Rhonda Brown was at work 10 years ago when she was summoned by her boss.
It was Mother’s Day.
Rhonda said she had no idea what to expect, especially when she was told to grab her purse. Did someone need to borrow her car? Was her husband OK?
She received a crushing revelation moments later without a word being said when she stepped into an office and saw her preacher.
“When I saw him, I just dropped to my knees and cried,” said Rhonda, still remembering the pain in vivid detail. “I knew my baby was gone.”
Her son, Army Spc. Jeremy Lynn Brown, had been killed serving his country in Afghanistan just days before his 21st birthday. He was on foot patrol near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, a hotspot for hostility, when his unit was attacked by insurgents. Four other soldiers were wounded.
On the 10-year anniversary of his death on May 9, Spc. Brown remains the last Warren County soldier killed in the line of duty.
“He hadn’t called me on Mother’s Day and that wasn’t like him at all,” said Rhonda. “If he had to sneak a phone from his sergeant, I figured he would call me on Mother’s Day, even if he was in Afghanistan.”
Brown’s death triggered a spectacle of support unlike any seen in Warren County for a least a generation. The community mourned openly, and together, as the Brown family was embraced during the loss of its youngest son.
“There are a few places in town that still have his picture hanging on the wall,” said Rhonda on Wednesday. “People haven’t forgotten Jeremy and this town has been so good to us. I had a lady bring me a newspaper the other day that had our family on the front page. It was from a few days after Jeremy was killed. It was so nice of her to think of me.”
With this being Mother’s Day weekend, Rhonda said the flood of emotions has already started to return.
“There’s Mother’s Day and then Jeremy’s birthday is May 15 so I guess you could say May is a bad month for me, but I make it,” said Rhonda. “People ask me how I do it, how I make it through, and I tell them I have another son. I have grandbabies. I have a lot to live for. The Lord doesn’t take unless He gives back and I have two wonderful grandbabies.”
Jeremy is the son of Mac and Rhonda Brown. His older brother is Christopher.
Jeremy grew up in the Mt. Leo community and was known for his competitiveness. He wasn’t big in size, but he had scrappiness and was praised by his ball coaches for his relentless effort.
It was that attitude that had his father worried when Jeremy was deployed to Afghanistan.
“He always wanted to bang heads with somebody who was bigger than he was and he didn’t ever back down” said Mac days after his son was killed. “That’s what scared me about him going to Afghanistan. He wasn’t afraid of anything.”
Rhonda called Jeremy her Miracle Baby because she didn’t want to get pregnant again after having Christopher.
“I was 28 when Christopher was born and didn’t want to have another so I had my tubes tied,” said Rhonda. “Seven years later, I had Jeremy so I call him my Miracle Baby.”
Jeremy graduated from Warren County High School in May 2007, joined the Army less than a month later on June 11, and was stationed out of Ft. Campbell.
When Spc. Brown was eventually deployed to Afghanistan, he was stationed in a toxic region. It was an area that saw five soldiers get killed in the two months leading up to his death, including three from his battalion in the 101st Airborne Division.
Brown came from a military family. His enlistment continued a family legacy that boasts more than 75 years of military service with both his grandfathers, Willard Brown and William “Pee Wee” Reed, serving in World War II.
But for all its years of military service, the Brown family never had a member killed in the line of duty. It was a sacrifice that was felt throughout the community.
Brown was flown into Warren County Memorial Airport a week after his death. Despite steady rain and a nippy Sunday morning, local residents gathered at the airport parking lot and along the highway to show their support. Many held a sign in one hand and an umbrella in the other.
After landing, Brown’s plane taxied under three water salutes provided by local firetrucks. Rhonda clutched the casket and sobbed loudly when her son was wheeled off the plane.
Spc. Brown was laid to rest two days later on Tuesday, May 18.
Crowds lined the streets and tears poured from the heart as the funeral procession made its way from High Funeral Home to Mt. View Cemetery. College Street was closed to traffic due to the large volume of people gathering nearby.
The funeral procession, which measured about a mile in length, took a long route to the cemetery to accommodate all the local residents who wanted to extend their sympathy.
Several military officials expressed amazement at the large crowds at the airport and along the funeral route. Several said they have performed military funerals all over the country and never seen such a tremendous turnout.
A letter written by his mother was read at Jeremy’s funeral.
“You gave your life so I, and your daddy, and all of America can lay down at night and go to sleep,” wrote Rhonda. “I pray to God to keep you close until I can see you again. It makes me proud to know I’ve had a son as brave as you were. It’s been an honor for me that you were my son.”
Among his long list of accomplishments, Spc. Brown was awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star by the President of the United States. He has a local school gym and a bridge named in his honor.
