The 555 smokejumpers on the morning of 6 August 1945 responded to a fire in the Umpqua National Forest near Lemon Butte. Medic Brown volunteered to replace the assigned medic who was sick even though he had not completed his smoke jumping training. The fire was situated along a ridge on the south side of the summit in an area where many trees tower 200 feet. The only clearing was a two-acre opening half-way up the slope. With terrain forming into a draw, water runoff erosion and large trees presented a tremendous hazard. It did not take much wind to carry the nine-man chalk into this obstacle so close to the drop zone. Normal procedures to exit a tree were to utilize the letdown rope smokejumpers carried by attaching it to himself and the parachute. After disconnecting, the firefighter lowered himself to the ground using the 50-foot rope. According to reports, Brown fell from a very tall and leaning fir tree for about 150 feet into the ravine and was believed to have died instantly. His fellow paratroopers traversed an 80 percent slope for 1,000 feet until they got to a creek bed. They then carried him for over three miles through backcountry without any trails. Once they did come across a trail, it was another 12-miles before they came upon their first road. He is buried at Mount Calvary Cemetery Baltimore MD.