BROWN, JAMES AUSTON

Name: James Auston Brown
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: 362nd Engineer Company, 588th Engineer Battalion, 20th Engineer Brigade
Date of Birth: 18 September 1949
Home City of Record: Humboldt TN
Date of Loss: 12 August 1970
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 112518N 1061627E (XT390628)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Boat
Refno: 1656
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S.
Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families,
published sources, interviews. Updated by the P.O.W. NETWORK in 1998.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On August 12, 1970, SP4 James A. Brown was serving as an engineer
in South Vietnam. He was assigned to the 32nd Engineer Company, 588th
Battalion. At abou 1730 hours, while bathing in a river in Tay Ninh Province
(about 25 miles west of the city of Chon Thanh), SP4 Brown lost his footing
and was swept downstream. Immediate rescue efforts were made, but were
unsuccessful. The next day, extensive water, ground and aerial searches were
made without success. SP4 Brown was on a non-duty position at the time he
was lost.

Although some U.S. Government records state that SP4 Brown was lost on a
boat, U.S. Army records relate the loss to a drowning in the river, and no
mention is made of a boat.

James Austin is one of nearly 2500 Americans who are still missing from the
Vietnam War. Although it seems clear that Brown died the day he was missing,
he is listed among the missing because no remains were ever found to return
home.

The cases of others who are missing are not as clear. Some were known
captives; others were in radio contact with search teams. Still others were
alive and well when last seen, but simply vanished.

Since American military involvement in Southeast Asia ended in 1975,
thousands of refugee reports have been received by the U.S. Government
indicating to many authorities that hundreds of Americans are still alive,
held captive by communist governments of Southeast Asia. Reports continue to
come in, haunting not only those who care for these men and want them home,
but also those who fear for the next generation who goes to fight for their
country.

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