Honoring a Veteran and His Family – Mission Accomplished
In the November issue of The Vegas Voice, we shared a story about tracing the roots of a sailor, John Lawrence Brown, who was honorably discharged from the United States Navy in 1912.
A Brief Recap: Sailor Brown was born in Philadelphia and joined the Navy in 1908. As detailed in Publisher’s Dan column, he requested if I and a few genealogy researchers from the Clark County Nevada Genealogical Society could find a living relative of Brown. The goal was to return his original discharge certificate from 1912.
Our research identified potential living relatives in Pennsylvania. Although Brown had no direct descendants, we discovered possible nieces and nephews. We completed a number of online public record searches trying to locate a relative.
Unfortunately, despite sending emails, letters, and making numerous phone calls, we were unable to make contact. One letter was returned marked “not at this address,” while other calls and letters went unanswered.
A New Approach: Although disappointed, we did not give up. In today’s world, people are understandably cautious, and it’s possible that our attempts were dismissed as a potential scam.
However, after my Vegas Voice article was published in the November edition, I decided to try a different approach. One of the previous letters sent to an address in Boyertown, Pennsylvania, was not returned – perhaps it had been discarded as junk mail.
Hoping to capture their attention and confirming our intentions, I mailed the entire Vegas Voice magazine to the same address.
An Unexpected Connection: My“Honoring a Veteran” article about sailor Brown inspired a Sun City Summerlin resident to reach out to The Vegas Voice about her grandfather. She told us she had the original discharge certificate from his service in the Civil War. What a find!
The following week, I traveled to Summerlin to interview her and examine the certificate. She has quite the family story, and there will be a future article about this war veteran.
Why do I mention this? Because while I was listening to her story, my cell phone rang.
It was Diane Berko, the great-niece of John Lawrence Brown. I nearly dropped my phone. She had read my article and recognized the photos of her ancestors.
Over the next couple of months, we spoke several times to confirm our research and discuss the best way to return the Honorable Discharge Certificate. Publisher Dan’s goal and everyone at The Vegas Voice wanted to return this document with the respect and honor it deserved.
A Proper Tribute: To commemorate Brown’s service, we mounted the certificate in a shadow box alongside a narrative about his life and an American flag. We also wanted to ensure that the presentation of the shadow box to the family be meaningful.
We searched the Boyertown community for the appropriate organizations that could help facilitate such a respectful ceremony. The organizations turned out to be the American Legion, Charles B. Yerger, Post 471 and the Boyertown Historical Society. Both organizations eagerly embraced the opportunity to honor a fellow Pennsylvanian and veteran.
The shadow box was shipped to Boyertown. Last month, in a heartfelt ceremony by the American Legion Post 471, the Boyertown Historical Society staff accepted the shadow box on behalf of the Brown family.
A Heartfelt Thank You: I want to extend my deepest gratitude to The Vegas Voice and the Clark County Nevada Genealogical Society researchers (especially Sylvia “Sam” Espino Giordano and Karen Stewart) for turning Dan’s “pipe dream” to reality.
Special thanks and our appreciation go to the members of American Legion Post 471 and to Luann Zambanini of the Boyertown Historical Society for their outstanding support in coordinating this presentation.
From Dan’s original request to everyone’s involvement – Mission Accomplished.
