Harold Brown

Harold H. Brown (August 19, 1924 – January 12, 2023) was a U.S. Army Air Force officer who served during World War II as a combat fighter pilot with the 332nd Fighter Group, best known as the Tuskegee Airmen. Brown's P-51C aircraft was shot down in the European Theatre of World War II and he became a prisoner of war. Early life Brown was born August 19, 1924, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In his autobiography Keep your Airspeed Up Brown says he developed a passion for flying as a teen. Brown claims to have read everything he could at the local library, about airplanes. He claims that two major influences on his passion for flying were the book The Life of an Army Corps Cadet: Randolph field, west Point of the Air, and a 1938 movie called The Dawn Patrol. He saved up $35 for flying lessons in a Piper J-3 Cub and at $7 a lesson he ran out of money before completing the program. Brown graduated from high school In June 1942, at just seventeen years old, he graduated from North High School (Minneapolis). World War II Brown developed an interest in becoming a pilot in his youth. After graduating from high school, he applied to the military to become a pilot. He was underweight so he was instructed to gain weight. After gaining weight to reach the 128.75 pound threshold he was accepted to the Tuskegee Institute for flight training. While he had experienced some racial discrimination in Minnesota, Brown was upset by having to abide by Jim Crow segregation practices when off-base in Alabama. He limited his exposure to racism by spending most of his time in local black communities.