Don Braswell was born in 1941 in North Carolina. He enlisted in the U.S. Army on August 22, 1966, and completed Basic Training at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, in October 1966. Pvt Braswell then completed Advanced Individual Training as an Infantryman at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, in December 1966, before serving as a Marine Engineer and Seaman with the 2nd Maintenance Battalion and the U.S. Army Marine Maintenance Activity in South Vietnam from December 1966 to December 1967. During this time, PFC Braswell was captured and taken as a Prisoner of War on August 23, 1967, but managed to escape and make it back to friendly forces the next day, on August 24, 1967. His final assignment was as a Physical Activities Specialist with the Army Transportation Center at Fort Eustis, Virginia, from February 1968 until he left active duty on July 8, 1968. SP4 Braswell remained in the Army Reserve until his honorable discharge on August 21, 1972.