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.
USS Haraden (DD-183)
Assigned to Canada and renamed HMCS "Columbia" following the Canadian practice of naming destroyers after Canadian rivers (but with deference to the U.S. origin), after the Columbia River originating in British Columbia and flowing into Washington and thence along the Oregon border. "Columbia" first underwent refit and then was assigned to convoy duties in the Atlantic. Her first major action began 15 October 1941 when she joined convoy SC 8, already under submarine attack. "Columbia", and the other escorts fought valiantly, but nine merchantmen from the convoy were sunk before reaching England. After the U.S.'s entry into the war "Columbia" was reassigned to convoy ships from New York to St. Johns, Newfoundland, the first leg of the transatlantic journey. She escorted convoys and performed anti-submarine patrol until 25 February 1944, when she struck a cliff in foul weather off the coast of Newfoundland. "Columbia" was not fully repaired after the accident but made watertight and used as a fuel and ammunition hulk in Nova Scotia until her return to the War Assets Administration for disposal in August 1945 when she was sold for scrapping.