Don Brown (author, born 1960)

Early life and education

Brown was born in Plymouth in Washington County, North Carolina, on June 3, 1960. He received a bachelor of arts degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a juris doctor degree from Campbell University's Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law.

Legal career

Brown spent five years as a military attorney in the United States Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps. He earned a nonresident certificate in international law from the Naval War College, and published a legal position paper in the Navy's Law Review on how to defend against temporary injunctions filed against the military. He remained on inactive status with the Navy until 1999, when he separated from the service as a lieutenant commander. Brown also worked as a special assistant to the United States Attorney for the Southern District of California.

He is currently licensed to practice in North and South Carolina, and is the owner of Brown and Associates, PLLC, a law firm located in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he practices law in the areas of civil litigation, military law, criminal defense, family law, and estate planning.

In 2018, Brown joined the legal team as one of four military JAG officers representing Army First Lieutenant Clint Lorance, and in 2019 published the book Travesty of Justice: The Shocking Prosecution of Lt. Clint Lorance. Lorance had been convicted for second-degree murder in 2013 by a military court-martial, when American paratroopers in his platoon on his command fired on three men on a motorcycle in Afghanistan, who were speeding towards their position. In Travesty of Justice, Brown laid out the defense contentions, including the claim that Army prosecutors withheld biometrics evidence proving that the motorcycle riders were enemy Taliban bombmakers. In a series of national television appearances and op-eds for Fox News in the summer of 2019, Brown pressed Lorance's case further, urging President Donald Trump to provide presidential relief for Lorance, and accused the military justice system of corruption for the prosecutions of Lorance, Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher, and Army Green Beret Matt Golsteyn.

Authorship

Brown is the author of Zondervan Publishing's Navy Justice series with the fiction works Treason (2005), Hostage (2005), Defiance (2006), Black Sea Affair (2008), and Malacca Conspiracy (2010), in which terrorists launch attacks against oil tankers in the Malacca Straights.

In his Pacific Rim series, Brown wrote his sixth novel Thunder in the Morning Calm (2011) on the issue of whether American servicemen who were listed as MIAs may still be alive in North Korea since the Korean War. Brown stated in interviews that he wrote it to bring attention to the issue. His seventh novel Fire of the Raging Dragon, a geopolitical action-thriller set in the South China Sea, was released through HarperCollins publishers in November 2012.

Brown wrote Call Sign Extortion 17: The Shoot-Down of SEAL Team Six (2015) on the August 2011 downing of a United States Army CH-47 Chinook helicopter in the War in Afghanistan, which killed the air crew along with seven Afghan military personnel and 17 members of Navy SEAL Team Six. Brown retells the wartime action, explains the life stories of the service members killed that day, and examines the official military explanation of the incident contained in the infamous Colt Report, arguing that the series of events was gross incompetence or a massive cover-up.

In March 2017, Brown released his nonfiction work The Last Fighter Pilot: The True Story of the Final Combat Mission of World War II. The book features the true story of Captain Jerry Yellin, U.S. Army Air Force, who flew the final combat mission of World War II over Japan on August 15, 1945, from Iwo Jima, and focuses on the last six months of the air war against Japan, flown by American fighter pilots stationed on Iwo Jima, who arrived on the island in March 1945, and remained there until the war's end.

In August 2017, Brown and Yellin appeared together to kick off the book's release at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in Yorba Linda, California to discuss the book and Yellin's experiences in the war. Publishers Weekly announced that the book had been named to it national bestseller's list for hardcover nonfiction for the week ending August 7, 2017. The popular magazine and website Townhall named Last Fighter Pilot as one of "10 World War II Books Every American Should Read."

Published works

Navy Justice series

• Treason (Zondervan Publishing, 2005)
• Hostage (Zondervan Publishing, 2006)
• Defiance (Zondervan Publishing, 2007)
• Black Sea Affair (Zondervan Publishing, 2007)
• Malacca Conspiracy (Zondervan Publishing 2010)
• Destiny (Mountainview Books, LLC, 2014)

Pacific Rim series

• Thunder in the Morning Calm (Zondervan Publishing, 2011)
• Fire of the Raging Dragon (Zondervan Publishing, 2012)
• Storming the Black Ice (Harper Collins Publishing, 2014)

Navy JAG series

• Detained (Harper Collins Publishing, 2015)
• Code 13 (Zondervan Publishing, 2016)

Nonfiction

• Call Sign Extortion 17: The Shoot-Down of SEAL Team Six (Rowman & Littlefield Publishing, through Lyons Press - 2015)
• The Last Fighter Pilot: The True Story of the Final Combat Mission of World War II (Salem Media Group, through Regnery Publishing - 2017)
• Travesty of Justice: The Shocking Prosecution of Lt. Clint Lorance (WildBlue Press - 2019)
• Old Breed General: How Marine Corps General William H. Rupertus Broke the Back of the Japanese in World War II from Guadalcanal to Peleliu Hardcover with Amy Rupertus Peacock (Stackpole Books (Rowman & Littlefield) - 2022)
• Kangaroo Court: How Dirty Prosecutors and Sleazy Lawyers Destroy Political Opponents, Attack Free Speech, and Subvert the Constitution (Post Hill Press - 2024)

References

References

1. "50 Years of 'Christy' - Why Catherine Marshall's Classic Endures - Family Fiction".
2. (28 July 2014). "Treason: Book One in Don Brown's Navy Justice Series - Yahoo Voices".
3. Poling, Dean. "Book review: 'Treason' and 'Hostage' / Don Brown".
4. "Jerry Yellin details his military experience in 'The Last Fighter Pilot'". [[The Washington Times]].
5. (November 2019). "Larry Elder Radio Show Hour 1 08/02/2017".
6. The Last Fighter Pilot: The True Story of the Final Combat Mission of World War II]]''- December 24, 2017
7. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/jerry-yellin-fighter-pilot-in-last-combat-mission-of-world-war-ii-dies-at-93/2017/12/21/cab156be-e6a3-11e7-ab50-621fe0588340_story.html Washington Post article on death of Captain Jerry Yellin], by Harrison Smith, referencing the book ''[[The Last Fighter Pilot. The Last Fighter Pilot: The True Story of the Final Combat Mission of World War II]]''- December 21, 2017
8. [https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-air-force/2018/01/03/fighter-pilot-who-flew-last-combat-mission-in-world-war-ii-dies-at-93/ Military Times article] {{Webarchive. link. (2018-01-04 on death of Captain [[Jerry Yellin]], by Charlsy Panzino, referencing the book ''[[The Last Fighter Pilot). The Last Fighter Pilot: The True Story of the Final Combat Mission of World War II]]''- January 3, 2018
9. [https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefings-statements/statement-press-secretary-97/ White House press release announcing presidential pardon of Lorance – November 15, 2019]
10. [https://www.thecinemaholic.com/leavenworth/ Article – Will there be a Leavenworth Season 2 (citing Travesty of justice as factor re-igniting Lorance case in the national discussion) November 19, 2019] ]
11. [https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/nov/7/trump-must-free-and-exonerate-lt-clint-lorance/ Washington Times OPED – Trump Must Free and Exonerate Lt. Clint Lorance, by Don Brown, November 7, 2019]
12. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJ33Dy0mKOA Fox News Video -- Don Brown, Clint Lorance appear on Hannity, November 27, 2019]
13. [https://www.newsweek.com/army-officer-clint-lorance-linked-war-crimes-pardoned-trump-elected-1474677 Newsweek Article, U.S. ARMY OFFICER LINKED TO WAR CRIMES AND LATER PARDONED SAYS HE HAD HOPE ONCE TRUMP BECAME PRESIDENT, November 28, 2019, citing Brown-Lorance interview on Hannity]
14. "Home".
15. (November 17, 2023). "Two more Republican candidates running for Congressional District 8". WSOC-TV.
16. "03/05/2024 OFFICIAL PRIMARY ELECTION RESULTS - STATEWIDE". [[North Carolina State Board of Elections]].
17. "Apr2014".
18. "Law - Campbell University".
19. [http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/naval40&div=4&id=&page= Volume 40, United States Naval Law Review, showing article by LT Donald Brown, JAGC, USNR, beginning at p. 157]
20. (10 July 2011). "N.C. author to sign books Saturday, brown, book, military - Archive - ENCToday".
21. "Brown & Associates, Pllc in Charlotte, NC".
22. "Barton College Hackney Library Guest Lecturers 2007".
23. "Indonesia intrigue, Tokyo high-tech high jinx - The Japan Times".
24. "Author donates autographed books to Reuben James Sailors: Hookele – Pearl Harbor – Hickam News".
25. (21 July 2011). "Charlotte author signs books for Navy crew".
26. "Family Fiction Magazine -- Heroism and Heartache; Three Authors Who Write Military Fiction by Rel Mollet -- November, December 2011 (p. 26 of 66)".
27. "HarperCollins US".
28. "World Magazine -- Debt and Destruction:Books:Insights into America's Rise Illuminate the Causes of her Unraveling, by Marvin Olasky -- November 30, 2012".
29. "New Book Foretelling Fictional Military Showdown Gets Grand Haven Residents Talking About Propaganda".
30. Enter The Buzzsaw. (6 May 2016). "Seal Team 6 Helicopter Conspiracy: Death and Cover Up of Bin Laden's Killers".
31. "WHO DOUBLE-CROSSED THE SEALS?".
32. "World War II "Last Fighter Pilot" Capt. Jerry Yellin on War and Survival - Soldier of Fortune Magazine".
33. "Regnery Publishing: More Than Just Politics".
34. [http://wrkf.org/post/don-brown-capt-jerry-yellin-and-world-war-ii Don Brown Interview] on [[WRKF]] (NPR Affiliate Baton Rouge) with Jim Engster on Captain Jerry Yellin, and WWII, August 1, 2017
35. "8/1/17 - Hour 1 - The Morning Blaze with Doc Thompson - Omny.fm".
36. [http://people.com/human-interest/93-year-old-wwii-vet-family-japanese-kamikaze-pilot/ Don Brown quoted in 'People Magazine' on Captain Jerry Yellin and the book Last Fighter Pilot, People Magazine online, August 4, 2018]
37. "Brandon Vogt with Don Brown "The Last Fighter Pilot"".
38. (17 July 2017). "Mike speaks with Don Brown, author of, "The Last Fighter Pilot." - The Mike Gallagher Show".
39. "Lecture and Book Signing with Don Brown and Jerry Yellin - The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute".
40. ReaganFoundation. (1 August 2017). "A Reagan Forum and Book Signing with Don Brown and Jerry Yellin — 8/1/2017".
41. "WWII Veteran Befriends Japanese Kamikaze Pilot".
42. "Richard Nixon Foundation".
43. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWEKywaKc2o Richard Nixon Foundation, Youtube Channel, showing appearance of Don Brown & Jerry Yellin discuss the book LAST FIGHTER PILOT, Richard Nixon Presidential Library, August 3, 2017, published April 18, 2018.]
44. "Publishers Weekly National Besteller's List, Dated August 14, 2017 showing hardback nonfiction bestseller's list, at page 11 (showing Last Fighter Pilot at #25)".
45. [https://townhall.com/columnists/regnerypublishing/2018/06/11/10-world-war-ii-books-every-american-should-read-n2489539 "10 World War II Books Every American Should Read," TownHall Magazine and website, June 11, 2018]
46. "Fiction Book Review: The Malacca Conspiracy by Don Brown, Zondervan, $14.99 paper (352p) ISBN 978-0-310-27215-1".
47. "Fiction Book Review: Code 13: The Navy JAG Series, Book 2 by Don Brown. Zondervan, $15.99 trade paper (400p) ISBN 978-0-310-33807-9".