Ensign Jesse Brown was the first black aviator in the United States Navy, and the first African-American to have a ship named after him. He was college educated, a self-made man, and had beaten incredible odds to become a Navy pilot. When Jesse Brown crash-landed in North Korea, behind enemy lines, his wingman and best friend, a wealthy white Naval Academy grad, crash-landed next to Brown to try to save him.
The ‘Odd Couple’
The story of Jesse Brown’s service cannot be told separately from his friendship with Thomas J. Hudner. Hudner and Brown were known as the ‘odd couple’ because of the vast difference in their backgrounds. Hudner had attended the elite Philips Academy prep school, and came from an old Massachusetts family.
“I never thought a white man would help out a black man like that.”
Jesse Brown grew up in a home without indoor plumbing in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. He had worked his way through school, and had defied school advisors to apply to Ohio State for college. While at Ohio State he held a full time job loading boxcars eight hours a night, but still made top grades in his class.
Ensign Jesse Brown, USN, in 1948
Although Brown had faced much racist abuse in some of the jobs he had, he found that his fellow students were welcoming and friendly. He was one of only seven black students at Ohio State. He graduated in architectural engineering, but he already had joined a Navy ROTC aviation program, fulfilling his lifelong dream of learning to fly.
Brown was a natural pilot, and excelled. He was assigned to fly F4-U Corsair fighters from an aircraft carrier, the most difficult aviation assignment in the military. His commissioning made national news, because he ‘broke the color barrier’ for naval aviators.
Awkward First Meeting
Thomas Hudnor recalled the first time he and Brown met. It was at the Quonset Point Naval Air Station in Rhode Island, two years after the military had been desegregated. Brown had faced various receptions from colleagues during his career – in some places he had been shunned, in others accepted warmly, by his white peers. In at least one assignment, he found that white fellow officers accepted him, but black stewards and support staff were hostile. At Quonset Point, he was the new guy, and had no idea what awaited him.
“I was changing into flight gear, and he came in and nodded, ‘Hello,'” Hudner said. “I introduced myself, but he made no gesture to shake hands. I think he did not want to embarrass me and have me not shake his hand. I think I forced my hand into his.”
“Frozen Chosin” Close Air Support
On 4 December 1950 Brown and Hudner were flying a ‘roadrunner’ close air support mission over North Korea. They had to cover the retreat of 15,000 American troops who had been suddenly overwhelmed by over 100,000 Chinese soldiers at the infamous “Frozen Chosin” reservoir battle. Hudner had the higher rank, Lt. JG, but Ensign Jesse Brown had more flying hours, so he was the lead pilot and Hudner was the wingman.
Two Crash Landings
Hudner noticed that one of Brown’s fuel lines had been hit, and signaled him. He pointed out a fairly flat bowl formation on the side of a mountain, and Brown jettisoned his fuel tanks and rockets and made an emergency crash landing there. His plane broke apart and caught fire at landing, and the other pilots in his flight circled, expecting the worst.
He was unable to free Brown’s leg from the wreckage of the plane. He radioed for a rescue helicopter to bring an axe and a fire extinguisher, and he then then started packing snow into Brown’s engine in an effort to put out the fire.
As Hudner made a low pass, he saw Brown open his cockpit and wave. He circled back and crash landed his own plane 100 yards from Brown’s, and ran over to help him. Brown’s leg was pinned in the wreckage of the plane, and he had lost his hat and taken off his gloves. He was already freezing in the sub-zero temperature.
Lt. JG Thomas J. Hudner, 1950
Hudner put his own wool cap on Brown’s head, and wrapped Brown’s hands in his woolen scarf. He was unable to free Brown’s leg from the wreckage of the plane. He radioed for a rescue helicopter to bring an axe and a fire extinguisher, and he then then started packing snow into Brown’s engine in an effort to put out the fire.
“He died in the wreckage of his airplane with courage and unfathomable dignity. He willingly gave his life to tear down barriers to freedom of others.”
When the helicopter arrived, Hudner and the rescue pilot tried for 45 minutes to free Brown’s leg, but they couldn’t. Brown lapsed in and out of consciousness, and steadily weakened from his wounds, loss of blood, and the cold. His last words were a request that Hudner tell Daisy, Brown’s wife, that he loved her.
Fiery Burial Ceremony
Hudner vowed to come back for Brown’s remains, but his commanders did not allow it, expecting an ambush. The pilots returned two days later to ensure that neither Brown nor his plane would be violated. They bombed it with napalm, while reciting the Lord’s Prayer, as a warrior’s burial ceremony. They flew low enough to see Brown’s body still trapped in the plane, but that it already had been stripped of his upper clothes.
Powerful Lesson on the Brotherhood of Man
Lt. JG Thomas Hudner was awarded the Medal of Honor for his valor and his loyalty to his colleague and friend. The news that a rich white ‘Boston Brahmin’ sort of officer had risked his life for his friend made a powerful impression on America. The African-American press ran the story in every edition. One reader wrote in, “I never thought a white man would help out a black man like that.”
Hudner’s response was simple and heartfelt. He never considered any other option, because he knew that Jesse Brown would have done the same thing for him.
The USS Jesse L. Brown
Thomas Hudner went on to become a Navy Captain, and he became a close friend to the Brown family. He paid for Brown’s widow, Daisy, to attend college. When the Destroyer USS Jesse L. Brown (DE-1089) was commissioned in 1973, Hudner spoke about his friend.
USS Jesse L. Brown, (FE1089)
“He died in the wreckage of his airplane with courage and unfathomable dignity. He willingly gave his life to tear down barriers to freedom of others.” The USS Jesse L. Brown was later reclassified to a Knox-class frigate, FE-1089.
Hudner returned to North Korea over 60 years later, in 2013, to make an effort to retrieve Ensign Jesse Brown’s remains. He rejected the efforts of the North government to use him as a prop for propaganda purposes, refusing to attend a military parade or the opening of a North Korean museum featuring the USS Pueblo. The North Korean government reciprocated by refusing to allow him to visit the crash site, claiming that bad weather had washed out the roads.
Thomas J. Hudner with Medal of Honor, in 2008, The Medal was awarded for Hudner atttempt to rescue Jesse L. Brown
Fletcher Brown, Jesse’s 85 year-old brother, spoke of Thomas Hudner in April 2017. He told the Boston Globe that Hudner and his family had remained close for nearly 70 years. “For him to have crash-landed his plane deliberately, that took a lot of guts and a lot of determination. Tom is a very close friend.”
