THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, December 21, 1995 TAG: 9512190092
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 13 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY GREG GOLDFARB, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines
Alvin L. ``Buddy'' Brown was fortunate.
Despite 3 1/2 years of Army service during World War II, he was always home for Christmas.
``It made it pretty good,'' said Brown, a Kempsville resident now retired at 73. ``There was one time that I didn't think I was going to make it, because the furloughs were hard to get. But some way or another, I got home for Christmas. I lucked out.''
Before leaving for the German front lines in 1945, Brown spent three years stationed in Georgia and Florida, where his childhood home in Norfolk was just a 16- to 18-hour train ride away.
That suited Brown just fine, especially during the holidays, when he would return to his Chesterfield Heights neighborhood to see his father, a weapons and ammunition sales representative, and his mother, a homemaker who also worked in a school cafeteria.
Though his parents and two older sisters were always there to share the holidays with him, Brown often missed his childhood friends who weren't able to be at home during that special time of year.
``Everybody else was scattered around,'' Brown said. ``We didn't know who was where.''
A 1941 Maury High School graduate, Brown was drafted by the Army at age 20, two years after starting work with the American Tobacco Co.
Brown joined the war effort at a time when U.S. and Allied forces were flexing their muscle for a final assault on the Germans.
Inducted into the Army in Cincinnati, Brown received his basic training at Fort Eustis and spent most of the next three years at Camp Stewart, Ga., with occasional duty in Florida. Because he was stationed stateside and on the East Coast, getting home for the holidays always worked out.
That changed on Jan. 8, 1945, when Brown was transferred to Germany, where his armored division penetrated deep into enemy territory and onward toward an uncertain future.
``We kept on going,'' said Brown, who operated a half-track assault vehicle. ``We were 90 miles south of Berlin when the order came to stop.''
They stopped on V-E Day, May 8, 1945, and Brown held out hope that perhaps soon the war would be over and maybe he could get home in time for Christmas.
Brown's division, which won three battle stars, remained in Germany until Aug. 4, when it was transferred back to the States. Brown and his buddies were in New York harbor on V-J Day, Aug. 14, 1945, when the war ended.
``Things were changing pretty fast near the end,'' said Brown. ``When we came back, we were told that we were going to be given a short furlough, and then on to Japan. But that never happened.''
Brown stayed in New York until December, before being transferred to the Fort Meade separation center in Maryland, where he was discharged as a 23-year-old corporal on Dec. 14, 1945. He returned home to his family as a ``war hero'' that same day - just in time for Christmas.
``I was out of the service and I was still single,'' said Brown, who went on to work for 40 more years as a supervisor with the tobacco company. ``Others wanted to re-enlist, but I wanted to get out anytime they told me to. I'm sure that was the best Christmas of my life.''
It also marked the last Christmas he would spend as a single war veteran.
Brown and his wife, Alice, recently celebrated their 49th wedding anniversary. They'll be spending this Christmas with their three daughters and their families, including six grandchildren. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by STEVE EARLEY
Alvin L. ``Buddy'' Brown, a Virginia Beach resident, knows he was
among the lucky soldiers.
by CNB