page_title: Jesse L. Brown
section_title: Legacy
hierarchical_section_title: Jesse L. Brown / Legacy
caption_attribution_description: English: Author Adam Makos and Dick Bonelli in talk with North Korean officials for the handing over of a Korean War pilot Jesse Brown. Brown was the first African-American naval aviator. During the Korean war, he was Hudner’s wingman during sorties they flew off the deck of the USS Leyte aircraft carrier. The two flew single-engine Corsair (F4U) fighters to provide critical air support for Marines during the Battle of Chosin Reservoir - a pivotal moment in the war.
context_page_description: Jesse LeRoy Brown was a United States Navy officer. He was the first African-American aviator to complete the U.S. Navy's basic flight training program, was a recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross, and the first African-American naval officer killed in the Korean War.
  Born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, to an impoverished family, Brown was avidly interested in aircraft from a young age. He graduated as salutatorian of his high school, notwithstanding its racial segregation, and was later awarded a degree from Ohio State University. Brown enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1946, becoming a midshipman. Brown earned his pilot wings on 21 October 1948 amid a flurry of press coverage; in January 1949 he was assigned to Fighter Squadron 32 aboard the aircraft carrier USS Leyte.
  At the outset of the Korean War, Leyte was ordered to the Korean Peninsula, arriving in October 1950. Brown, an ensign, flew 20 combat missions before his F4U Corsair aircraft came under fire and crashed on a remote mountaintop on 4 December 1950 while supporting ground troops at the Battle of Chosin Reservoir. Brown died of his wounds despite the efforts of wingman Thomas J.
context_section_description: For his actions in Korea leading up to his death, Brown was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Purple Heart Medal, and the Air Medal. For the failed rescue attempt, Hudner received the Medal of Honor, the highest valor award presented by the U.S. military.
  Brown's shipmates memorialized him in a shipwide newspaper as "a Christian soldier, a gentleman, a shipmate, and friend ... His courage and faith ... shone like a beacon for all to see." As word of his death spread, Brown inspired numerous other African Americans to become pilots, notably Seaman Apprentice Frank E. Petersen. Petersen would become the first African-American Marine Corps aviator and the first African-American Marine Corps general, graduating from the Naval Aviation Training Program in 1952 and retiring from the military after 38 years in 1988 with the rank of lieutenant general.
  On 17 February 1973, the Navy commissioned the Knox-class frigate USS Jesse L. Brown (FF-1089), the third U.S. ship named in honor of an African American. Present at the commissioning ceremony in Boston, Massachusetts, were Daisy Brown Thorne (who had remarried), Pamela Brown, and Hudner, who gave a dedication. The ship was decommissioned on 27 July 1994 and renamed Damiyat after being commissioned with the Egyptian Navy.
  Brown also has a VA Hospital in Chicago named after, formerly the known as the West Side VA Hospital.
  In July 2013, Hudner visited Pyongyang in an attempt to recover Brown's remains from the crash site. He was told by North Korean authorities to return in September when the weather is more predictable.
  While Brown is often cited as the first African-American Naval Aviator, historian Robert J. Schneller has maintained that Lieutenant (junior grade) Oscar W. Holmes preceded Brown, earning the designation of Naval Aviator in 1943 with an exemption from the Navy's basic aviation training program due to his prior civilian piloting experience.
caption: Author Adam Makos and Tom Hudner negotiate with North Korean officials for the return of Brown's remains
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