Brown, Jesse, 1944-2002

<p>Jesse Brown (March 27, 1944 – August 15, 2002) was a veteran of the United States Marine Corps who served as United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs under President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 1997.</p>

<p>Jesse Brown was born on March 27, 1944, in Detroit, Michigan, to Lucille Marsh Brown and David Brown. He grew up in Chicago, Illinois, and graduated with honors from the City Colleges of Chicago. Married to Sylvia Scott Brown, they had two children, N. Scott Brown and Carmen Brown.</p>

<p>He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 1963, and served as a Marine in the Vietnam War, reaching the rank of Corporal. He was seriously injured in 1965 near Da Nang when he was shot in the right arm, which was left partially paralyzed.</p>

<p>Jesse Brown, wounded veteran and government official, was born on March 27, 1944 to Lucille Brown in Detroit, Michigan. His single-parent mother raised him in Chicago. Brown first attended Roosevelt University in Chicago and later graduated from Kennedy- King College in that same city.</p>

<p>In 1963, Brown enlisted into the United States Marine Corps. During the Vietnam War, he was seriously wounded while patrolling near DaNang. The injury left his right arm completely paralyzed. For his sacrifice, Brown received the Purple Heart and an honorable discharge.</p>

<p>In 1967, Brown found employment at the Chicago Bureau of the Disabled American’s Veterans (DAV). Six years later in 1973, Brown had been promoted to supervisor of the appeals office for the DAV headquarters in Washington, D.C. Within ten years, Brown became headquarters manager. In 1988, he became the DAV’s first African American executive director. In this position, he often testified on veteran health issues before Congress. He challenged Congress’s efforts to decrease veteran’s benefits and criticized the deterioration of the veteran’s hospital system. While at the agency, he also created the system for health officials to diagnose and treat post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and physical side effects of Agent Orange.</p>

Born in 1944, Jesse Brown graduated from Chicago City College, studying also at Roosevelt University and Catholic University. After serving as a U.S. Marine during the Vietnam War, Brown worked for a quarter century with the charitable organization Disabled American Veterans (DAV).He was executive director of DAV when he was selected by President Clinton in 1993 to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs. Brown returned to DAV in 1997, where he currently works as executive director of the Disabled Veterans' LIFE Memorial Foundation.