William Braun

William Francis (Bill) Braun, Col. (Ret.) passed away on April 19, 2012 at his home in Novato, CA at age 94. Born in New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada on February 20, 1918, he immigrated with his parents at age two to the Puyallup, WA area where his family farmed next to the family of his future wife, Beatrice Mullen. After attending Fife High School, Bill went to the University of Puget Sound but enlisted in the U.S. Army at the beginning of WWII. Seeing his potential, his commanding officers sent him to Officers' Candidate School where he went from sergeant to second lieutenant. He married Beatrice, an army nurse and also a lieutenant, in 1943. Bill then went to the Philippines and postwar Japan before returning to civilian life and majoring in aeronautical engineering at the Univ. of WA. A few months short of his advanced degree, he was called back into the army for the Korean War. With three small children and eight years in the service, Capt. Braun decided to make the army his career. He worked on the Nike missile program in El Paso, TX and other missile programs at Sandia Base in Albuquerque, NM. Bill was one of the oldest soldiers to successfully complete jump school at Ft. Benning, GA. Stationed in Heidelberg, Germany, Bill, by then a major, was part of the Inspector General unit. Always interested in flight, he learned to fly glider planes with a German club while there. Later, he learned how to fly helicopters and accumulated many hours of fixed wing flight. Returning to the States, Lt. Col. Braun was stationed at Ft. Campbell, KY with the 101st Airborne, going with that group to Vietnam in 1965 as battalion commander of the 320th artillery division. While there, his gallantry in action earned him a Silver Star among other decorations. Always modest, his family, that now included three daughters and one son as well as his wife, was the last to know about his Silver Star. A 'Buy War Bonds' ad in 1966 showed Lt. Col. Braun with his troops while in Vietnam. Featured in all major magazines, Lt. Col. Braun was especially pleased when he spied the ad in TV Guide, thinking it gave him and his troops the most universal and positive exposure. Stationed at the Pentagon and then returning to Ft. Bliss in El Paso where he was commander of the 1st Advanced Individual Training Brigade, Col. Braun then went a second time to Vietnam where he was chief of staff of DRAC/USMACV during the winding down of the war. On his return, Col. Braun was stationed at the Presidio in San Francisco and, as his last assignment, was regional deputy commander for 6th region ARADCOM and lived on Ft. Baker. During his thirty year military career, he received more than twenty-two medals and awards including the Silver Star, the Legion of Merit with four oak leaf clusters and the Bronze Star. Col. Braun enjoyed sailing and was an active member of the Marin Power Squadron where he instructed other sailors in celestial navigation for many years. There he received a national award for his instructional excellence. In his late sixties, he sailed a sailboat from Hawaii to San Francisco with his son and a friend. He continued to have a sailboat at the Presidio Yacht Club for decades where his motto while either sailing or windsurfing was to never get wet. A lifelong learner, Col. Braun constantly took classes at Indian Valley Colleges and the College of Marin. Even after a stroke limited his ability to read, he studied using recorded instruction or spent hours deciphering his textbooks. He was a math tutor at the community colleges for many years. He could recite many long works of poetry from memory and encouraged his family to read the most famous poems. Throughout the years, Col. Braun excelled at the sports of handball, squash and racquetball, playing well into his 80's with much younger people. He walked daily using weights until his early 90's, staying healthy until the last two years of his life. Beatrice Mullen Braun preceded her husband in death in 2009 after 66 years of marriage. His son, William Patrick Braun, also died in 2009. Bill is survived by three daughters and their spouses, Kathleen (Prince), Maureen (Patrick), Sheila (Bob) as well as six grandchildren Michael, Maria (Mike), Shannon (fiance, Austin), Casey, Caitlin, Quinn and great-grandchild Breanna. After a funeral mass at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in Novato at 11:30 a.m. on Monday, May 21st, a military interment will be held at Sacramento Valley National Cemetery, 5810 Midway Rd., Dixon, CA for both William Francis (Bill) and Beatrice Mullen (Betty) Braun on Tuesday, May 22nd at 1:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Marin County Power Squadron in Col. Braun's name.