Retired Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force Major General Ralph Brown has died.
News of Brown’s death was shared by family and friends on social media yesterday.
Brown was the Chief of the Defence Staff during the 1990 attempted coup by the Jamaat-al-Muslimeen and had to commandeer his troops to bring an end to the six-day siege and secure the release of the hostages held at the Red House and TTT by the now-deceased Jamaat leader Yasin Abu Bakr and his insurrectionists.
Brown never forgave Abu Bakr for that dark moment in T&T’s history and had held a dim view of the Muslim leader, which he (Brown) made very public.
He was often the go-to person for information related to the affairs of the army but was also versed in aviation and served as chairman of the Trinidad and Tobago Civil Aviation Authority from 2004-2010.
For his lifelong work and commitment to national service, Brown was awarded the Chaconia Medal (Gold) in 2019.