Recipes for Living Randy Brown

One of the great Recipes for living above adversities is the life of Randy Brown. When the subject of veterans' stories have been mentioned, the recommendation has been to talk with Randy Brown. The supposition was that his confinement to a wheel chair was due to injuries sustained in combat. Not so.

In spite of being born and spending early years in Des Moines, graduating from Des Moines Technical High School, Randy categorizes himself as a farmer. Growing up, he spent time on the farms of his grandparents, aunt and uncle in Newton, Peru, and St. Charles, where his grandparents lived until they retired and moved to town. Randy' s mother, Donna, still lives in Des Moines.

When Randy graduated from high school, he didn't give much thought to his choice. "At that time, everything was focused on Vietnam. There was duty to do for our country, so that is what I did. I have uncles and a brother who served their country, and I was willing to do so as well. I enlisted in Marines just out of high school in 1970, and retired out of the Marines in a wheel chair in 1976."

Randy was in Force Recon, Special Operations. This is a unit similar to the Green Berets in the Army. Their basic training was in San Diego, but there was much additional training required for what they were to do in Vietnam. There was training for specific missions. They went into North Vietnam to accomplish the mission, were extracted back out, and prepared for another. "The training we got was superb. There were no problems doing the mission and coming out. The only evidence of an injury is a scar on my arm from shrapnel.

"There isn't a whole lot to tell about my time in the service. I have buried a lot of it because there were not a whole lot of pleasantries. What it amounts to was doing the job we were given to do while we were there. I was in hand to hand combat kind of stuff, which I liked and I enjoyed my service time. I think the Marines are the best outfit around. My son has been in the Air Force 18 years, and I think that is great. The Marine Corp wasn't for him. It was for Dad, and Dad would do it again.

"My ending up in a wheel chair began in a normal way. In 1972, we were preparing for a mission, and I was given polio vaccine by the sugar cube method. Anything taken orally is a live vaccine, and its purpose is to build up anti-bodies by giving you a small portion of the disease. It turned out that mine was bad vaccine. It was just a fluke. More than 300,000 civilians and one military person were given this bad polio vaccine that year! The one serviceman was me. There is a seven-day incubation period, and we were en route to our mission when all of this transacted.

"I'm not sure what happened, except for the obvious - the vaccine back-fired for me. It gave me polio and I was paralyzed from the neck down. They air-vac-ed me back to the States, taking me to the closest military destination, which was Great Lakes. That was good because I was closer to the family. They didn't have to go so far to visit me. I spent eight months in a military hospital while they tried to determine what the problem was. They really didn't know. All the tests pointed to it being polio, but the doctors said that was impossible. At the time, they considered the Salk vaccine had made polio non-existent. They didn't consider vaccine was the cause." Randy has received no compensation for the error, nor has he attempted to be recompensed. "I get my military retirement check just like anybody else."

Randy and Judy met in Des Moines before he joined the military. She was originally from Grinnell, where her parents are still living. Randy and Judy were married in 1972, after all the above happened. When Randy was released from the hospital, he spent about 10 months in Des Moines living across from the VA (Veterans' Administration) hospital, where he had therapy. Although he never regained the use of muscles in his legs, he developed enough upper body strength that he could be independent. He did so well in building up that strength, that over the years he has competed in a number of wheel chair sports. On the national level, in competition with over 600 entries, he has about 25 gold medals to show for his prowess in weight-lifting, shot-put, discus, and javelin. His only comment: ''I had a good time!"

Randy didn't like living in Des Moines, and when he and Judy saw an ad in the paper for Leonard and Eliza Burchett's property, near Liberty, Iowa they rented it and began farming. They moved in 1973. On July 2, 1974, at 2:30 a.m., there was a fire. It happened so quickly! Randy's younger brother was living with them, helping on the farm and he and the Brown children discovered it. Although Randy didn't tell it, neighbor Hilda McKnight told that even though Randy had drug himself out, he went back to get the papers of his dog, which was trained in the Canine Corps. His brother pulled him back, saying he would get them. The family escaped, but the house was a total loss. The Burchetts had electricity provided by a Delco plant, which was the method for having electricity before there were other means. Possibly the original wiring had never been replaced.

When "Snapper" McKnight's place in the Liberty area came up for sale, they bought it and have been there since 1976, when they built the house where they still live. Randy continues to farm, but not as much as formerly. He now has 120 acres. In 1977, people from a TV show, "PM Magazine," visited them and did an article about Randy farming out of a wheel-chair. The Des Moines Register did one as well, but he doesn't remember the year. Hilda tells about neighbors working together. One day as she was climbing onto her Ford 8N tractor, which she refers to as her "baling wire special - there was no way it could have held together without baling wire" - Randy told her to get off. He would drive it. She couldn't believe how he climbed onto the tractor or drove the combine! Nothing stopped him!

There is an American proverb, source unknown, "Behind every great man, there is a good woman." Randy said of Judy, "She's terrific!" Their long time friend Enid Kendall supplied details: "Judy is a humble, helpful wife, who has kept the home going. Whatever Randy became involved in, she was behind it, attended meetings, and worked right alongside him. She has been his legs. They have been a tremendous couple, always working together. In addition to other projects, there was a time when they raised miniature ponies, for which they had miniature harnesses and carts. Judy groomed and took care of them. I will never forget a July 4th parade when their son-in-law, Rick, and my daughter Allison rode in the cart pulled by this tiny pony. There was almost the feeling the people should get out and let the pony ride.

"Judy's life has been her husband and her family. Their daughter, Joleen, and her family live about a half mile north of them and Judy was their baby sitter, as well as being involved in the children's lives as they grew. They are a very close knit family. Judy has been the one who did the going and running, and has always done it with a bubbly, cheerful attitude. She would never tell it unless she is asked. And she has done it all in spite of a recurring health problem that confines her to the hospital from time to time."

In addition to Joleen, and her husband, Rick Louder, Randy and Judy have a son, Brian, a daughter-in-law, Marilu, and five grandchildren. Joleen and Rick have two children - Jarrod and Nichole, ages 17 and 16 respectively.

Their son, Brian, is 39. He spent most of his life in Osceola, went to school here, and graduated from Clarke Community High School. Brian enlisted in the Air Force, and is currently stationed in Panama City, Florida. He and Marilu have three children - Leslie (18), Brian (6), and Jason (3). Brian has been in the Air Force 18 years, during which time he has been in Iraq four times, as well as Somalia, Bosnia, the Azores off Portugal, and he's been in Korea twice. He will return to Iraq for another tour in January.

Randy's life continues as though he has no limitations. He refers to his situation as an "inconvenience!" He drives himself wherever he needs to be. The first three months, he used a stick to operate the accelerator and brake of his vehicle, but he has had hand controls for quite a few years.

Randy declines to talk a lot about himself and suggested asking other people about him and what he has done. Enid Kendall's endorsement of Randy and Judy has already been quoted. Don Reasoner, a Clarke County supervisor, had words of high praise for Randy. "He has helped many veterans get what is rightfully coming to them. He did this for my brother Olin. He has knowledge of and is in good standing with all the veterans' organizations. He received help for us through AmVets. He's a good man who will go to bat for anybody in need, particularly veterans."

Both Hilda McKnight, Randy's and Judy's neighbor, and Penny Gonseth, Clarke County Recorder, said the same when they were asked to tell about Randy. Hilda said, "It is hard to tell about him. You just have to know him." Penny wrote, "I know Randy Brown as a caring, compassionate person with an absolutely dynamic approach to life. The Clarke County community has definitely benefitted from his enthusiasm and dedication."

Obviously, Randy is widely known and appreciated for his help on a variety of boards, in organizations and for individuals. He is active in the Clarke County Republicans, and in the years when Jack Beaman was campaigning for State Representative, Randy managed his successful campaign. When Jack told Governor Branstad about him, he appointed Randy to the state position of Director of Veterans' Affairs. "I held that position during the change-over to the Democratic administration and served under Governor Vilsack from January until April.

"I am on the Iowa State Fair Board. It is fun but lots of work to put together a state fair. We will meet three days next week (October 10-15, 2005) to work out the schedules for the competition shows - livestock, quilts, pies and cakes, and other. We meet two days a month, and three days every once in awhile, year round.

"It is necessary, these days, to supplement farm income, and when I was offered a position at the casino, I took it. I am in charge of the hotel, convention center, safety, and transportation. I am on duty most of the time. Those of us in management regularly work 10 -12 hour days. A large convention is being held here at the present time, and last night I was here until l :00, then checked in again this morning at the usual time.

"In my opinion, the casino has been a great asset to the community. This is the second largest employer in the county, offering employment to over 500 citizens including a number of senior citizens, who use our health insurance program to supplement Medicare. We love having them. They are great employees, dedicated, hard working people. They were accustomed to working hard in their careers. It is the Midwest work ethic.

"Another benefit to the economy of the area is tourism. We draw over a million people a year to this county. In addition to visiting the casino, they shop while they are here, stay in motels, and eat in the restaurants. Casinos are required by law to pay a percentage to the state, county, and city in which they operate, and over the years (beginning about 1995) the casino has contributed millions to the worthy projects that undoubtedly could not have been done without it.

"We offer a clean, orderly environment for meetings and conventions of all sizes, and concerts that provide an opportunity to hear outstanding stars. We've just had the Smothers Brothers; Roy Clark will be here in December 2005, and our display board shows a wide variety of stars with familiar names and faces. Christmas is coming up, so we will have Christmas parties. This is what my staff does - we book parties and conventions.

"There is a reasonably priced, outstanding buffet and dining room, and anyone who chooses can go to the gaming area. It's a free country. It is that simple. I went into the Marines to fight for the freedom of this and other countries. That's what we were all about. This happened with the casino. There was opposition to Mr. Grace establishing the facility here. Dire predictions were made of the demise of local businesses, organized crime coming to the area, a needed increase of Osceola's police force. None of that has proven true, and a majority of voters overwhelmingly supported both referendums. The transition from Grace to the Herbst Company has continued with the same principles.

"In the gaming area, we police ourselves. There are state police on the property, representatives of the DCI (Department of Criminal Investigation) as part of the gaming enforcement. We have a good working relationship with them. And we are alert to potential addicts. We publicize an organization 1-800-BETS-Off available to those who become addicted, but there are a lot of people who police themselves. If they find themselves tempted beyond their ability to handle it, they can be self-banned. They call in and say they want to be banned from this property and they are never again allowed here. Sometimes family members call with concerns. We give them all the information we can to assist them. We're not here to take people's money. We are here to show them a good time. We are an entertainment venue.

''My life is complete with family, friends, and community interests. I don't like sitting around doing nothing, and I was determined to continue living as actively as possible. So, I have been incapacitated to a degree. Everybody gets injuries throughout life, whether it is in the military or working on the farm or just in normal activities. Shoot, that's just part of it. Everybody has a choice, and life is a lot more pleasant with a positive attitude. We can't let our problems keep us from living."

It is a privilege to know people who build on what they have rather than dwelling on what they've lost. Randy is a prime example.