[Archive]

Posted By: howard

There was an almost forgotten incident during the Korean War that occurred near this date in 1950. Lt. Jesse Brown, the first black Navy flyer, was shot down in his Corsair by Chinese artillery near the Choisin Reservoir. Flying at low altitude he had no chance to bail out before the plane crashed. His wingman, Lt. Hudner, then purposely crash landed his own plane in order to try to save Brown. Sadly, even with the help of a rescue helicopter Brown could not be extracted from the wreckage. Hudner and the helicopter crew were evntually forced by small arms fire to evacuate the area and Brown died later that night from his wounds and exposure. In what must have been small consolation Hudner was awarded the Medal of Honor.

I'd like to think that I'd do the same thing as Lt. Hudner but thanks to guys like him I'll probably never have to find out.