On Teammates

How far would you go to help a teammate?

How devoted are you to your teammates and their well-being?

Jesse Brown and Thomas Hudner were teammates.

They served together in the same US Navy fighter squadron aboard the USS Leyte in the Korean War.

Ensign Jesse Brown was from Mississippi and graduated from The Ohio State University.

He was the first African-American naval aviator.

Lt(jg) Thomas Hudner was from Massachusetts and graduated from Annapolis.

They were not only teammates, they were friends.

On December 4, 1950, Brown and Hudner were dispatched to provide close air support for Marines fighting in the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir.

During the mission, Brown’s plane was hit by enemy ground fire.

Unable to keep the plane in flight, Brown was forced to crash land into a snow covered valley.

He survived the crash and was pinned inside, unable to get out.

Hudner circled around the crashed fighter and could see Brown waving.

He also could see that Brown could not get out of the smoking plane.

Knowing that Brown was still alive and clearly stuck inside of his aircraft, Hudner intentionally crashed his own plane in order to help his teammate.

I’ll say that part again so it’s perfectly clear.

Hudner intentionally crashed his own plane in order to help his teammate.

Though now injured himself, Hudner ran to Brown’s aid and tried everything he could to get him out of the downed plan and save his life.

He tried to cut Brown loose from the now burning aircraft.

He tried to douse the flames with snow.

When a rescue helicopter arrived, Hudner and the helicopter pilot attempted to put out the fire with an extinguisher.

Hudner and the helicopter pilot even tried to Free Brown from the wreck with an axe.

It was all to no avail.

In spite of Hudner’s intense efforts, he was not able to save his teammate’s life.

As night fell and temperatures dropped, Hudner was forced to evacuate.

He promised his teammate that he would return to get him.

Back on the ship, Hudner pleaded with his superiors to return to the crash site in order to recover Brown’s body.

His request was deemed too dangerous and was denied.

The order was given to destroy Brown’s body and both aircraft in order to prevent them from falling into enemy hands.

Thomas Hudner was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his efforts to save his teammate and friend, Jesse Brown.

As recent as 2013, four years before his own death, Thomas Hudner was once again back in North Korea.

He was negotiating a trip to recover the remains of his teammate and friend, Jesse Brown.

Jesse Brown and Thomas Hudner.

Teammates!