➤ Click 'Read More' below for complete bio.
THE TRAGEDY OF THE U.S. AIR FORCE "TEXAS TOWER 4"
Sunday Evening · January 15, 1961 · 7:28pm*
*Texas Tower 4 disappeared from the radar screen on a nearby navy supply ship, the USNS New Bedford — presumably the time of its collapse.
Vincent Garrett 'Brownie' Brown - age 43
A welder with the civilian repair crew on TT4
· In the attached group photo (taken in the summer of 1960), Vincent is in the back row, 3rd from the left (he appears to be sitting on the edge of the boat).
Died At Sea - when Texas Tower 4 collapsed into the north Atlantic Ocean
· 70 miles due south of Westhampton (Long Island), New York; 80 miles due east of Waretown, New Jersey
· Coordinates: 39°47'56.43″N 72°40'08.00″W
Cemetery & Burial Information
Type of Marker: Headstone (a cenotaph)
Vincent is buried at sea. His remains, along with the remains of 25 others, were never found or recovered.
Vincent Brown was one of the 28 American heroes whose lives were avoidably sacrificed on the night of January 15, 1961, when a U.S. Air Force radar installation known as Texas Tower 4 (TT-4, for short) collapsed into the depths of the Atlantic Ocean during a severe winter storm.
Although most of the tower's crew had been evacuated two months earlier (after Hurricane Donna had compromised its stability), a small contingent of 14 Air Force servicemen had been assigned to protect the structure and effect interim repairs, along with 14 privately contracted civilian workers. All 28 men perished on that fateful day, and the bodies of only two of the tower's victims were subsequently recovered from the Atlantic.
At the time of his death, Mr. Brown was residing in Hull, Massachusetts, with his wife (Mary), and they were the parents of five children (Vincent Jr., Frances, Chester, Marilyn, and Thomas), ranging in age from 9 to 20.
Footnotes
1. Personal information was obtained from public sources and is subject to errors and omissions. Corrections and/or additional information is welcomed.
2. Vincent's year-of-birth is based on what's inscribed on the cemetery monument. Some sources alternately state that he was born in 1918. Actual DOB unknown.
3. For a more detailed account of Texas Tower 4, refer to THE STORY BEHIND TEXAS TOWER 4, as researched and written by The Acadien (Find-A-Grave contributor #47535334), at the memorial for Raymond J. Martel.
THE TRAGEDY OF THE U.S. AIR FORCE "TEXAS TOWER 4"
Sunday Evening · January 15, 1961 · 7:28pm*
*Texas Tower 4 disappeared from the radar screen on a nearby navy supply ship, the USNS New Bedford — presumably the time of its collapse.
Vincent Garrett 'Brownie' Brown - age 43
A welder with the civilian repair crew on TT4
· In the attached group photo (taken in the summer of 1960), Vincent is in the back row, 3rd from the left (he appears to be sitting on the edge of the boat).
Died At Sea - when Texas Tower 4 collapsed into the north Atlantic Ocean
· 70 miles due south of Westhampton (Long Island), New York; 80 miles due east of Waretown, New Jersey
· Coordinates: 39°47'56.43″N 72°40'08.00″W
Cemetery & Burial Information
Type of Marker: Headstone (a cenotaph)
Vincent is buried at sea. His remains, along with the remains of 25 others, were never found or recovered.
Vincent Brown was one of the 28 American heroes whose lives were avoidably sacrificed on the night of January 15, 1961, when a U.S. Air Force radar installation known as Texas Tower 4 (TT-4, for short) collapsed into the depths of the Atlantic Ocean during a severe winter storm.
Although most of the tower's crew had been evacuated two months earlier (after Hurricane Donna had compromised its stability), a small contingent of 14 Air Force servicemen had been assigned to protect the structure and effect interim repairs, along with 14 privately contracted civilian workers. All 28 men perished on that fateful day, and the bodies of only two of the tower's victims were subsequently recovered from the Atlantic.
At the time of his death, Mr. Brown was residing in Hull, Massachusetts, with his wife (Mary), and they were the parents of five children (Vincent Jr., Frances, Chester, Marilyn, and Thomas), ranging in age from 9 to 20.
Footnotes
1. Personal information was obtained from public sources and is subject to errors and omissions. Corrections and/or additional information is welcomed.
2. Vincent's year-of-birth is based on what's inscribed on the cemetery monument. Some sources alternately state that he was born in 1918. Actual DOB unknown.
3. For a more detailed account of Texas Tower 4, refer to THE STORY BEHIND TEXAS TOWER 4, as researched and written by The Acadien (Find-A-Grave contributor #47535334), at the memorial for Raymond J. Martel.
➤ Click 'Read More' below for complete bio.
THE TRAGEDY OF THE U.S. AIR FORCE "TEXAS TOWER 4"
Sunday Evening · January 15, 1961 · 7:28pm*
*Texas Tower 4 disappeared from the radar screen on a nearby navy supply ship, the USNS New Bedford — presumably the time of its collapse.
Vincent Garrett 'Brownie' Brown - age 43
A welder with the civilian repair crew on TT4
· In the attached group photo (taken in the summer of 1960), Vincent is in the back row, 3rd from the left (he appears to be sitting on the edge of the boat).
Died At Sea - when Texas Tower 4 collapsed into the north Atlantic Ocean
· 70 miles due south of Westhampton (Long Island), New York; 80 miles due east of Waretown, New Jersey
· Coordinates: 39°47'56.43″N 72°40'08.00″W
Cemetery & Burial Information
Type of Marker: Headstone (a cenotaph)
Vincent is buried at sea. His remains, along with the remains of 25 others, were never found or recovered.
Vincent Brown was one of the 28 American heroes whose lives were avoidably sacrificed on the night of January 15, 1961, when a U.S. Air Force radar installation known as Texas Tower 4 (TT-4, for short) collapsed into the depths of the Atlantic Ocean during a severe winter storm.
Although most of the tower's crew had been evacuated two months earlier (after Hurricane Donna had compromised its stability), a small contingent of 14 Air Force servicemen had been assigned to protect the structure and effect interim repairs, along with 14 privately contracted civilian workers. All 28 men perished on that fateful day, and the bodies of only two of the tower's victims were subsequently recovered from the Atlantic.
At the time of his death, Mr. Brown was residing in Hull, Massachusetts, with his wife (Mary), and they were the parents of five children (Vincent Jr., Frances, Chester, Marilyn, and Thomas), ranging in age from 9 to 20.
Footnotes
1. Personal information was obtained from public sources and is subject to errors and omissions. Corrections and/or additional information is welcomed.
2. Vincent's year-of-birth is based on what's inscribed on the cemetery monument. Some sources alternately state that he was born in 1918. Actual DOB unknown.
3. For a more detailed account of Texas Tower 4, refer to THE STORY BEHIND TEXAS TOWER 4, as researched and written by The Acadien (Find-A-Grave contributor #47535334), at the memorial for Raymond J. Martel.
THE TRAGEDY OF THE U.S. AIR FORCE "TEXAS TOWER 4"
Sunday Evening · January 15, 1961 · 7:28pm*
*Texas Tower 4 disappeared from the radar screen on a nearby navy supply ship, the USNS New Bedford — presumably the time of its collapse.
Vincent Garrett 'Brownie' Brown - age 43
A welder with the civilian repair crew on TT4
· In the attached group photo (taken in the summer of 1960), Vincent is in the back row, 3rd from the left (he appears to be sitting on the edge of the boat).
Died At Sea - when Texas Tower 4 collapsed into the north Atlantic Ocean
· 70 miles due south of Westhampton (Long Island), New York; 80 miles due east of Waretown, New Jersey
· Coordinates: 39°47'56.43″N 72°40'08.00″W
Cemetery & Burial Information
Type of Marker: Headstone (a cenotaph)
Vincent is buried at sea. His remains, along with the remains of 25 others, were never found or recovered.
Vincent Brown was one of the 28 American heroes whose lives were avoidably sacrificed on the night of January 15, 1961, when a U.S. Air Force radar installation known as Texas Tower 4 (TT-4, for short) collapsed into the depths of the Atlantic Ocean during a severe winter storm.
Although most of the tower's crew had been evacuated two months earlier (after Hurricane Donna had compromised its stability), a small contingent of 14 Air Force servicemen had been assigned to protect the structure and effect interim repairs, along with 14 privately contracted civilian workers. All 28 men perished on that fateful day, and the bodies of only two of the tower's victims were subsequently recovered from the Atlantic.
At the time of his death, Mr. Brown was residing in Hull, Massachusetts, with his wife (Mary), and they were the parents of five children (Vincent Jr., Frances, Chester, Marilyn, and Thomas), ranging in age from 9 to 20.
Footnotes
1. Personal information was obtained from public sources and is subject to errors and omissions. Corrections and/or additional information is welcomed.
2. Vincent's year-of-birth is based on what's inscribed on the cemetery monument. Some sources alternately state that he was born in 1918. Actual DOB unknown.
3. For a more detailed account of Texas Tower 4, refer to THE STORY BEHIND TEXAS TOWER 4, as researched and written by The Acadien (Find-A-Grave contributor #47535334), at the memorial for Raymond J. Martel.
Inscription
Cenotaph Inscription:
BROWN
1917 VINCENT G. 1961
LOST AT SEA FROM THE "TEXAS TOWER"
Gravesite Details
The attached cemetery monument photo is of a memorial in Vincent's honor (i.e. a cenotaph). His wife and a son were later interred at this gravesite. Photo credit to John Galluzzo of Weymouth, Massachusetts.
Family Members
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