AUGUSTUS HENRY BRAUN

Augustus Henry Braun was born on January 16, 1920, in Liberty, New York, and passed away to be with our Lord on Saturday, April 3, 2010. He is predeceased by his father, William Braun; his mother, Theresa Ruth Meyer Braun; and his sister, Cyrilla Miriam Braun. On October 20, 1942, Augustus began his meritorious career in the United States Navy. He played football for the Training Center during the season of 1942, and was in the Armed Guard from January 1943 until January 1944. At that time, he was shipped aboard the minesweeper U.S.S. Salute. He was an SKD3, and as an SKD3, went through the Asiatic-Pacific campaign, the European-African campaign and the Philippine campaign. He was in the invasions of Kiska, Atta, Guam, Saipan, Leyte and Tinian. In the Philippine campaign, the minesweeper he served with went in three days before the invasions started to clear the waters of mines. His ship received a unit citation for this. On December 15, 1944, at Ormac (Mindanao), he swam to set up a radar buoy to guide the ships in, and in setting it up was fired upon by enemy shore batteries and also was bombed by a Japanese seaplane. He was in the water for more than three hours but accomplished his mission of setting up the buoys for the invasion which followed and in doing so, he received a very meritorious award for his gallantry in action. It was not disclosed what medals he received, but they were very high awards. He stayed aboard the Salute until it was sunk off the coast of Borneo in February 1945. He was then sent to the Separation Center in Chicago, Illinois, where he was rehabilitated and later sent to the Separation Center in Los Angeles, California, where he was discharged as SKD3. He resumed his studies at USC, and could well be called an educated man, having majored in Business Education and minored in Physical Education. While at USC, he was Southern California's left halfback three consecutive years and played his first losing game in the Rose Bowl in 1947 when USC lost to Michigan, 49-0. He played professional football for the Hollywood Bears in 1948 and later coached high school and junior college football. In February, 1950, he received his Masters degree in Education and taught business accounting in high school and junior college where he also coached football. The year before that, (1949), he had received his commission as an LTJG, SC, U.S.N.R. He volunteered for active duty on August 12, 1950, and continued to serve until honorably discharged in 1990. He taught/coached and/or was an administrator (Athletic Director, Vice Principal or Principal) at Colton High School, Colton, Ca.; the Navy 3rd Fleet in Bayone, NJ; NAS Seattle, WA; Basic High School in Las Vegas, Nv.; Bellerman-Jefferson High School in Burbank, Ca.; Leutzinger High School in Los Angeles, Ca.; Indio High School in Indio, Ca.; Santa Maria High School, Santa Maria, Ca.; San Marino High School in San Marino, Ca.; Vista High School in Vista, Ca.; International School Bangkok in Bangkok, Thailand; Tehran American School in Tehran, Iran; and Mohamed Ali Othman School in Yemen Arab Republic. Fresno Unified School District utilized him throughout the district as a substitute teacher until his ultimate retirement in 2005. He also spent three years in Security at Yosemite National Park including the overseeing of the official visit by Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip in March of 1983. "Easy like Sunday morning" is how he lived his life and Augustus "Gus", is survived by his loving wife and best friend of nearly 40 years, Deborah; his two sons, Anthony "Andy" and Eric "Rick"; two daughters, Carlyn and Kimberly; six grandchildren; and one great-grandson. Also extended family members including Virginia Braun, Rita Biss, Vicki Singer, Jenelle and Allison Singer, Ely Aguilar, Sandra Davis, Carolyn Meyer and John R. Meyer. NEPTUNE SOCIETY OF CENTRAL CALIFORNIA 1154 West Shaw Avenue Fresno, California (559)222-7764