Page 41 - Senior Link Magazine Fall 2018- Online Magazine
P. 41
Claude Brown Life and Death in the Hands
of the Parachute Packer
by Larry A. Williams
days and do Airfield in Illinois for the
any necessary 3½- month parachute
repairs.” packer training. He and
a buddy had “applied
Lester C. for jump school but were
Brown was turned down.” His unit was
born on a farm assigned overseas training
near Muncy, at Atlantic City, New
Texas on Jersey. Claude recalled
April 2, 1921 “rigid combat training –
to J.M. and we marched up and down
Lee Brown. the boardwalk and our
He had one instructor made us sing
brother and before turning in for the
one sister; night. One night we balked
each died at at the singing, and he
age 52. His marched us until we started
dad was a sign singing.” The next stop
painter and was New Orleans where
sold insurance his unit was shipped out to
for a time. South America and then on
His parents to Puerto Rico for duty as
divorced an observation squadron.
when he was “My daughter Ann was
quite young. born while I was on the
His step-dad way to Puerto Rico.”
Tomme was a
t could be said that the barber. By the time Lester The 311th Troop Carrier
best friend of an airplane graduated from Lockney Squadron was transferred
Icrew during WWII was High School in May 1939, from North Carolina
the parachute packer/ he was known as Claude. to Hawaii in February
rigger. Lester “Claude” After graduation, he went 1945. While stationed in
Brown, 97, of Lockney, to work at Band-Box Hawaii, Claude found
Texas was one of those Cleaners in Lubbock, Texas. the parachutes in a state
“friends”. Somewhere He met Wilma Holcomb “at of disarray. He said he
between 700 and 1200 the dentist office in Tulia,” “brought them up to date,
soldiers died during WWII and they were married on got them in good working
when their parachutes April 12, 1942. order and began inspecting
didn’t deploy. Proper them on the required
packing of a parachute is Claude and Wilma had schedule. I think it got me
literally a matter of life or barely settled into married promoted to Sergeant.” He
death. The job description life when he was drafted was also the manager of the
for a Parachute Rigger into the Army Air Corps local PX (Post Exchange).
and Repairman (620) was on October 7, 1942. He Next, his squadron was
to “inspect the canopy, took six weeks of basic assigned to Okinawa.
rigging, and suspension training at Sheppard Field While out “on the water
lines, then to repack and in Wichita Falls, Texas and (the Pacific), the atomic
harness the chute every ten then went on to Chanute bombs were dropped on
Lubbock Senior Link 41
