Flags at Half Staff to Honor Slain Takoma Park Soldier

TAKOMA PARK, MD — Flags across Maryland will be lowered to half-staff from sunrise to sunset on Thursday, Dec. 29, in honor of a Takoma Park solider who died earlier this month from wounds suffered in a suicide bomber's attack in Afghanistan. Sgt. First Class Allan E. Brown, 46, died Dec. 6 at Walter Reed National Medical Center in Bethesda from injuries he suffered Nov. 12 from an improvised explosive device in Bagram, Afghanistan.

Gov. Larry Hogan ordered flags to be lowered in honor of Brown. The Department of Defense said Brown was supporting Operation Freedom’s Sentinel. This was his fifth deployment to the Middle East.

Brown was assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Special Troops Battalion, 1st Sustainment Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, in Fort Hood, Texas.

Also killed in the explosion were:

• Sgt. John W. Perry, 30, of Stockton, California, who died Nov. 12.
• Pfc. Tyler R. Iubelt, 20, of Tamaroa, Illinois, who died Nov. 12.

The explosion is believed to be an insider attack by an Afghan worker on the base wearing a suicide vest, according to Military.com. In addition to the deaths, 16 U.S. troops and one Polish soldier were wounded.

The Taliban later claimed responsibility for the attack, saying the attack was planned for four months.
Brown's awards include five Army Commendation Medals, two Army Achievement Medals, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal with campaign star, the Iraqi Campaign Medal with four campaign stars, and the Korean Defense Service Medal, reports the Army Times.

In October, Staff Sgt. Adam S. Thomas, 31, of Takoma Park, died while on patrol in Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan, from injuries caused by an improvised explosive device.

»Photo of fallen soldier Sgt. First Class Allan E. Brown of Takoma Park, courtesy of the U.S. Army