On 4 December 1950, Hudner and Brown were among a group of pilots on patrol near the
Chosin Reservoir when Brown's Corsair was struck by ground fire from
Chinese troops and crashed. In an attempt to save Brown from his burning aircraft, Hudner intentionally
crash-landed his own aircraft on a snowy mountain in freezing temperatures to help Brown. In spite of these efforts, Brown died of his injuries and Hudner was forced to evacuate, having also been injured in the landing.
Military career
Following the
attack on Pearl Harbor and the United States' entry into
World War II, Hudner heard a speech by academy headmaster
Claude Fuess which he later said inspired him to join the military. One of 10 from Phillips to be accepted into the academy from his class, he entered the
United States Naval Academy in
Annapolis, Maryland, in 1943 and graduated in 1946. By the time he was commissioned, however, World War II had ended. Hudner attended the Naval Academy with a number of other notable classmates, including
James B. Stockdale,
Jimmy Carter, and
Stansfield Turner. He played football at the academy, eventually becoming a starting
running back for the
junior varsity team.
Hudner shortly after becoming a naval aviator in 1950.
After graduation, Hudner served as a communications officer aboard several surface ships. During his initial years in the military, Hudner said he had no interest in aircraft. After a one-year tour of duty aboard the
Baltimore-class heavy cruiser USS Helena, which was operating off the coast of
Taiwan, he transferred to a post as a communications officer at the
Naval Base Pearl Harbor where he served for another year. By 1948, Hudner became interested in aviation, and applied to flight school, seeing it as "a new challenge". He was accepted into
Naval Air Station Pensacola in
Pensacola, Florida, where he completed basic
flight training, and was transferred to
Naval Air Station Corpus Christi in Texas, where he completed advanced flight training and was certified a Naval Aviator in August 1949. After a brief posting in
Lebanon, Hudner was assigned to
Fighter Squadron 32 aboard the
USS Leyte, piloting the
F4U Corsair. He later said he enjoyed this assignment, as he considered the Corsair to be "safe and comfortable".
[edit]Korean War
On the night of 25 June 1950, ten divisions of the
North Korean People's Army launched a full-scale invasion of the nation's neighbor to the south, the
Republic of Korea. The force of 89,000 men moved in six columns, catching the
Republic of Korea Army by surprise, resulting in a rout. The smaller South Korean army suffered from widespread lack of organization and equipment, and was unprepared for war.
[9] The numerically superior North Korean forces destroyed isolated resistance from the 38,000 South Korean soldiers on the front before it began moving steadily south.
[10] Most of South Korea's forces retreated in the face of the invasion. The North Koreans were well on their way to South Korea's capital of
Seoul within hours, forcing the government and its shattered army to retreat further south.
To prevent South Korea's collapse the
United Nations Security Council voted
to send military forces. The United States'
Seventh Fleet dispatched
Task Force 77, led by the
fleet carrier USS Valley Forge, and the
British Far East Fleet dispatched several ships, including
HMS Triumph, to provide air and naval support. Although the navies blockaded North Korea and launched aircraft to delay the North Korean forces these efforts alone did not stop the North Korean Army juggernaut on its southern advance. U.S. President
Harry S. Truman later ordered ground troops into the country to supplement the air support. All U.S. Navy units and ships including the
Leyte were placed on alert. The ship was in the
Mediterranean Sea, and Hudner did not expect to be deployed to Korea, but on 8 August a relief carrier arrived in the area and the
Leyte was ordered to Korea.Naval commanders felt the pilots on the
Leyte were better trained and prepared than those of other available carriers, and so they were among the first dispatched to the theater. The
Leyte sailed from the
Strait of Gibraltar across the
Atlantic Ocean and to Quonset, then through the
Panama Canal and
San Diego, California,
Hawaii, and
Japan before arriving in the waters off Korea around 8 October.
[edit]Medal of Honor action
On 4 December 1950, Hudner was part of a six-aircraft flight supporting
U.S. Marine Corps ground troops who were trapped by Chinese forces. At 13:38, he took off from the
Leyte with squadron
executive officer Lieutenant Commander Dick Cevoli,
Lieutenant George Hudson, Lieutenant Junior Grade Bill Koenig,
Ensign Ralph McQueen, and Ensign
Jesse L. Brown, who was Hudner's
wingman. The flight traveled 100 miles (160 km) from Task Force 77's location to the Chosin Reservoir, flying 35 to 40 minutes through very harsh wintery weather to the vicinity of the villages Yudam-ni and Hagaru-ri. The flight began searching for targets along the west side of the reservoir, lowering their altitude to 700 feet (210 m) in the process. The three-hour
search and destroy mission was also an attempt to probe Chinese troop strength in the area.
Though the flight spotted no Chinese, at 14:40 Koenig radioed to Brown that he appeared to be trailing fuel. The damage had likely come by
small arms fire from Chinese infantry, who were known to hide in the snow and ambush passing aircraft by firing in unison. At least one bullet had ruptured a fuel line. Brown, losing fuel pressure and increasingly unable to control the aircraft, dropped his
external fuel tanks and rockets and attempted to land the craft in a snow-covered clearing on the side of a mountain. Brown crashed into a bowl-shaped valley at approximately
40°36′N 127°06′E, near Somong-ni, 15 miles (24 km) behind Chinese lines and in 15-degree weather. The aircraft broke up violently upon impact and was destroyed. In the crash, Brown's leg was pinned beneath the
fuselage of the Corsair, and he stripped off his helmet and gloves in an attempt to free himself, before waving to the other pilots, who were circling close overhead. Hudner and the other airborne pilots thought Brown had died in the crash, and they immediately began a
mayday radio to any heavy transport aircraft in the area as they canvassed the mountain for any sign of nearby Chinese ground forces. They received a signal that a rescue helicopter would come as soon as possible, but Brown's aircraft was smoking and a fire had started near its internal fuel tanks.
Hudner attempted in vain to rescue Brown via radio instruction, before intentionally
crash-landing his aircraft, running to Brown's side and attempting to wrestle him free from the wreck. With Brown's condition worsening by the minute, Hudner attempted to drown the aircraft fire in snow, and pull Brown from the aircraft, all in vain. Brown began slipping in and out of consciousness, but in spite of being in great pain, did not complain to Hudner. A rescue helicopter arrived around 15:00, and Hudner and its pilot, Lieutenant Charles Ward, were unable to put out the engine fire with a
fire extinguisherand tried in vain to free Brown with an axe for 45 minutes. They briefly considered, at Brown's request, amputating his trapped leg. Brown lost consciousness for the last time shortly thereafter. His last known words, which he told Hudner, were "tell Daisy I love her." The helicopter, which was unable to operate in the darkness, was forced to leave at nightfall with Hudner, leaving Brown behind. Brown is believed to have died shortly thereafter of his injuries and exposure to the extreme cold. No Chinese forces threatened the site, likely because of the heavy air presence of the VF-32 pilots.
Hudner begged superiors to allow him to return to the wreck to help extract Brown, but he was not allowed, as other officers feared an ambush of the vulnerable helicopters resulting in additional casualties. In order to prevent the body and the aircraft from falling into Chinese or North Korean hands, the U.S. Navy bombed the crash site with
napalm two days later, reciting the
Lord's Prayerover the radio as they watched Brown's body consumed by flames. The pilots observed that his body looked to have been disturbed and his clothes stolen, but he was still stuck in the aircraft. The remains of both Brown and the aircraft were never recovered. Brown was the first U.S. Navy officer killed in the war.
Hudner receives the Medal of Honor from President Harry S. Truman in April 1951.
The 4 December incident grounded Hudner for a month, as he injured his back in the landing, an injury he later said persisted for 6 to 8 years. He flew 27 combat missions during the war, serving there until 20 January 1951, when the
Leyte was rotated back to the Atlantic Fleet. On 13 April 1951, Hudner received the
Medal of Honor from President Harry S. Truman, meeting Brown's widow, Daisy Brown, in the process. The two stayed in regular contact for at least 50 years following this meeting. He was the first servicemember to be awarded the medal during the Korean War, though several others would be awarded the medal for actions which occurred before 4 December 1950.
[a]
Hudner said he was occasionally criticized for his actions, and "about 90" people have told him he acted recklessly. His commanders noted his actions may have endangered the helicopter pilot and sacrificed an aircraft, criticisms Hudner later said did not make him regret his decision, as he felt it was a spur of the moment action. Still, commanders later issued orders forbidding pilots from crash-landing in a similar way to try to save downed wingmen.On later reflection, Hudner indicated he did not consider himself a hero for his actions.
[edit]Later Navy career
Beginning in October 1957, Hudner served in an exchange program with the
U.S. Air Force, flying for two years with the
60th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron at
Otis Air Force Base in
Barnstable County, Massachusetts. During this assignment, he flew the
F-94 Starfire and the
F-101 Voodoo. He was then promoted to
commander and served as aide to the Chief of the Bureau of Naval Weapons until 1962, when he attended the
Air War College at
Maxwell Air Force Base in
Montgomery, Alabama. Upon graduating in July 1963, he returned to flying duty and was appointed the executive officer of
Fighter Squadron 53, flying the
F-8E Crusader aboard the
USS Ticonderoga. After serving as executive officer, Hudner assumed command of VF-53. Following this assignment, he was transferred to a position as Leadership Training Officer at the office of
Commander, Naval Air Forces, at
Naval Air Station North Island in
Coronado, California.
Hudner was promoted to
captain in 1965, taking command of
Training Squadron 24 at
Naval Air Station Chase Field in
Bee County, Texas, which he commanded in 1965 and 1966. In 1966 he was assigned to the
USS Kitty Hawk, first as a navigator, then as the ship's executive officer. The
Kitty Hawk deployed off the shore of
South Vietnam in 1966 and 1967, flying missions in support of the
Vietnam War, and he served on the ship during this tour but saw no combat and flew none of the missions himself. In 1968, he was assigned as the
operations officer for the Southeast Asia Air Operations division of the U.S. Navy. That year, he married Georgea Smith, a widow with three children, whom he had met in San Diego. The two had one son together, Thomas Jerome Hudner III, born in 1971. Hudner's final Navy posting was as the head of Aviation Technical Training in the Office of the
Chief of Naval Operations in
Washington, D.C., a post which he held until his retirement in February 1973.
On 17 February 1973, days before Hudner's retirement, the Navy commissioned the
Knox-class frigate USS Jesse L. Brown (FF-1089), the first 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, her daughter Pamela Brown, and Hudner, who gave a dedication. The ship was decommissioned on 27 July 1994 and sold to
Egypt.
[edit]Later life
Hudner (right) speaks with Secretary of the Navy
Donald C. Winter after a ceremony honoring veterans in 2008.
After retiring, Hudner initially worked as a management consultant, and later worked with the
United Service Organizations. Because of his Medal of Honor, he worked regularly with various veterans groups in his retirement as a leader in the veterans' community, otherwise living a quiet life. From 1991 to 1999 he served as Commissioner for the Massachusetts Department of Veterans' Services, the state's branch of the
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, until he gave up that position to
Thomas G. Kelley, another Medal of Honor recipient.
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