Robert H. Brooks

Robert Harold Brooks (October 8, 1915 – December 8, 1941) was a United States Army soldier. He was the first Army Armored Branch casualty of World War II, being killed on the island of Luzon within hours of the Japanese surprise attack against the United States.

Biography Brooks was born in Sadieville, Kentucky on October 8, 1915, to a family of African-American sharecroppers. (Several sources state that Brooks was born in Sadieville.) In the early 1940s, Brooks joined the army from Hamilton as a private. (Sources differ as to when and how Brooks joined the army.) The Kentucky African American Encyclopedia says that he enlisted on March 15, 1941, while WTVQ-DT and The Advocate-Messenger write that he was drafted or enlisted in 1940. After basic training, the unit conducted exercises at Camp Polk in Louisiana. Prayers were offered, and "Taps" was played. He is honored in his hometown, Sadieville, with a historical marker.