Growing up in the segregated South, Jesse L. Brown was determined to become a Navy pilot. In 1948, he defied the odds to become the first African-American to train as a Navy pilot–and while he was met with predictable hostility, he earned the respect of many of his fellow navy pilots.
On December 4, 1950, African-American Navy pilot Jesse Brown was shot down, behind North Korean enemy lines, during the Battle of Chosin Reservoir in the Korean War. Unable to rescue him, his wingman, Lieutenant Thomas J. Hudner Jr, did the unthinkable: he crash-landed his own plane so that he could reach his friend and try to save his life.
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