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Contributed commentary by Dee W. Boaz.
I am writing on behalf of a group of Clarksville residents who propose the new elementary school adjacent to Fort Campbell Boulevard be named for the late Command Sgt. Maj. Sidney R. Brown, a distinguished Clarksvillian with a long and storied history of service in the military, in local and Tennessee government, and in education. He had deep connections to Fort Campbell, starting his military service there in 1950 with the 101st Airborne Division, and retiring from service there.
Brown was born in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1931, growing up in the 1940s and experiencing firsthand the all-encompassing racism of the Jim Crow era. Instead of giving in to the societal ills of segregation, he was inspired by the Black paratroopers who visited from Fort Benning, Georgia, wearing their silver wings, and by the exploits of the legendary Triple Nickles, the first African-American paratrooper company, the 555th Parachute Infantry Company, formed from volunteers from the all-Black 92nd “Buffalo” Infantry Division.
When he reported to Fort Campbell in September 1950, the 11th Airborne Division was being transformed from an infantry to an airborne division. A second all-Black parachute division was formed as the 3rd Battalion, 188th Parachute Infantry Regiment, and Brown was accepted to airborne school. By 1951, he earned the rank of sergeant.
In 1952, the Airborne became the last faction of the U.S. Army to integrate, and Brown received his orders to serve as a tank commander in Germany. He returned to Fort Campbell just as the newly-born 101st Division was making Fort Campbell its home.
In 1957, when Brown was a young sergeant, he camped at an airfield outside Little Rock, Arkansas. President Dwight Eisenhower had ordered the 101st Airborne Division to that city to enforce the desegregation of Little Rock High School. Brown, along with the other Black soldiers, was part of a reserve force. In an interview with the Fort Campbell Courier, Brown said, “Many of the Black 101st Airborne Division soldiers resented not being able to go into the school,” but his commander said “the most important thing was getting those kids to school.’ If the second force would’ve gone in there, we probably would have seen a lot of problems,” he said, adding that their presence helped keep “this country moving forward.”
A decade later, Brown was a platoon sergeant with the 502nd Brigade, the Army’s “fire brigade” in Vietnam, leading patrols through the notorious Iron Triangle, a Viet Cong sanctuary. In 1967, he returned for a second tour of Vietnam with the 506th Infantry. His other assignments included two tours in Germany and two tours in Korea. Along the way, he received numerous medals and commendations.
After 30 years of service, Brown retired and enrolled at Austin Peay. He graduated in 1985 and went on to serve on the Montgomery County Commission. In 1994, he won a seat as Montgomery County commissioner of District 9, serving from 1994 to 2002. He also served as the chairman of the Youth Detention Committee of Montgomery County and was appointed as representative of the Montgomery County School Board. He was a volunteer with numerous local and state agencies and groups.
During his eight years representing District 9, he promoted a number of initiatives, including a proposed nursing home for veterans in Montgomery County. Gov. Don Sundquist appointed him to be the commissioner for the Middle Tennessee State Veterans Nursing Home Board. Construction began on the 106-room facility in 2013, and the Brig. Gen. Wendell H. Gilbert Tennessee State Veterans Home opened in 2016.
In July 17, 2014, the Austin Peay State University Military Alumni Chapter named a scholarship endowment in his honor to benefit active-duty military, veteran students, their spouses and children and APSU ROTC.
Brown was part of a group who developed and maintained a park in Birchwood for neighborhood children. Twenty-five years later it was taken in as a part of the Clarksville Parks and Recreation Department. In 2019, the city officially renamed Birchwood Park the CSM(R) Sidney Brown Park.
We can think of no more distinguished citizen, with his military, Montgomery County and state records of achievements and service to name this school for. His story would be one of inspiration for generations of students and faculty.
Dee W. Boaz
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