Jesse Brown's Sacrifice: First Black Naval Aviator Falls in Korea

Jesse L. Brown, the first African-American naval aviator, crashed behind enemy lines during the Battle of Chosin Reservoir after his plane took antiaircraft fire. His wingman Thomas Hudner deliberately crash-landed nearby in a futile rescue attempt, earning the Medal of Honor for a bond that transcended the racial barriers of the era. Brown was born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi in 1926 and overcame the segregation of the Jim Crow South to earn his naval aviator wings in 1948, becoming the first Black man to complete the Navy's flight training program. He was assigned to Fighter Squadron 32 aboard the USS Leyte, flying Vought F4U Corsairs in close air support missions during the Korean War. On December 4, 1950, while providing air support for Marines trapped at the Chosin Reservoir, Brown's Corsair was hit by antiaircraft fire and crash-landed on a snow-covered mountainside behind Chinese lines. Hudner, a white ensign from Fall River, Massachusetts, saw that Brown was alive but trapped in the wreckage. Without authorization, Hudner intentionally crash-landed his own aircraft nearby, packed snow around the smoldering engine to prevent fire, and attempted to free Brown from the crushed cockpit. Despite Hudner's efforts and those of a rescue helicopter crew that arrived later, Brown's legs were pinned and he died of his injuries before he could be extracted. Hudner received the Medal of Honor for his actions, the first Medal of Honor of the Korean War. The men's friendship, formed across the racial divide of a still-segregated military, became one of the most celebrated stories of the Korean War. A destroyer escort, USS Jesse L. Brown, was named in his honor in 1973.