Army Specialist Edward Brooks
July 9, 2023
Army Corporal Nicholas Brown
July 23, 2023
Roy Hoffman, Press-Register
…Brown, an Ohio native who made Mobile his home in recent years, was 26 years old…
“He was a family guy; he loved his girls,” said Tamara Dukes, Brown’s mother-in-law. Brown and his wife, Ariell Taylor-Brown, had two daughters, Charlie Brown and Dilyn Taylor-Brown, said Dukes. The couple had met in high school in Columbus, Ohio — “they were sweethearts since age 14,” Dukes said — and Brown enlisted in the Army after graduation.
Brown’s sister, Khrysti Hill, described her younger brother as dedicated to others. “He always liked to protect me,” said Hill. “He wanted to take care of other people. He was always making sure that everyone around him was happy.” Hill praised him — “He was my best friend,” she said — not only as a protector, but also as a provider. “Every man should strive to be like him,” she said.
… When Brown left for his recent assignment, his wife was expecting their third child. Brown had named the child before he left, said Dukes: Carter Christopher Brown. She said he was hoping for a boy.
“He chose to go with his men,” said Dukes. “He was good soldier. He looked out for his men like his family.” Dukes said Brown told her he expected to return from Afghanistan in December, and for the family to stay on in Mobile. He planned to be an Army recruiter, she said. Dukes said that the couple had moved to Mobile after Ariell Taylor-Brown was charmed by Mobile while visiting friends on the Gulf Coast. “She loved the Southern hospitality,” Dukes said. Brown fell in love with the area, too. Brown enjoyed family trips to the beach, excursions to New Orleans, and “flying in over the Gulf Coast.” She said that Brown had described the flight over the Mississippi coast as “the most beautiful part” of the landscape. “He’d try anything once,” Dukes said. “He had pictures all over the computer where he went hang-gliding and whitewater rafting. “He believed you have to live life.”
