Warrior, Marine, Visionary

DAV honors Jesse Brown

He was a warrior. He was a Marine who fought in Vietnam. And after being wounded in combat, he came to know DAV, an organization that helped him discover a new purpose: being an advocate for those who served and sacrificed.

Jesse Brown, one of DAV’s most notable historic figures, enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1963. Two years later, while on patrol in the Da Nang area of Vietnam, Brown sustained a serious gunshot wound while engaged in combat. While recovering in the hospital, he was introduced to DAV, and in 1967, he joined the organization’s professional staff as a national service officer apprentice in Chicago. From there, he rose through the ranks, making helping veterans his singular focus.

“Every day he walked the earth, Jesse was looking out for disabled veterans,” said former National Adjutant Art Wilson. “It was his mission and focus. He lived, ate and slept veterans issues.”

In 1983, he was named deputy national service director, and ultimately became the first African American executive director at DAV’s Washington headquarters, serving in that role from 1988 to 1993. While there, his knowledge and passion caught the eye of then-President-elect Bill Clinton. In January 1993, Brown was chosen to become the nation’s second secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

On his watch, despite a challenging scarcity of resources, Brown delivered on a number of far-sighted goals to innovate the department, including the expansion of VA services to female veterans, homeless veterans and those who became ill due to chemical exposures in Vietnam and the Gulf War.

“No one has ever been placed at the helm of the VA who knew more about the programs he was asked to manage than Jesse Brown,” said Wilson. “And no one has ever brought to the job a greater sense of compassion for the men and women who have served in our armed forces.”

“I knew … that people like me could make a difference and ensure this nation’s commitment to her defenders was met,” Brown once said.

Brown, it seemed, refused to put politics before the needs of veterans.

“As the secretary, he personally taught DAV’s first NSO training academy. When he toured VA regional offices, he would use his authority to grant benefits immediately on hard cases,” said Washington Headquarters Executive Director Randy Reese. “Congress was so displeased that they cut his travel. It made his job a little more difficult, but it shows that he never forgot where he came from. He was still a DAV service officer at heart.”

Service is the cornerstone of DAV’s mission of empowering veterans to lead high-quality and fulfilled lives. It was Jesse Brown’s mission as well, and in 2001, DAV created what is now called the Jesse Brown Memorial Youth Scholarship in his honor. The program awards several annual scholarships to students who volunteer their time working with veterans at VA medical centers and, to date, has awarded more than $1.4 million.

“Naming the scholarship program in honor of Jesse’s life is a tribute to a man who was so instrumental to DAV and the lives of veterans everywhere,” said National Voluntary Services Director John Kleindienst. “He was a scholar and a warrior who represented the very best of our nation, and his memory will be carried forward by the outstanding young men and women receiving these scholarships.

Brown was only 58 years old when he died of ALS in 2002—but not before he helped to leave one final, lasting impact right in the heart of the nation’s capital.

After leaving office in 1997 and until his passing, Brown served as the executive director for the Disabled Veterans’ Life Memorial Foundation, championing a national memorial for those who were injured, wounded or became ill during military service.

Brown lobbied Congress to win passage of the necessary federal legislation, which was signed into law in 2000. After a decade of fundraising, the memorial began construction in 2011 and was dedicated by President Barack Obama on Oct. 5, 2014.

The American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial, within sight of the U.S. Capitol building, features two quotations from Brown, with one seeming to echo his own journey:

“There are life-threatening injuries to confront and surmount, life-changing disabilities to meet and master, and life-shaping experiences to make peace with and understand. For every tragic story of a life unraveled by military battle, there are a dozen tales of individuals who have managed to triumph over the harrowing experiences of war and ruin.”