Jesse L. Brown

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This article is about the naval aviator. For the Veterans Affairs administrator, see Jesse Brown.
Jesse LeRoy Brown
Ensign Jesse L. Brown, September 1949.
Born 13 October 1926
Hattiesburg, Mississippi
Died 4 December 1950 (aged 24)
Chosin Reservoir, North Korea
Place of burial Chosin Reservoir, North Korea
Allegiance United States of America
Service/branch United States Navy
Years of service 1946–1950
Rank Ensign
Service number 504477[1]
Unit Fighter Squadron 32
Battles/wars Korean War
Battle of Chosin Reservoir
Awards Distinguished Flying Cross
Purple Heart

Jesse LeRoy Brown (13 October 1926 – 4 December 1950) was the first African-American naval aviator in the United States Navy, and the first naval officer killed in the Korean War.

Born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi to an impoverished family, Brown gained an avid interest in aircraft from a young age. In spite of encountering deep-seated institutionalized racism, Brown was able to graduate as salutatorian of his high school. Brown enlisted in the US Navy in 1946 and became a midshipman one year later. Brown earned his pilot wings on 21 October 1948, to great press coverage. He was subsequently assigned to Fighter Squadron 32 aboard the USS Leyte.

Upon the outset of the Korean War, the Leyte was ordered to the Korean Peninsula, arriving in October 1950. Brown, an Ensign, flew 20 combat missions until 4 December 1950, when during a mission supporting ground troops at the Battle of Chosin Reservoir. Brown's F4U Corsair aircraft was shot down on a remote mountaintop, pinning him inside. In spite of efforts by wingman Thomas J. Hudner, Jr., who intentionally crashed his aircraft to try and rescue Brown, the latter succumbed to his wounds. Hudner was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions.

Brown's efforts to overcome segregation in the US military and his death served as an inspiration for other African Americans. His life was later memorialized in several books, and the USS Jesse L. Brown (DE-1089) was named in his honor.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Jesse LeRoy Brown was born on 13 October 1926 in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.[2][3] He was one of six children born to John Brown, a grocery warehouse worker, and Julia Lindsey Brown, a schoolteacher.[4] He had four brothers, Marvin, William, Fletcher, and Lura, as well as a sister, Johnny. Brown was a mixture of African American, Chicksaw and Choctaw Native American ancestry.[5] The family lived in a house without central heating or indoor plumbing so the family relied on a fireplace for warmth. As a child, Jesse's brother William fell into this fireplace and was severely burned.[6]

At the beginning of the Great Depression, John Brown lost his job, and relocated the family to Palmer's Crossing, 10 miles (16 km) from Hattiesburg, where he took a job at a turpentine factory, where he worked until 1938 when he was laid off from this job as well.[7] John Brown then moved the family to Lux, Mississippi to be a part of a sharecropper farm.[6] During this time, Jesse Brown shared a bed with his brothers and attended a one-room school 3 miles (4.8 km) away. His parents were very strict about school attendance and homework, and so Jesse Brown walked the distance to school every day.[8] The family was also a committed Baptist Christian family and Jesse, William and Julia Brown sang in the church choir.[6] In his spare time, Brown also worked in the fields of the farm harvesting corn and cotton.[9]

When Jesse Brown was six years old, his father took him to an air show.[10] Brown gained an intense interest in flying from this experience, and afterward was attracted to a dirt airfield near his home, which he visited frequently in spite of being chased away by a local mechanic.[6]

At age 13, Brown took a job as a paperboy for the Pittsburgh Courier, a black press paper.[11] As part of this job, Brown himself became an avid reader of the paper, and took interest in African-American aviators of the time including C. Alfred Anderson, Eugine Jacques Bullard and Bessie Coleman. Brown, inspired by these aviators, had said he wanted to be a pilot from a very young age.[6] He also became an avid reader of Popular Aviation and the Chicago Defender, which he later said heavily influenced his desire to fly naval aircraft.[12] In his childhood he was described as "serious, witty, unassuming and very intelligent."[4] In 1937, he wrote a letter to US President Franklin D. Roosevelt in which he complained of the injustice of African American pilots being kept out of the US Army Air Corps, to which the White House responded with a letter saying that it appreciated the viewpoint.[13]

[edit] Education

A young African-American man in a military uniform.
Brown as a Midshipman in Jacksonville, Florida, 1947.

In 1939, Brown attended Eureka High School in Hattiesburg, a segregated school, living with his aunt during this time because the schools closer to his family were lower-quality.[6] Brown was an excellent student in this school, attaining high marks in his classes and was a member of the basketball, American football, and track and field teams.[4] Brown graduated from this school as the salutatorian in 1944.[6][3] During this time he met Daisy Pearl Nix, and the two began to date. They would marry during Brown's military training in 1947.[6] In the meantime, the two wrote letters to one another almost daily.[14]

Following graduation, Jesse Brown sought to enroll in a college further to the north. His principal, Nathaniel Burger, advised he attend an all-black college, as his brother Marvin Brown had done. However, he ended up enrolling in Ohio State University as his childhood role model, Jesse Owens, had done. Burger told Brown only seven African-Americans had graduated from the school that year but Brown was nonetheless determined to enroll, feeling he would compete well with white students.[15]

Brown took several side jobs to save money for college, including waiting tables at the Holmes Club, a saloon for white US Army soldiers. In this job, Brown was frequently the target of racist verbal abuse but nonetheless continued the job, earning US$600 to pay for college.[15] In fall 1944, Brown took a segregated train to Columbus, Ohio and began school at Ohio State.[14]

Brown moved into an on-campus boarding house at 61 E. Eleventh Avenue in the primarily black neighborhood of Columbus' University District.[16] and majored in architectural engineering. Brown attempted several times to apply to the school's aviation program but was denied because of his race.[17] Brown joined the track and field team as well as the wrestling team, but soon dropped both for financial reasons. He took a job as a janitor at a local Lazarus department store and then was hired by the Pennsylvania Railroad to a job loading boxcars from 15:30 to midnight each day.[15] In spite of this, he maintained top marks in his classes.[4] In spite of the difficulties with his academics and institutional segregation in the city, Brown found most of his fellow students were friendly toward him.[18] Brown rarely returned to Mississippi during the school year but in the summers he worked at a dry cleaner in Hattiesburg to help pay for his classes.[19]

During his second year in college, Brown learned of the V-5 Aviation Cadet Training Program being conducted by the US Navy to commission Naval aviation pilots.[3] In spite of resistance from recruiters, Brown passed entrance exams.[15] Brown enlisted in the US Naval Reserve on 8 July 1946[4] and was admitted to the aviation program, becoming a Seaman Apprentice in the US Navy and a member of the school's Naval Reserve Officers' Training Corps program, giving him a US$50 stipend each month and allowing him to quit his jobs and complete his architectural engineering degree in 1947.[15]

[edit] Military career

On 15 March 1947, Brown reported to Glenview Naval Air Station in Glenview, Illinois for Naval Flight Officer training.[4] There, his enlistment ended 15 April and Brown reverted to the rank of midshipman, becoming the only African American in the program. Though he anticipated antagonism for this, he found the other cadets were generally friendly and welcoming of him.[15] However, he found many of the black cooks and janitors hostile to him.[20] Brown got his first flight time aboard a Stearman N2S trainer aircraft.[21]

Three man stand on the deck of a ship, one with his arm raised and another reading from a paper.
Brown is commissioned aboard the USS Leyte in 1949.

In spite of the rigors of the initial training, Brown was encouraged by instructors and completed the first phase of training, transferring to Ottumwa Naval Air Station in Ottumwa, Iowa for the next phase.[4] The Ottumwa training involved intense physical fitness and technical training, which Brown completed.[15] Thereafter he was moved to Pensacola Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida to train in aircraft flight. In Pensacola, Brown and Nix married in secret, as Naval Cadets were not allowed to marry until their training was complete, under threat of immediate dismissal. Nix took a room in Pensacola, and the two visited one another on weekends.[22] In spite of overt racism from at least one instructor and several classmates at this posting,[4] Brown completed the rigorous training in August 1947.[22]

By June 1948, Brown had begun training for Carrier-based aircraft aboard the USS Wright.[23] Brown hoped to qualify aboard the F4U Corsair or the F6F Hellcat. After he completed this training, he was moved to Jacksonville, Florida for his final training. On 21 October 1948, he completed his training and was and given his Naval Aviator Badge.[4][22][3] This accomplishment was widely publicized, and Brown became nationally known. The Associated Press profiled him and his photo appeared in Life Magazine. In his efforts to become a pilot, author Theodore Taylor later wrote Brown had broken the "color barrier" which had been longstanding for blacks in naval aviation.[24]

Following his commissioning, Brown was assigned to temporary duty at Norfolk Naval Air Station in Norfolk, Virginia.[25] On 22 December 1948, Brown's daughter, Pamela Elise Brown, was born.[22]

In January 1949, Brown was assigned to Fighter Squadron 32 aboard the USS Leyte (CV-32).[22] Over the next 18 months, the unit conducted numerous training exercises along the east coast, many of them taking place at Quonset point. Brown reported here his superiors treated him fairly and held others to equal standards. The unit trained rigorously in aircraft maneuvers.[26]

Brown was commissioned as an Ensign in the US Navy on 26 April 1949.[3] At this point, he could reveal his marriage to his superiors. Brown was assigned to Quonset Point Naval Air Station in Quonset, Rhode Island.[22] He was assigned to the US Atlantic Fleet. Brown reported that incidents of racism and discrimination which had been harsh late in his training were substantially relieved once he became an officer.[4] By the outbreak of the Korean War, he had gained a reputation among the others in the squadron as an experienced pilot and capable section leader.[27] He was well-liked among other pilots and the black stewards and support staff of the carrier. However, Brown did not socialize much with the other pilots, and was known to spend as much time as was possible visiting his wife.[28][29]

[edit] Korean War

Brown in the cockpit of his F4U Corsair in Korea, 1950.
See also: Initial phase of the 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.[30] 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.[31] Most of South Korea's forces retreated in the face of the invasion.[32] 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.[32]

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; the British Far East Fleet dispatched several ships, including HMS Triumph, to provide air and naval support.[33] 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.[34] U.S. President Harry S. Truman ordered ground troops into the country to supplement the air support.[35] All US Navy units, including the Leyte were placed on alert.[22] At the time, the ship was in the Mediterranean Sea and Brown did not expect to be deployed to Korea, but on August 8 a relief carrier arrived in the area and the Leyte ordered to Korea.[36] Commanders felt the pilots on the carrier were better trained, and so needed in the theatre. The ship sailed from the Strait of Gibraltar across the Atlantic Ocean and to Quinoset, them through the Panama Canal and San Diego, California, Hawaii, and Japan before arriving in Korea around October 8.[37]

The Leyte was eventually ordered to Korea, arriving in October 1950.[22] The ship joined Task Force 77 off the northeast coast of the Korean Peninsula, part of a fleet of 17 ships from the US Seventh Fleet, including the aircraft carrier USS Philippine Sea, battleship USS Missouri and cruiser USS Juneau.[38] Brown flew 20 missions in-country.[22] These missions included attacks on communication lines, troop concentrations and military installations around Wonsan, Chongpu, Songjim and Senanju.[27]

Following the entrance of the People's Republic of China into the war in late November 1950, Brown and his squadron were dispatched to the Chosin Reservoir, where an intense campaign was being fought between the People's Volunteer Army and the US X Corps.[22] Almost 100,000 Chinese troops had surrounded 15,000 US troops, and Brown and other pilots on the Leyte were flying dozens of close air support missions every day to prevent the Chinese from overrunning the US troops.[39][40]

[edit] Death

Main article: Battle of Chosin Reservoir
Thomas J. Hudner, Jr., Brown's wingman, who won the Medal of Honor for attempting to save him.

On 4 December 1950, Brown was part of a six-aircraft flight supporting US Marine Corps ground troops who were trapped by Chinese forces.[41] At 13:38, Brown 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 Lieutenant Junior Grade Thomas J. Hudner, Jr., who was Brown's wingman.[42] During this flight, Brown had the call sign "Iroquois 13."[43] The flight traveled 100 miles (160 km) from the Task Force's location to the Chosin Reservoir, flying 35 to 40 minutes through very harsh wintery weather to the vicinity of 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.[44] The mission was a three-hour search and destroy flight as well as an attempt to probe Chinese troop strength in the area.[45][29]

Though the flight spotted no Chinese, at 14:40 Koenig radioed to Brown that he appeared to trailing fuel.[45] 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.[28] 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 / 40.6°N 127.1°E / 40.6; 127.1.[46][45] The aircraft broke up violently upon impact and was destroyed.[43] In the crash, Brown's leg was pinned beneath the fuselage of the aircraft, 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.[22] The other pilots had thought he had died in the crash.[45] Brown had crash landed near Somong-ni, 15 miles (24 km) behind Chinese lines in 15-degree weather,[47] and the other pilots began a Mayday radio to any heavy transport aircraft in the area as they canvassed the mountain for any sign of Chinese ground forces who may threaten Brown.[48] 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.[47][29]

Hudner attempted in vain to rescue Brown, before intentionally crash landing his vehicle to attempt to pull Brown from the burning wreck before 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, and Brown began slipping in and out of consciousness.[40] Brown, in spite of being in great pain, did not complain to Hudner.[40] 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 extinguisher and tried in vain to free Brown with an axe for 45 minutes. They even considered, at Brown's request, amputating his trapped leg.[49] Brown lost consciousness shortly thereafter. His last known words, which he told Hudner, were "Tell Daisy I love her."[22][40] 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 thanks to heavy air presence of Brown and Hudner's unit.[50]

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 casualties. In order to prevent the body and the aircraft from falling into Chinese or North Korean hands, the US Navy bombed the aircraft with napalm two days later, reportedly reciting the Lord's Prayer over the radio as they watched Brown's body consumed by flames.[51] The pilots observed his body looked to have been disturbed and his clothes stolen, but still stuck in the aircraft. The remains of both Brown and the aircraft were never recovered.[52] Brown was the first US Navy officer killed in the war.[51][53]

[edit] Legacy

"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."

—Hudner, speaking of Brown 17 February 1973, at the commissioning of the USS Jesse L. Brown

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.[2] For the failed rescue attempt, Hudner received the Medal of Honor, the highest valor award presented by the US military.[54][55][56]

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."[22] As word of his death spread, Hudner inspired numerous other African Americans to become pilots, notably Seaman Apprentice Frank E. Petersen, who later said news of Brown's death resolved him to become a pilot himself. 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.[22]

On 17 February 1973, the Navy commissioned the Knox-class frigate USS Jesse L. Brown (DE-1089), the first US 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.[22] The ship was decommissioned on 27 July 1994 and sold to Egypt.[51][57]

An extensive biography of Brown was later compiled by author Theodore Taylor, who had also served in Korea at the time of Brown's death, which he said moved him greatly. Taylor interviewed many of Brown's closest friends and family and consulted records from the Leyte's ship log to Daisy Brown's personal diary in his 300-page book which was published in 2007.[58]

[edit] Awards and decorations

Brown's military decorations included the following medals:[1]

Naval Aviator Badge.jpg
Naval Aviator Badge
Distinguished Flying Cross
Air Medal Purple Heart Medal Combat Action Ribbon National Defense Service Medal
Korean Service Medal Korean Presidential Unit Citation United Nations Korea Medal Korean War Service Medal[n 1]

[edit] See also

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[edit] References

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ In 2000 this award was made retroactive to all US military who served in the Korean War.

[edit] Citations

  1. ^ a b Korean War Honor Roll listing: Jesse LeRoy Brown entry, American Battle Monuments Commission, http://www.abmc.gov/search/koreanwar.php, retrieved 2011-08-07 
  2. ^ a b Fannin, Gubert & Sawyer 2001, p. 38
  3. ^ a b c d e Williams 2003, p. 60
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Dwight & Sewell 2009, p. 395
  5. ^ Taylor 2007, p. 23
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Fannin, Gubert & Sawyer 2001, p. 39
  7. ^ Taylor 2007, p. 26
  8. ^ Taylor 2007, p. 28
  9. ^ Taylor 2007, p. 27
  10. ^ Taylor 2007, p. 25
  11. ^ Taylor 2007, p. 30
  12. ^ Taylor 2007, p. 9
  13. ^ Taylor 2007, p. 31
  14. ^ a b Taylor 2007, p. 8
  15. ^ a b c d e f g Fannin, Gubert & Sawyer 2001, p. 40
  16. ^ Taylor 2007, p. 10
  17. ^ Taylor 2007, p. 12
  18. ^ Taylor 2007, p. 11
  19. ^ Taylor 2007, p. 15
  20. ^ Taylor 2007, p. 38
  21. ^ Taylor 2007, p. 42
  22. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Fannin, Gubert & Sawyer 2001, p. 41
  23. ^ Taylor 2007, p. 161
  24. ^ Taylor 2007, p. xii
  25. ^ Taylor 2007, p. 181
  26. ^ Taylor 2007, p. 185
  27. ^ a b Dwight & Sewell 2009, p. 396
  28. ^ a b Smith 2004, p. 120
  29. ^ a b c Tillman 2002, p. 209
  30. ^ Alexander 2003, p. 1
  31. ^ Alexander 2003, p. 2
  32. ^ a b Appleman 1998, p. 36
  33. ^ Malkasian 2001, p. 23
  34. ^ Malkasian 2001, p. 24
  35. ^ Varhola 2000, p. 3
  36. ^ Smith 2004, p. 117
  37. ^ Smith 2004, p. 118
  38. ^ Taylor 2007, p. 1
  39. ^ Taylor 2007, p. 2
  40. ^ a b c d Williams 2003, p. 61
  41. ^ Dwight & Sewell 2009, p. 397
  42. ^ Taylor 2007, p. 3
  43. ^ a b Taylor 2007, p. 6
  44. ^ Taylor 2007, p. 4
  45. ^ a b c d Smith 2004, p. 121
  46. ^ Taylor 2007, p. 5
  47. ^ a b Smith 2004, p. 122
  48. ^ Taylor 2007, p. 7
  49. ^ Smith 2004, p. 123
  50. ^ Smith 2004, p. 124
  51. ^ a b c William 2003, p. 62
  52. ^ Smith 2004, p. 125
  53. ^ Ecker 2004, p. 69
  54. ^ Smith 2004, p. 115
  55. ^ Tillman 2002, p. 208
  56. ^ Ecker 2004, p. 70
  57. ^ Fannin, Gubert & Sawyer 2001, p. 42
  58. ^ Taylor 2007, p. xiii

[edit] Sources

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Naval History & Heritage Command.

[edit] External links

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