Fallen Marine to arrive in Owensville today
Funeral services for Lance Cpl. James E. Brown will be Thursday at the Gibson Southern High School gymnasium.Brown, 20, was shot in the neck Nov. 2 while on foot patrol in Anbar province in Iraq. He died instantly.
Brown of Owensville, Ind., was deployed from Camp Lejeune, N.C., with the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marines.
He had been in Iraq less than four months.
His body is scheduled to arrive at Louisville (Ky.) International Airport at 8:38 p.m. today, said Marine Staff Sgt. Tim Kosky of Terre Haute, Ind. After a brief service, Brown's body will be driven to Owensville.
Visitation will be from noon to 8 p.m. Wednesday at First General Baptist Church at 114 W. Brummitt St. Funeral services will begin at 2 p.m. Thursday at the gymnasium, and burial will be at Saulman Cemetery off Indiana 165 south of Owensville.
The high school's students will be dismissed at 12:30 p.m. and kindergarten through eighth grade at 12:50 p.m. to allow students and faculty to attend the funeral, said South Gibson Schools Superintendent Stacey Humbaugh.
Humbaugh said she offered the gymnasium to the family because there aren't many large buildings in Owensville. The gymnasium can hold more than 2,000 people.
"He lived here and went to school here, so a lot of people knew him," Humbaugh said. Humbaugh said she met Brown once but didn't know him well.
Brown, who enjoyed hunting, fishing and spending time with his family, graduated from Gibson Southern in 2005. He was the captain of the football team his senior year and a two-time Golden Gloves Champion.
"Obviously, the community has been saddened by" his death, Humbaugh said. But also "proud that he has served his country."
Brown was the second Marine from Southern Indiana to die in Iraq in the last three weeks. Sgt. Brock Babb, 40, of Evansville, was killed Oct. 15 by a roadside bomb in Anbar province.
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