Bobbie Edward Browning

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Bio

Bobbie Edward Browning was born on December 28, 1931, in Kayford, West Virginia. Orphaned at 14, he enlisted in the Army on June 25, 1950—the day the Korean War began—at just 18. After completing basic training at Fort Knox and Fort Belvoir, he married his childhood neighbor on October 9, 1950, in Alexandria, Virginia. She traveled by train for their wedding, then returned to West Virginia, while he was soon deployed to Korea. Bobbie seldom spoke about his wartime experiences until late in life. After returning from Korea, he was stationed in El Paso, Texas, and worked on the bomb project at White Sands, New Mexico, as part of the Second Guided Missile Group, preparing V1 and V2 missiles for launch. After his discharge, Bobbie returned to West Virginia, but with limited job prospects outside coal mining, he and his wife moved to Cleveland, Ohio. There, he worked as an electrician at a steel mill for 35 years and raised four children. Bobbie and his wife shared 58 years of marriage before he passed away from lung cancer on January 16, 2009.