Athens veteran going to 80th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy
ATHENS, Ala (WHNT) — Athens native James Cody Brown enlisted in the United States military in 2006 at just 18 years of age.
“Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to be a solder,” Brown said. “I felt like that’s what a man does that’s the way I raised that’s the way it was put across to me a man steps up and serves and he puts himself before others.”
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From 2006 to 2013, he served in the Iraq war and was also stationed in Korea.
“I grew up watching john Wayne movies and such you know yours standard fight the Germans…all that linear warfare and then we got dumped into fighting an insurgency and fighting asymmetrical warfare,” Brown said.
It’s been over a decade since Brown’s active duty, but he is still immersed in the U.S. Military and its history.
In July of 2023, Brown took up new endeavors in Frederick, Oklahoma, training to be a World War II style paratrooper.
“The persona, the way it [para-trooping] was put across on TV, through media, movies, everything else, songs – ‘Fighting soldiers from the sky,’ – I forget who sings that song, but I always wanted to be a soldier when I was a kid. I played with those green army men, and paratroopers were put across as cool so as a kid I thought paratroopers were cool,” Brown explained.
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So we asked, did jumping out of planes live up to his childhood expectations?
“I’m not jumping into combat, but it has a new meaning in this capacity because not only am I jumping, which is a thrill, but the entire point of the organization that I am with which is the World War II airborne demonstration team is to remember those guys and what they did for us,” Brown replied.
Brown, along with the other members, are styled in the same uniforms that were worn during World War II and jump in the same fashion they did 80 years ago. And soon, he will be flying to France to participate in an 80th anniversary celebration of the U.S. Troops storming the beaches of Normandy.
“It’s a great honor to go back to where these men had fought,” Brown said. “I’ve always wanted to go to the beaches of Normandy. I had a step great grandfather who actually landed at Omaha beach. I had uncles that fought in the Navy, my great grandfather who fought in the Army – its a great honor and privilege.”
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Brown’s great grandfather enlisted in World War II to be a paratrooper and broke his leg during his training jumps.
So not only is Brown fulfilling a childhood dream, he gets to honor his great grandfather.
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