Capt. Thomas J. Hudner MOH. RIP

Rexedgar said:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_J._Hudner_Jr.


RIP Capt Hudner. MOH recipient for actions during the Korean Conflict. Crash landed an intact airplane to attempt a rescue of his wingman, Ens. Jesse Brown, ( the first African-American Naval aviator.) Both were flying off the USS Leyte, commanded By Capt. Thomas Upton Sisson, who made it a point to have his ship treat Ensign Brown fairly during a time when racial integration of the military was in it’s infancy. Although the accounts state that Brown was Hudner’s wingman, family lore has it that even though Jesse Brown was out ranked by Hudner, Brown was actually the flight leader due to his flying ability.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2...isoner-dies/i2ax8gaA5y7Fz8OPAjeu8L/story.html







https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_L._Brown

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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. To prevent the body and the aircraft from falling into Chinese or North Korean hands, the U.S. Navy bombed the aircraft with napalm two days later, with pilots reportedly reciting the Lord's Prayer over the radio as they watched Brown's body be consumed by flames.[52] The pilots observed that Brown's body was still stuck in the aircraft, but his clothes were gone. The remains of both Brown and the aircraft were never recovered.[53] Brown was the first African-American U.S. Navy officer killed in the war.[52][54][55]

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