David M. Brown
David McDowell Brown (April 16, 1956 – February 1, 2003) was a United States Navy captain and a NASA astronaut. He died on his first spaceflight, when the Space Shuttle "Columbia" (STS-107) disintegrated during orbital reentry into the Earth's atmosphere. Brown became an astronaut in 1996, but had not served on a space mission prior to the "Columbia" disaster. Brown was posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.
Brown, the 1986 recipient of the Navy Operational Flight Surgeon of the Year award, received numerous decorations including:
The symbol indicates a posthumous award.
Columbia-class cruiser
Both ships were re-activated with the outbreak of the Spanish–American War in March 1898, commencing the search for Admiral Cervera's squadron soon after. It was feared that Cervera's fleet would bombard the US East Coast. "Columbia" searched as far north as Maine, "Minneapolis" as far south as Venezuela. Neither appears to have encountered enemy ships during the war. "Columbia" carried troops to the invasion of Guánica, Puerto Rico on 25–26 July and supported the Puerto Rican Campaign through 14 August.