Motobu, Continued: A Marine’s Best Friend and Sgt. James F. Brown

 Last week’s article featured the story of a shell-shocked and abandoned Japanese war dog named Motobu, for the north Okinawa peninsula where he was found, who was rescued by some US Marines of the 2d Battalion, 6th Marine Division, including a young man from Bossier City, Sgt. James Francis “Frank” Brown, Jr. It would be, I’d hoped, a “feel-good” story of a rescued German Shepherd and “his” Marines. But as I did more research, I learned that Motobu’s Marine Reservist Frank Brown, who attended Bossier High School and served as a volunteer Bossier City firefighter, had been killed on May 20, 1945, when he was shot in the hills of Okinawa, which were pitted with caves and passages hiding Japanese fighters. Here is more of Frank Brown and Motobu’s story.

Toward the end of the year of 23-year-old Frank Brown’s death, Bossier City got its own VFW Post. In the Post’s October, 1945 meeting, an inaugural class of candidates was accepted and initiated and a name was chosen for the new Post, Gandy-Brown. The Planters Press newspaper of Bossier City reported on Nov 1, 1945, that two young veterans were chosen as the post’s namesakes. The first was an army private in WWI, Mr. Guy Ira Gandy, who died of pneumonia after being wounded in France in 1918. The second young man was James Francis Brown Jr., described by the Press as “a Bossier City boy who was widely known throughout Bossier for his winning smile and charming personality. He was employed by the City of Bossier water department and a fireman of Bossier City…known to almost everyone as Frank.” Frank’s grandmother Mrs. Sarah Reichler of Bossier City, who raised Frank after his mother died when he was young boy, and was his “next-of-kin,” was named “Post Mother.”

Two years later on November 10, 1947, a silver star medal for Frank was presented to her, along with the permanent citation and letter, at the National Guard armory in Shreveport. The gala occasion was the Birthday Dinner held by the local Marine Reserve Unit for the USMC’s 172nd Anniversary. The medal was presented posthumously to Sgt. James F Brown Jr., Marine Corps Reserve on behalf of the president of the United States for “service as set forth in the following citation”:

…When his platoon became pinned down by heavy Japanese machine-gun fire from the flank, Sergeant Brown boldly led fifteen men across two hundred yards of open terrain to attack and destroy the hostile emplacement. Upon reaching the reverse slope of an adjacent hill and repulsing a vicious enemy, counter-attacking under the cover of shattering mortar barrages, he valiantly proceeded alone to the crest of the ridge to hurl hand grenades at the enemy forces below and disrupt their attempts to reorganize for counter action. Inspired by his heroic actions, the remainder of his unit joined him at his hazardous post and, fighting with unquenchable spirit, repulsed numerous Japanese onslaughts until reinforcements arrived. Although killed shortly before his besieged forces were relieved, Sergeant Brown, by his daring initiative and unswerving devotion to duty, had materially contributed to his platoon's success… He gallantly gave his life for his country.

More than a year after that occasion, as next-of-kin, Mrs. Reichler had a solemn decision to make. The U.S. Army and Marines buried those killed in action in Okinawa in temporary cemeteries on the island that were organized at division-level. In December, 1945, the War Department began efforts to identify and return the remains of American war dead from battlefields worldwide for reverenced burial in US cemeteries. Working through 1948, the Army recovered 10,243 sets of remains from six cemeteries on Okinawa. The remains went to Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands for further processing and final disposition. The next of kin were given a choice to have their loved ones returned home or to remain permanently resting overseas.

Mrs. Reichler chose to bring her grandson Frank home. The Shreveport Times ran a story on Feb. 23, 1949, with the headline , “Pacific War Dead Arrive for Reburial – Eight from Shreveport, Bossier City on Ship.” Among those eight was Sgt. James Francis Brown, Jr. The Times reported that the eight from Shreveport and Bossier were “among the 5,806 war dead who have been returned to the United States for reburial from the Pacific area aboard the Amy transport Dalton Victory.” Army officials stated that each next of kin had been notified prior to the vessel’s arrival and would be notified again after the remains arrived at the regional distribution centers for the American Graves Registration Service. From there, as reported in the March 17, 1949, Planters Press, Sgt. Brown’s body would travel with a military escort via the Texas and Pacific railroad to arrive in Shreveport at 11:10 am on March 18.

Frank’s body was taken to Wellman’s funeral home in Shreveport for a chapel service conducted by Rev. T.E. Davis of the First Presbyterian Church of Bossier City. Honorary pallbearers were all city employees, members of the local VFW and the American Legion. He was buried in Shreveport’s Forest Park Cemetery.

As for the dog, Motobu, his fate is unknown. There are scant, yet loving, tributes of him to be found on the world wide web. One is the digitized photo, from May 1945, of Motobu flanked by 1st Lieutenant Merrill F. McLane and Corporal Howard Lee Cox, both looking at him with admiration. This official USMC photo is preserved in the Photograph Collection of the Marine Corps Archives & Special Collections. The other tributes are two short YouTube videos of interviews with Corporal Cox, created in 2012 when he was 87 years old, which feature stories of Motobu and how he helped their unit, and saved Cox’s life many times over.

If you have World War II family photos or stories to share, please visit or contact us at the History Center. We will scan them and return the originals if that is your preference. And don’t forget about our World War Tuesday coffee and discussion group on a variety of World War II topics held the second Tuesday of each month from 10:30 – noon. The History Center (and World War Tuesday) is now located in the new Central Library building at 850 City Hall Drive, Bossier City, LA, across Beckett Street from the original History Center and the “old” Central Library. We are open M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org

For other fun facts, photos, and videos, be sure to follow us @BPLHistoryCenter on FB, @bplhistorycenter on TikTok, and check out our blog http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/.

Images: 

• Portraits of Sgt. James F. Brown and his grandmother, Mrs. Sarah E. Reichler, from The Planters Press, Bossier City, Louisiana, Thu, Apr 04, 1946.   
• 6th Marine Division Cemetery dedication, Okinawa, Japan, 4 July 1945. USMC photograph from the John C. McQueen Collection (COLL/64) at the Archives Branch, Marine Corps History Division
• Motobu and Marines. From left to right: Marine 1st Lieutenant Merrill F. McLane (6th Marine Division), Japanese war dog 'Motobu', Corporal Howard Lee Cox (6th Marine Division). United States Marine Corps - Photograph Collection (COLL/3948) of the Marine Corps Archives & Special Collections).

Article by: Pam Carlisle