An emissary of Assistant Chief of Army Reserve Stephen D. Austin presented the family of U.S. Navy SEAL Chief Petty Officer Adam Brown with "two unique commemorative coins" Wednesday to be placed on an underwater memorial to Brown in Lake Ouachita at a future date.
Austin, who serves at the Pentagon, learned of Brown's story, and recruited Lt. Col. Brian Kilgore to present the coins to Brown's parents, Janice and Larry Brown, in honor of their son, a Lake Hamilton alumnus who was killed in action in Afghanistan on March 17, 2010.
Kilgore, who is from Hot Springs and also a Lake Hamilton alumnus, explained the significance of the two coins, which have an Army Reserve emblem on one side and "presented by" with Austin's name and title on the other.
"So it's kind of unique because a lot of people don't have their names on the coins," Kilgore said.
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Austin, who became the assistant chief of Army Reserve on Oct. 4, 2015, serves as the primary adviser to the chief of Army Reserve within Headquarters, Department of the Army, and represents the Army Reserve in the formulation and synchronization of policy and strategy at the national, departmental, and service levels, a news release said.
Austin provides oversight to the chief of Army Reserve's staff and directs the development of policy, resourcing, and plans for generating, sustaining, and integrating Army Reserve force capabilities in support of the nation, it said.
Austin "started reading about Hot Springs and then Adam Brown, and he got interested in the water memorial because it's the only one in the nation," Kilgore said.
Since Kilgore is leaving the Pentagon soon for a new assignment, Austin suggested he reach out to the Brown family.
Kilgore said Austin told him, "I would like to give them these coins to represent the Army Reserve and for his ultimate sacrifice." The coins were presented to the Brown family at their home Wednesday morning.
Larry Brown said Will Stevens is in charge of the underwater memorial, adding, "We'll get these to him, and he will take them down and place them. There's quite a few coins there."
Janice Brown said it was Stevens who proposed the idea for the memorial. "He came to us and asked us if we would mind if he did an underwater memorial." She said Stevens "will be thrilled" at the addition of the two coins.
"Of course, I don't scuba dive, so I'm not taking it down," Larry Brown said, laughing.
After the coins were given to the Browns, Larry Brown asked Kilgore if he had read the book about their son, "Fearless: The Undaunted Courage and Ultimate Sacrifice of Navy SEAL Team SIX Operator Adam Brown" by Eric Blehm.
When Kilgore admitted he had not yet read the book, Larry Brown presented him with a copy and Janice Brown gave him a second copy to give to Austin.
"This is quite an honor for someone this high up to be thinking about that memorial. Didn't know it had gone that high," Larry Brown said.
Kilgore told The Sentinel-Record it was an honor to present the coins to the Browns.
"I've never met the Brown family before," he said, noting "I was just lucky" to be from the same town as Brown.
"I wish that Mr. Austin could be here today," Kilgore said.
"We always appreciate people remembering him," Janice Brown said of the coins being presented.
Larry Brown noted there are many coins already on the memorial, and Stevens maintains them all.
"They are cleaned once a year," he said.
Each March, a 5K run is held in memory of Adam Brown. This year's 11th annual Adam Brown Shamrock Run was held virtually, and raised money the family will use to help the community.
"We were glad we could do it," Larry Brown said, noting he missed seeing friends in person.
"Next year hopefully COVID will be a thing of the past and hopefully we'll do both" in-person and virtual races, he said.
Since the race raised less money than usual, Janice Brown said, "We're going to hold on to it and when we see a need, we'll give" the money to meet those needs.
