Rhodes Lewis Brown was born at Shreveport, Caddo Parish, Louisiana on December 2, 1920. His family and crewmates called him Lewis. His parents were Jesse McConnell Brown (18 Nov 1882 – 12 Jul 1946) and Martha Isabelle (Holladay) Brown (1 Apr 1892 – 3 Aug 1979), who were born at Altus, Franklin County, Arkansas. His parents married at Altus, Arkansas on September 3, 1911. His father was a coal miner, and later worked in the petroleum industry. He had seven siblings: Dora Mae (Brown) Lipscomb (12 Aug 1912 – 16 Apr 1959), Clyde Mack Brown (4 Feb 1914 – 17 May 1994), Lloyd Finis Brown (1916 – 1986) (called Finis), Martha Imogene (Brown) Crump (9 Mar 1918 – 20 Feb 2018) (called Imogene), Glynn M. Brown (abt 1926 – ), Robert Doyle 'Bob' Brown Sr (Jan 1931 – 20 Sep 2017), and Jimmie Ray Brown (27 Sep 1932 – 2 Mar 1937).

In 1940 the family lived at 3001 DeSoto Street, Shreveport, Louisiana, and his father worked as a billing clerk at a petroleum refinery. He completed four years of high school, and worked as a truck driver for a wholesale electric store. He was single, without dependents, when he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps at Camp Hulen, Texas on July 25, 1941.

He completed Army Air Forces aerial gunnery and flight engineer training, and was assigned to the heavy bomber crew of Second Lieutenant Robert O. Shacklett in the 839th Bomb Squadron of the 487th Bomb Group. The Shacklett crew completed B-24 crew training with the 487th Bomb Group at Alamogordo Army Air Base, New Mexico, and deployed with the Group to England in March 1944. There is a photo of S/Sgt Brown and the Robert O. Shacklett crew, taken at Herington, Kansas during the overseas deployment, that is posted on the 487th Bomb Group website. They flew B-24H 42-52618 'Chief Wapello' overseas via the southern Atlantic ferry route—a journey of about 10,000 miles—and arrived in England by mid-April 1944. The 487th Bomb Group was based at Army Air Forces Station 137 near Lavenham, Suffolk, England, and was part of the 8th U.S. Army Air Force in Europe. In July 1944 the 487th Bomb Group transitioned to flying the B-17 'Flying Fortress'.

After arrival at Lavenham, S/Sgt Rhodes L. Brown was assigned to the crew of Lt Joseph A. Duncan in the 839th Bomb Squadron. On August 25, 1944, the Duncan crew took off from Lavenham Airfield in B-17G 43-37980 on a mission to bomb the German airfield at Rechlin, Germany. Captain Winston S. Rogers flew in the copilot position as Air Leader. Copilot Lt James Hood Jr moved to the tail gunner position as Officer Tail Gunner and formation observer. S/Sgt Rhodes Brown and eight of his crew mates were killed in action when their aircraft was hit by flak just after bombs away over Rechlin, Germany. The right outer wing was lost, and the burning aircraft went into a spin, exploded, and crashed in Muritz Lake (Mόritzsee) near Boek, Germany, north of the target. Two crew members, 1/Lt Joseph Anderson Duncan and S/Sgt Monroe Stanley Wolyn, were blown clear and survived. Lt Hood's body was never found. He probably went to the bottom of Muritz Lake with the aircraft wreckage.

The bodies of S/Sgt Rhodes L. Brown and seven of his crew mates were buried at the Retzow Cemetery in Retzow, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, a short distance north of Rechlin Airfield. After the war, S/Sgt Brown's remains were returned to the United States and reinterred at Greenwood Cemetery in Shreveport, Caddo Parish, Louisiana.

B-17G 43-37980 crew:
• Duncan, Joseph A – 1/Lt – Pilot – POW
• Rogers, Winston S – Capt – Air Leader – KIA
• Jones, Richard L – Capt – Pilotage Navigator – KIA
• Friedman, Ely N – 2/Lt – Navigator – KIA
• Dolan, James J – 2/Lt – Bombardier – KIA
• Henahan, Joseph W – T/Sgt – Engineer – KIA
• Brown, Gerard F – T/Sgt – Radio operator – KIA
• Everett, Lloyd E – S/Sgt – Ball Turret Gunner – KIA
• Brown, Rhodes L – S/Sgt – Waist Gunner – KIA
• Wolyn, Monroe S – S/Sgt – Waist Gunner – POW
• Hood Jr, James – 2/Lt – Tail Gunner – MIA

Source of information: Paul M. Webber, www.findagrave.com