When he was an infant, the family moved to several cities closer to the Mississippi Delta, but he was raised primarily in the small town of Stephenson.

[3] He served in the 91st Engineer Battalion in the United States Army in New Guinea and the Philippines during World War II.

[4] During a posting in Australia, Brooks said that he was treated better by the white people there than in the United States in the decades prior to the civil rights movement.

In 2020, this celebration included a flyover of World War II aircraft above Brooks's house, with the museum's "Victory Belles", a trio of singers performing songs predominantly from the 1940s era.

[10] Louisiana governor John Bel Edwards also posted, saying: "I am sorry to hear of the passing of Mr. Lawrence Brooks, America’s oldest World War II veteran and a proud Louisianan".