After graduating from Nashville High School, Brown attended Ouachita Baptist University before enlisting in the Army where he served his country for over 20 years. SFC Brown's first tour of duty was in Kuwait during Operation Desert Storm and at the time of his death he was serving in Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

  Gary Brown was a member of Agape Church in Little Rock where he was an active participant in the men's Bible study and the children's bus ministry. Brown was also a member of the VFW and the Otter Creek Home Owners Association. His dedication to making the communities he lived in a better place could not have been greater.

  Gary Brown gave his life to serve our country and will forever be remembered as a hero, a father, and a husband. My deepest condolences go out to his wife Donna; his two stepdaughters Brandy Edmondson and Crystal Lunnie both of Little Rock; his brothers Larry Brown of Seguin, Texas, and Phil Brown of Nashville; his sister Wendy Wesson; two grandsons Christian Edmondson and Joshua Edmondson; and to his many nieces and nephews. He will be missed by his family, his church, his community and all those who knew him and called him a friend. I will continue to keep John ``Gary'' Brown and his family in my thoughts and prayers.