It’s the 4th of December, 1950 and struggling to keep his plane in the air
is Jesse LeRoy Brown.
Jesse hears on the radio,
“Jesse, you are streaming something. It looks as if you are streaming fuel.”
The 6 F4U Corsairs have been flying low over the mountains and the enemy forces have been taking potshots at them.
To the dismay of the other pilots Jesse said,
“Yes, I am losing fuel. And I don’t know how long I’ll be able to stay up.”
His friend Tom Hudner is flying alongside.
He turns his attention to his friend’s aircraft and sees a trail of liquid streaming out of the bag.
Hudner’s heart drops.
It’s happened at the worst possible time.
They’re deep in enemy territory and below them is a brutally cold mountainous landscape.
But they’re out of options, the men search the inhospitable terrain for any possible landing spots.
They see a clearing on the mountainside.
It’s not much, but it will have to do.
Flying alongside Tom Hudner reminds Jesse to double check his harness and lock his canopy open so he can escape.
The men watched anxiously as Jesse dropped his ordinance and approached the clearing, moving lower and lower, until…
The Corsair hits hard and throws up snow and ice as it grinds to a halt on the mountainside.
The cloud of snow in the air settles slowly.
The flight passes over and sees Jesse's aircraft with its fuselage bent at the cockpit.
The canopy slammed shut from the impact and ominously smoke seems to be rising from the engine.
The planes fly again over the crash site searching desperately for a sign of life.
The men breathe a sigh of relief.
Jesse is alive.
He waves at them, and the squadron calls for a rescue helicopter.
But Hudner feels uneasy.
Something is wrong.
Jesse’s not getting out.
Seconds turn into a minute as the squadron circles the area,
smoke still rises from the wrecked aircraft’s cowling, and Jesse remains within.
Hudner’s unease turns to dread.
It’s just too long.
If Jesse’s trapped or badly hurt he’ll be killed by the fire or the cold long before the rescue gets here.
Without speaking a word to the rest of his squadron, Hudner makes an incredibly brave decision.
He separates from the formation.
He cuts his engine, drops his ordinance, secures his harness, and locks the canopy open.
It’s a rough landing and his back is hurt.
But struggling out of the plane he sees Jesse’s Corsair.
Hudner recalls that day in his own words...
Hudner attempts to put out the fire out with snow, shoving it in the engine cowling while he waits for the rescue.
The helicopter finally arrives half an hour later.
Hudner is in a rush to get Jesse out and asks the helicopter pilot what tools he has in the chopper but he is saddened to learn all he has is an axe.
Hudner takes it anyway.
He chops at the instrument panel and the fuselage, attempting to bend the metal into releasing his friend, but nothing is working.
Hudner gets progressively more distraught as the impossibility of the task becomes evident,
but even in these dire times, Jesse calms him down.
“Everything will be ok,” he says.
But time is running out.
It’s been over an hour; the sun threatens to fall under the horizon and Jesse is weakening.
They consider trying to remove Jesse’s legs to free him, but they don’t have the tools, know-how, or the time.
Hudner keeps trying with all his might, bending and prying.
But the metal refuses to budge, he keeps fighting with increased despair.
While Hudner tries everything he can, Jesse’s eyes fall closed for the last time.
Hudner tries to talk to him but receives no response.
Then he tries to wake him, but Jesse doesn’t react.
Hudner resumes his efforts with heart-wrenching resolve, he can’t abandon him, it can’t end like this.
But then the helicopter pilot brings him terrible news.
Defeated and heartbroken, Hudner approaches his friend for the last time and promises that he’ll return.
Jesse’s loss was felt heavily by the squadron.
He was a gentle and strong man who had fought through poverty and the difficulty
of segregation to become the first African American aviator in the US Navy.
The next day Hudner pleaded for a recovery mission to bring Jesse’s remains home, but his superiors turned him down,
citing the unreasonable danger of a recovery behind enemy lines.
Instead, two days later they were ordered to bomb the wrecked aircraft to prevent their capture.
It was considered a Viking burial for Jesse.
The squadron watched with a heavy heart as it burned.
Together, the pilots recited the lord’s prayer in a final goodbye.
Thomas J Hudner was awarded the Medal of Honor for his bravery and determination during the attempted rescue.
During the ceremony he would get the chance to deliver Jesse’s last words to his wife, Daisy.
But he never forgave himself for failing to fulfill his promise of returning.
In 2013 at age 88 Tom flew to North Korea alongside the Author of Devotion Adam Makos to ask for the recovery of Jesse’s remains.
The Korean’s gave Tom permission to bury an old friend and gave the green light
for the army to search the area for his remains and even allowed Tom to follow the search.
But sadly they came out empty handed and because of heavy monsoon rains Tom did not get the chance
to return to the mountains where his old friend passed away.
Thomas Hudner died on November 13, 2017.
The film Devotion featuring the story of Jesse and Tom was released in 2022.
Shortly after the incident the men of Fighter Squadron 32 wrote a eulogy for their fallen brother.
It read: "Jesse LeRoy Brown. A Christian soldier, a gentleman, a shipmate, and friend.
His courage and faith shone like a beacon for all to see.”
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