Fireman First Class (F1c) Riley Mirville Brown, United States Navy. Service Number: 3561742

Early Life

Riley Mirville Brown was born on 5 May 1918 in Littlefield, Lamb County, Texas (some records indicate he was born in Grayson County, Texas). His father was Robert L. Brown, (birth, death and occupation unknown. His mother, Ada Angeline Drake was born on 25 December 1882 in Lawrence, Tennessee and died on 19 June 1938 in Memphis, Hall County, Texas. Riley’s parents were married (unknown date/location, but after 1908). Riley was the second of four children in the family; he had an older sister and two younger brothers. Ada had been previously married in 1900 to Floyd L. Mercer (1873–1908) and they had four children, Riley’s half-siblings.

Military

Riley Mirville Brown enlisted in the U.S. Navy on 16 November 1939 in Dallas, Texas. After boot camp and additional follow-on training, he was assigned to the Battleship USS West Virginia (BB-48), which was stationed in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii when the Japanese attack occurred. He reported aboard West Virginia on 12 January 1940.

On the morning of 7 December, 1941, two bombs hit the battleship USS West Virginia (BB-48), and at least 7 torpedoes, which blew two immense holes in her port side. She did not capsize but sank to the harbor bottom. When the attack was over, 106 of her crew were killed. She was salvaged, repaired, and returned to active service in July 1944.

Death and Burial

Riley Mirville Brown was Declared Dead while Missing in Action or Lost at Sea on 7 December 1941 aboard the USS West Virginia during the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart Medal. He was memorialized at the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Honolulu, Honolulu County, Hawaii and is also memorialized at the Lakeview Cemetery in Lakeview, Hall County, Texas, Lot 20.

On the morning of December 7, 1941, during the attack on Pearl Harbor, the USS West Virginia (BB-48) was moored outboard from the USS Tennessee (BB-43). Five 18-inch aircraft torpedoes and two armor piercing bombs converted from 16-inch naval shells hit the West Virginia in its port side. The first bomb punctured the ship’s deck, causing it to collapse. The second was a dud, though it ignited aircraft fuel and sent billows of toxic smoke into the air. The enemy bombs and torpedoes killed and wounded many of those on board the battleship. While the extensive damage to the hull caused the West Virginia to sink, the crew’s efforts to keep it from capsizing meant the battleship could be salvaged, and it managed to return to service later in the war.

Fireman First Class Riley Mirville Brown, who entered the U.S. Navy from Texas, served aboard the West Virginia at the time of the Pearl Harbor attack. He was lost during the sinking and his remains have not been recovered. Today, Fireman First Class Brown is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Based on all information available, DPAA assessed the individual's case to be in the analytical category of Deferred.
Sources

https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/photography/wars-and-events

https://www.fold3.com/memorial/636582923/riley-brown

https://www.fold3.com/page/529993806/riley-mirville-brown

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/45879058/riley-m-brown

https://www.honorstates.org/index.php?id=116235

https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt00000004mprEAA
This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see https://www.storiesbehindthestars.org/). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen here on Together We Served and Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smartphone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen person's name and read his/her story.
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CDR Robert "Red" Mulvanny-Contributing Author, Stories Behind the Stars

Brown, Riley Mirville, F1c