Donald Mitchell Brown, Jr. (born June 3, 1960) is an American author, attorney, and former

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

JAG Officer. He has published eleven military-genre novels, the best known of which is ''

Treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

'' (2005) in which radical Islamic clerics infiltrate the United States Navy Chaplain Corps. He has published four works of military nonfiction, including his national bestseller, '' The Last Fighter Pilot: The True Story of the Final Combat Mission of World War II'' (2017). Brown may be best known for his work as legal counsel to convicted war criminal Army Lieutenant

Clint Lorance Clint Allen Lorance (born December 13, 1984) is a former United States Army officer who is known for having been convicted and pardoned for war crimes. While serving as a first lieutenant in the infantry in the War in Afghanistan with the 4th ...

, and his authorship of the 2019 book ''

Travesty of Justice ''Travesty of Justice: The Shocking Prosecution of Lt. Clint Lorance'' is a 2019 book of creative nonfiction written by Don Brown, about the United States Army’s prosecution of Lieutenant Clint Lorance. Lorance, a former paratrooper with the ...

: The Shocking Prosecution of Lt. Clint Lorance.'' On November 15, 2019, President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

pardoned Lorance, and the book is considered to be a major factor in leading to that pardon. Between the release of ''Travesty of Justice'' on March 31, 2019, and Lorance's pardon on November 15, 2019, Brown made numerous national television appearances and penned a number of national Op-eds arguing that President Trump should free and exonerate Lieutenant Lorance. On the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving, November 27, 2019, Brown and Lorance appeared on

Hannity ''Hannity'' is an American conservative television political talk program on Fox News hosted by Sean Hannity. Episodes air live at 9:00 p.m. from Monday through Thursday, while episodes that air on Fridays are pre-recorded, with a repeat ...

, the nightly national broadcast on the

Fox News The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...

Channel to discuss the presidential pardon and release.

Early life and education

Brown was born in

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

Washington County, North Carolina Washington County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 11,003. Its county seat is Plymouth. The county was formed in 1799 from the western third of Tyrrell County. It was named fo ...

, on June 3, 1960. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

, and a Juris Doctor degree from

Campbell University Campbell University is a private Baptist university in Buies Creek, North Carolina. It is affiliated with the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina (Southern Baptist Convention). Southern Baptist ConventionColleges and Universities sbc.net ...

Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law The Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law (also known as Campbell Law School or Campbell University School of Law) is a private law school in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1976, the law school is one of six graduate programs ...

Legal career

Brown spent five years as a military attorney in the

United States Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps The Judge Advocate General's Corps, also known as the "JAG Corps" or "JAG", is the legal arm of the United States Navy. Today, the corps consists of a worldwide organization of more than 730 commissioned officers serving as judge advocates, 30 li ...

. He earned a nonresident certificate in International Law from the

Naval War College The Naval War College (NWC or NAVWARCOL) is the staff college and "Home of Thought" for the United States Navy at Naval Station Newport in Newport, Rhode Island. The NWC educates and develops leaders, supports defining the future Navy and associat ...

, and published a legal position paper in the ''Navy's Law Review'' on how to defend against

temporary injunction An injunction is a legal and equitable remedy in the form of a special court order that compels a party to do or refrain from specific acts. ("The court of appeals ... has exclusive jurisdiction to enjoin, set aside, suspend (in whole or in par ...

s filed against the military. He remained on inactive status with the Navy until 1999, when he separated from the service as a

lieutenant commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding rank i ...

. 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 & Associates, PLLC, a law firm located in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

, 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

, and in 2019 published the book ''

: The Shocking Prosecution of Lt. Clint Lorance''. Lorance had been convicted for second-degree murder in 2013 by a military

court-martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...

, 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 Biometrics are body measurements and calculations related to human characteristics. Biometric authentication (or realistic authentication) is used in computer science as a form of identification and access control. It is also used to identify in ...

evidence proving that the motorcycle riders were enemy

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...

bombmakers. In a series of national television appearances and Op-eds for

in the summer of 2019, Brown pressed Lorance's case further, urging President

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

Don Brown at the Reagan Presidential Library

Brown is the author of Zondervan's

Navy Justice series The Navy Justice Series consists of five novels, authored by Don Brown and published by Zondervan Publishing Company, and its parent publishing company, Harper Collins Publishing Company between 2005 and 2010. The novels, which fit mostly in the ...

with the fiction works ''

'' (2005), ''

Hostage A hostage is a person seized by an abductor in order to compel another party, one which places a high value on the liberty, well-being and safety of the person seized, such as a relative, employer, law enforcement or government to act, or ref ...

'' (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 , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. 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 The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phil ...

, 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 The Boeing CH-47 Chinook is a tandem rotor helicopter developed by American rotorcraft company Piasecki Helicopter, Vertol and manufactured by Boeing Rotorcraft Systems#Background, Boeing Vertol. The Chinook is a heavy-lift helicopter that is a ...

helicopter in the

War in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC) *Muslim conquests of Afghanistan (637–709) *Conquest of Afghanistan by the Mongol Empire (13th century), see als ...

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 series of events were gross incompetence or a massive cover-up. Brown&Yellin - Nixon Library

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 World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

over Japan on August 15, 1945, from

Iwo Jima Iwo Jima (, also ), known in Japan as , is one of the Japanese Volcano Islands and lies south of the Bonin Islands. Together with other islands, they form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The highest point of Iwo Jima is Mount Suribachi at high. ...

, and focuses on the last six months of the air war against Japan, flown by American fighter pilots who were stationed on Iwo Jima, who arrived on the island in March 1945, and remained there until the war's end. The ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

'' included ''The Last Fighter Pilot'' on its "must read" list for books in July 2017. In August 2017, Brown and Yellin appeared together to kick off the book's release at the

Ronald Reagan Presidential Library The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library is the repository of presidential records from the administration of Ronald Reagan, the 40th president of the United States, and the burial place of the president and first lady, Nancy Reagan. It is the larg ...

and the

Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum The Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum is the presidential library and burial site of Richard Milhous Nixon, the 37th president of the United States (1969–1974), and his wife Pat Nixon. Located in Yorba Linda, California, on land ...

Yorba Linda, California Yorba Linda is a suburban city in northeastern Orange County, California, United States, approximately southeast of Downtown Los Angeles. It is part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area, and had a population of 68,336 at the 2020 census. Yor ...

to discuss the book and Yellin's experiences in the war. ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...

'' announced that the book had been named to it national

bestseller A bestseller is a book or other media noted for its top selling status, with bestseller lists published by newspapers, magazines, and book store chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and specialties (novel, nonfiction book, cookb ...

's list for hardcover

nonfiction Nonfiction, or non-fiction, is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to provide information (and sometimes opinions) grounded only in facts and real life, rather than in imagination. Nonfiction is often associated with be ...

for the week ending August 7, 2017. The popular magazine and website

Townhall Townhall is an American politically conservative website, print magazine and radio news service. Previously published by The Heritage Foundation, it is now owned and operated by Salem Communications. The website features more than 80 columns (bo ...

named Last Fighter Pilot as one of "10 World War II Books Every American Should Read."

Published works

Books

Navy Justice Series *''

'' (Zondervan Publishing, 2005) *''

'' (Zondervan Publishing, 2006) *'' Defiance'' (Zondervan Publishing, 2007) *'' Black Sea Affair'' (Zondervan Publishing, 2007) *'' Malacca Conspiracy'' (Zondervan Publishing 2010) *''

Destiny Destiny, sometimes referred to as fate (from Latin ''fatum'' "decree, prediction, destiny, fate"), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. Fate Although often ...

'' (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)

Law review articles

*Temporary Injunctions Aimed at the Military: A Rapid Response Plan for Government Lawyers, by Lieutenant Donald M. Brown, Jr. JAGC, USNR, 40 Naval L. Rev. 157 (1992)

Fox News OPEDs

*Don Brown: President Trump, please free Army Lt. Clint Lorance, unjustly convicted of murder in Afghanistan, Fox News, May 7, 2019 *Don Brown: It's time for Trump to clean out corruption in the military justice system, Fox News, June 14, 2019 *Don Brown: Prosecuting American warriors for killing the enemy undermines 'America first', Fox News, July 1, 2019 *Don Brown: Not guilty verdict for Navy SEAL Gallagher is welcome news – He shouldn't have been prosecuted, Fox News, July 3, 2019 *Don Brown: Eddie Gallagher is cleared, but two other officers face bogus politically driven murder charges, Fox News, July 8, 2019 *Don Brown: Policy banning military from carrying guns on US bases should end, Fox News, July 27, 2019 *Don Brown: Trump's pardon of Army Lt. Clint Lorance on wrongful war crime conviction serves justice, Fox News, November 16, 2019 *Don Brown: Deadly 'green on blue' attacks by Islamic allied nation troops against Americans must end, Fox News, February 15, 2020

References

External links

*
Don Brown's Law Firm, Brown & Associates, PLLC
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Don 1960 births Living people United States Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps American thriller writers American military writers 20th-century American naval officers 21st-century American novelists University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni Campbell University alumni People from Plymouth, North Carolina Writers from Charlotte, North Carolina Christian novelists North Carolina lawyers American male novelists 21st-century American male writers Novelists from North Carolina 21st-century American non-fiction writers American male non-fiction writers