A special bond with France: Henrico WWII veteran, 103, holds fond memories of Paris, savoring freedom

“Try to go to Paris.”

That’s life advice from 103-year-old World War II veteran and Henrico County resident Thomas Brown.

Drafted in the 1940s, as a barely 20-year-old, he was sent to Fort Dix in New Jersey for basic training. The Richmond native, who grew up in Jackson Ward, was stationed in Europe from April 1943 until April 1946. He arrived in France. And when the war ended in May of ‘45, he was in Ardennes-Alsace, Germany.

He was assigned to work as a tech sergeant in the segregated 522nd Quartermaster Red Truck Regiment, also known as the Red Ball Express, which was focused on providing supplies to the troops.

“The white troops got history. We did labor,” Thomas said, acknowledging that being forced into a behind-the-scenes role may have saved his life. “I grew up in a segregated society. I had never been past Washington, D.C. until I got drafted. In an infantry battalion in the army with only Black soldiers during the war, I had only white officers.”

With his typing skills, Thomas was involved in procurement and taking inventory of equipment and materials being ordered and delivered.

In the height of Jim Crow segregation in Richmond, throughout his military experience, Thomas experienced both familiar discrimination and refreshing freedom in Europe that drew him back several times.

German prisoner of war soldiers got to ride in train cars, whereas African American soldiers had to get in the boxcars.

“It was terrible,” Thomas’ 67-year-old son Mike said.

Though the war had ended, Thomas couldn't come back home because he didn't have enough military service points.

So, he remained in France.

“It was like an 11-month vacation. I was in Reims and then Paris,” Thomas said. “There were no Black or white [only] signs, no segregation. You're just another person who happened to be living there. Segregation and being poor. . . I wasn't ashamed. It was just an inconvenience.”

He stayed in France to savor that freedom. But, there were still challenges. In Richmond's Black high schools at that time, studying a foreign language was only for students who planned to go to college.

“I found out I couldn't get the Frenchmen to speak with me. If you tried to talk to a Frenchman and didn't speak French, forget it. They're not going to talk to you,” Thomas recalled. “So, I walked along, and I saw a Black guy standing on the corner in civilian clothes. I knew that this guy had been in the army. So, I walked up to him, and I said to him, 'I know damn well you speak English.’ He said, ‘I do, so how can I help you?’ I asked him, ‘How long have you been here?’ He said to me, ‘I didn't go back. I took my discharge in France.’ This is 1945.”

Thomas wanted to stay too, but his fiancée, Gertrude, with whom he later raised three children, awaited him at home.

“I'll never forget one memory, Christmas of ‘45. I went to midnight mass at the Reims Cathedral,” said Thomas who is Catholic. “I never forgot the French phrase Je ne comprends pas. That means I don't understand it.”

Thomas had an opportunity to use that phrase on two return visits to France including one he took five years ago at 98, with his grandson, who also enjoys travel. Together they relished learning on a special tour about other Black Americans who found refuge and success in Paris – James Baldwin, Richard Wright and Josephine Baker.

Success in real estate

Returning stateside, Thomas married and stayed in the reserves. He was called up again in 1950 for the Korean War, serving at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

“When I got called back, [President Harry] Truman had integrated the army,” Thomas said. “They had Black officers now from the Reserve Officer Training Corps, coming out of college.”

He spoke up for his brothers, who were drafted and volunteered to serve, to help get them into better and safer situations.

When he came out of the Army, he had a bellhop job. He studied briefly at Hampton Institute and sold insurance. A friend encouraged him to study for the real estate license. He achieved that goal and continued studying for other certifications in that field, working for himself, selling both commercial and residential real estate.

One of his most memorable sales was a Catholic school that was going on the market. He got wind of the sale and suggested to the priest he could get three times more than the asking price at the time.

Many of his clients were residents of public housing projects who he would educate on how they could become homeowners.

While Thomas has seen extreme changes in his lifetime, at a recent Henrico County Outreach and Engagement Agency Centenarian Celebration highlighting the lives of older adults throughout the community, he reflected on the current state of society and conflicts.

"The only difference now as a society is, we segregate ourselves, but it’s what people decide to do,” Thomas said. “Right now, the only thing that segregates you is money. If you got enough money, you can live almost anywhere you want.”

Discrimination he faced in the military and in civilian life still stings.

“My brothers and I are patriotic, but some things I will never forgive America for doing,” Thomas said. “Because in battle, there aren’t white or black bullets. The Germans, they would have killed anybody.”

The increased conflict and wars in today’s world bothers Thomas.

“I could probably name every president from the time that I remember elections, but this brother, that we have now, he's a rich hoodlum,” Thomas said. “What Trump is trying to do, he wants to go back to the past. He wants to go back to segregation. He will only have two societies – rich white and poor Blacks or anyone poor non-whites.”

Thomas views Trump’s isolationist, aggressive approach both at home and abroad negatively.

“Trump was a coward, and he ducked the draft,” Thomas said. “And then he got troops in American cities against American citizens. That is not patriotic. Not at all. “

He hopes the commander in chief will change his messages and mind.

“I pity him. I don't hate him,” Thomas said. “Because he refuses to accept that we should get along. Because he himself says if he doesn't like you, he hates you. So, there's no in-between. That’s bad.”

Thomas continues to love to be out in the community and traveling, most recently to the New Orleans Jazz Festival with family where he visited the World War II Museum.

As his son Mike puts it: “He don't like to sit at home.”

Dina Weinstein is the Citizen’s community vitality reporter and a Report for America corps member, covering housing, health and transportation. Support her work and articles like this one by making a contribution to the Citizen.