, 14.

His family gathered Friday afternoon on the porch of Antwerp's mobile home. Antwerp was too emotional to talk. Brown's aunt, Mary Hess, said the family was still in shock.

"We're so proud of James for what he did," Hess, 41, said. "We hope it made a difference."

Brown was a Golden Gloves

boxer, and he enjoyed hunting and fishing.

Brown often would take Dillen with him, said one of Brown's friends, Jason Boyle, 20. He said Brown was a father figure for Dillen. "He was the only man at age 19 who I have ever met," Boyle said.

Boyle and Brown met in the third grade and had classes together through high school. After he signed up for the Marines, Brown carried around an agenda and marked down the days left until boot camp.

Brown began dating Coleman the summer before his senior year, and "he straightened up," Boyle said.

Instead of hanging out with his friends late into the weekend, Brown would get up early Sunday morning and attend church with Coleman and her grandfather.

Brown's other love was the Marines Corps.

"Whenever the World Trade Center came down, I think it was in his heart to try to make a difference to help his country," said Hess.

Hess tried to talk him out of joining the military, fearful "that I might not ever see him again" if he went to Iraq. She encouraged the community to pray for the troops, peace in Iraq and for her family so it can "make sense of all of this."

For Kosky, who delivered the death notification to Brown's mother, this was his second trip to Southern Indiana in two weeks. When Sgt. Brock Babb, 40, died Oct. 15, Kosky met with his wife, Barbara, and Babb's parents at their Evansville home.

Babb was laid to rest last week. And now Kosky will wait for Brown's body to return home.

From the Courier Press

Related Link:
James Eric Brown killed by gunfire