slotperfect 7 #1 September 15, 2007 Former Golden Knight Bill Brown Jr. was killed in a motorcycle accident over the weekend. He was a great team mate and friend, and he will be greatly missed. I met Bill in 1989 when we were jumping together on the weekends at the 82nd Sport Parachute Club at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina. Sometime during that year he was assigned to the US Army Parachute Team (Golden Knights) as an Operations Sergeant. We would continue to see Bill nearly every weekend during club operations. In December of 1991 I was assigned to the Gold Demonstration Team. I was paired with Bill Brown as his "New Guy" tracking partner for my first year on the team. We were an interesting pair . . . Bill was about 10 years older than I, and while he had done a lot of Golden Knight demos as a demo team augmentee, this was also his first full year as a Demonstrator. Bill was the consummate team mate, usually the first one in the team room door and one of the last to leave. He handled all of the administrative duties on the team and even as an "old man" gave us a run for our money shooting target accuracy. He was affectionately known to us as "Billy B." Bill left the team in the winter of 1992-1993 to take an ROTC Cadre position at the University of Arkansas. He finished his education while working there, and then retired and went to work at Wal Mart HQ as a programmer. I lost touch with Bill after that, which I truly regret. Regardless, I have many MANY fond memories of time spent with Bill, and have a ton of stories to tell about him - he was a very funny character. One day we will meet again - maybe he will greet me with a new and improved version of his familiar "whatcha got, bud?" The first attached photo is cropped from a December 1991 Gold Team photo. The second is a January 1992 Tom Sanders photo of Bill (top) myself (right) Hank Turner (bottom) and Craig Smith (left) over Yuma Proving Grounds, Arizona. BSBD my friend . . .Arrive Safely John Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BlindBrick 0 #2 October 1, 2007 Damn, He was a good guy. When you first get your rigging ticket, it can be hard to get business because you're unproven. Bill was kind enough to forgoe a pack job from a very low D number rigger to give me a shot. He was also kind enough to drag me on my first 8 way attempt even though everyone else had a ton more jumps than me. He'll be missed. -Blind"If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KJWard2 0 #3 April 18, 2008 Bill added a ton of personality to Gold Team and gave me encouragement when I truly needed it. I have fond memories of "Downtown Bill Brown." BSBD... Kristine Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lindsey 0 #4 April 24, 2008 NO WAY! This hurts my heart. Just now happened upon it. Bill used to stay with me when he'd come through Little Rock. That was a long time ago. Blue skies Billy.... :( linz-- A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
