Roy Brown, Jr.

Roy Brown Jr. was born on November 27, 1920 to Roy and Grace Brown and grew up in Runnells, Iowa.

Roy joined the U.S. Army from Iowa and was a member of Company I, 126th Infantry Regiment, 32nd Infantry Division.

On December 2, 1942, his unit was forced into intense engagement with Japanese forces in the vicinity of Soputa-Sanananda Track in the Australian Territory of Papua (present-day Papua New Guinea). Pvt Brown was reported missing in action and presumed dead when he could not be accounted for by his unit.

On February 2, 1943, Graves Registration personnel recovered a set of unidentified remains from near Sanananda Road and buried them at the U.S. Temporary Cemetery Soputa #1. The remains could not be individually identified at the time, and were eventually classified as "unidentifiable" and interred at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines. DPAA historians concluded that this set of remains was likely associated with the Buna and Sanananda campaign, prompting its transfer to the DPAA Laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base in May 2017.

On May 14, 2019, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Pvt. Roy Brown Jr., missing from World War II.

To identify Brown’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.

Mr. Brown will lie in state at Hamilton’s Funeral Home, 605 Lyon Street, for those wanting to pay respects on Friday, August 28th from 9 a.m. -3 p.m.

There will be a public service for Pvt. Roy Brown Jr. on Saturday August 29th at 11 AM at Hamilton’s Funeral Home, A procession will follow to Lowman Cemetery in Runnells, Iowa where full military honors will be presented.

He is survived by his distant cousins, Don (Linda) Bower and Bev (Charles “Walt”) Erickson.

Roy was preceded in death by his parents, Roy Brown Sr., who honorably served in WWI and died in 1968, and Grace Brown who died in 1957. He was also preceded in death by his uncle Grover Brown, who he will be buried next to and share a gravestone.

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