Although he has lived in California for most of his life, Lewis Brown is proud to say he is a native of Meridian. Born on Nov. 29, 1925, Brown grew up on 49th Avenue in the Savannah Grove neighborhood near where Meridian Regional Airport is today.

“That was a very good place,” he said. “It was all homeowners. There was no such thing as apartments. Everyone had a house.”

Brown’s family stayed in that home until World War II broke out, he said, when the U.S. government bought out the entire neighborhood. His family then relocated to a new home on 46th Avenue.

“That’s where I stayed until I was drafted into the Army,” he said.

Drafted in the spring of 1944, Brown served as a corporal in the 4036 Quartermaster Trucking Company. His unit was part of a massive supply initiative called the Red Ball Express, which was set up after the invasion of Normandy.

In the summer of 1944, U.S. forces raced across central France, with General George Patton’s troops advancing more than 80 miles per week, according to the National World War II Museum. The speed of the Allied forces’ advance created problems in supplying the troops with the fuel and ammunition they needed to continue forward.

Occupied or damaged ports made resupply via sea impossible, and Allied forces had already destroyed much of France’s railroad capabilities in an effort to slow the German army, the WWII museum states.

In August 1944, the Red Ball Express began. A round-the-clock convoy of trucks driving to and from the front lines, the express provided ammunition and fuel, brought back prisoners and more. According to the museum, 75% of the drivers were African American and many were under the age of 24.

Brown, at 18, was one of them.

“We were constantly rolling, 24 hours a day,” he said. “That was our main job.”

After his unit was sent to help liberate the Dachau Concentration Camp in southern Germany in 1945, Brown said his truck was also used to transport the camp’s survivors out of the area.

“We just liberated them and brought them out into France,” he said.

Following his tour, Brown returned to Camp Shelby in 1946, where he spent a few weeks before moving to California. He settled in Inglewood, married and raised two daughters while working as a construction technician for the city of Los Angeles for 33 years.

Earlier this year, Brown made the trip to Europe once more to take part in commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Normandy invasion, where he was recognized by President Joe Biden. He said the trip was “the best trip I’ve ever had in my life.”

During the visit, Brown was also able to lay a wreath at Auschwitz, another famed concentration camp where the Nazis killed tens of thousands of Jewish and other minority peoples. The spot where the wreath is laid, he said, is one of the few places he recognized from his time in 1944 and 1945, with the rest unidentifiable beneath the homes, businesses and roadways that now cover the area.

“When I was there, all we had was a bunch of ruckus,” he said.

At 98-years-old, however, things everywhere have changed, Brown said, and even Meridian, which he still visits at least once a year, is hard to recognize as the same place where he grew up. Fifth Street, for example, used to be a place for the African American community to congregate prior to desegregation, he said, and not the few businesses and empty buildings that it is today.

While some are embarrassed or ashamed to say they are from Meridian, Brown wears his hometown proudly. Growing up, he said, he knew about Meridian and had heard of Jackson, but it wasn’t until he was drafted that he left the Queen City for the first time.

Looking back on his service, Brown said two things stand out. The first is service in the U.S. armed forces is a good career. As young people get to the age when they’re looking toward college, technical training or another career avenue, military service is a good option, he said, and the pay is decent.

“I enjoyed it, and if I had to go back, I’d go back again,” he said. “Not at this age, though.”

The second, he said, is to love the country. America isn’t perfect, he said, but all nations have problems they need to address. For him, he said, the U.S. stands apart from the rest.

“There’s nothing like the the good old USA,” he said. “This is the best country.”