09/02/2026
Sometimes, the slightest tug on a string can unravel a host of connections that somehow lead back to York, Pa. It happens so often that I have begun to believe York must be the center of the universe.
Earlier this week, Jenny DeJesus Marshall, a volunteer and current board president with the Friends of Lebanon Cemetery, sent me a short newspaper obituary about a young man who was killed in Vietnam in 1966. He was from Washington, D.C., and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery—not Lebanon Cemetery. So why did she send me his picture?
Perhaps it was because the life and sacrifice of PFC Jack M. Brown Jr. deserve to be remembered through more than the four or five sentences that appeared in a local newspaper. Those few sentences, however, provide a glimpse into the remarkable life of a young leader whose future was cut tragically short.
“The brother of a York woman was killed in action this week in Vietnam,” the article began. (July 27, 1966)
PFC Jack M. Brown Jr., 23, of Washington, D.C., was the brother of York resident Dolores Brown Woodyard. He died from gunshot wounds sustained during a military operation against guerrilla forces. He had already received the Purple Heart in April 1966 for injuries suffered in an earlier combat action.
After completing airborne training at Fort Benning, Georgia, in January 1966, Brown deployed to Vietnam with the U.S. Army’s 25th Infantry Division, known as “Tropic Lightning.” The division began deploying to South Vietnam between late 1965 and early 1966 and continued serving there until its withdrawal to Hawaii in 1970 and 1971.
Military service was not Brown’s first demonstration of promise or leadership.
A native of Washington, D.C., he graduated from Paul Laurence Dunbar High School in 1963 and later attended Nebraska Wesleyan University. Before enlisting in the Army, he worked at the Pentagon. He completed basic training and leadership school at Fort Gordon, Georgia, where he served as a platoon leader and received a leadership training award.
Even today, Dunbar High School proudly describes itself with the words, “Rooted in Legacy. Rising in Excellence,” and declares itself a place “Where History Meets Achievement.”
Those words seem fitting when remembering Jack Brown.
Established in 1870 as the Preparatory High School for Colored Youth, Paul Laurence Dunbar High School became the first public high school for African American students in the United States. It has long represented resilience, educational achievement, and the determination of Black students to reach their full potential despite the barriers placed before them.
The Dunbar name also carries special significance in York.
The school was named for the celebrated African American poet Paul Laurence Dunbar. His wife, author, educator, journalist, and activist Alice Dunbar-Nelson, spoke in York on several occasions. While here, she stayed at the home of Etha Cowles Armstrong. Both women participated in the struggle for women’s voting rights during the suffrage movement.
Jack Brown’s military service reveals another connection to York.
Fourteen years before Brown served with the 25th Infantry Division in Vietnam, Yorker PFC Addison R. Wilson served as a military police officer with the same division during the Korean War. Wilson was the son of Ella Mae Reed and Ramsay Wilson. He later returned to York but died at his home at only 28 years old following a lengthy illness.
Brown and Wilson were two young Black men connected to York who served their country as members of the same distinguished Army division during two different wars. Both demonstrated leadership, accepted enormous responsibilities at young ages, and made sacrifices that should never be forgotten.
Today, PFC Jack M. Brown Jr. rests at Arlington National Cemetery. PFC Addison R. Wilson is interred at Lebanon Cemetery in North York. Although their final resting places are separated by nearly 100 miles, both cemeteries participate in Wreaths Across America, a national effort dedicated to remembering fallen veterans, honoring those who serve, and teaching future generations the value of freedom.
Unfortunately, when researching Black history, we often discover that little evidence remains of lives once filled with promise, achievement, family, and service. For generations, the names and accomplishments of African Americans were frequently omitted from newspapers and historical records unless they were connected to a crime or tragedy. Entire lives were sometimes reduced to a few sentences—or excluded altogether.
That is why we must continue telling these stories.
We remember PFC Jack M. Brown Jr. not only because of how he died, but because of how he lived: as a student, Pentagon employee, soldier, award-winning leader, brother, and son. We remember the connection that brought his story to York through his sister, Dolores Brown Woodyard. We also remember PFC Addison R. Wilson and the shared experiences that connect the Brown, Woodyard, and Wilson families across generations.
Their stories remind us to speak the names of those who served, preserve the histories that were overlooked, and share these examples with our young people. In doing so, we instill pride, strengthen their understanding of the past, and encourage them to recognize and live up to their own natural potential.
A short obituary may have introduced us to Jack Brown, but those few sentences do not define the full measure of his life.
Sixty years after his death, it is not too late to honor him.
PFC Jack M. Brown Jr. was here. He lived. He led. He served. He sacrificed.
And through the threads of history, family, military service, and remembrance, his story found its way back to York.
*****
Samantha L. Dorm, Advisor
Friends of Lebanon Cemetery
Sept 1, 2026
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