Jesse Leroy Brown: Ushering in a New Era of Naval Aviation

The passing of Brig. Gen. Charles McGee in January 2022 reminded the nation of his service with the Tuskegee Airmen, the first African American aviators to serve in the United States armed forces. The Tuskegee Airmen were part of the U.S. Army Air Forces, the predecessor to today’s U.S. Air Force, and served in Europe during World War II, mostly as escort pilots for American bombers. The U.S. Navy, however, had no such group during World War II that allowed African Americans to train and fly as naval aviators. One African American pilot by the name of Oscar Holmes was named a naval aviator during the war, but he had previous flight experience that assisted his entry into the service, and he was often mistaken for being white at the time. Jesse Leroy Brown, however, fought through many hurdles to become the first African American to complete Navy flight training.

Brown, one of six children, was born in Mississippi in 1926, where his father worked numerous jobs, from factory work to sharecropping. Brown became interested in flight at a very young age after his father took him to an airshow in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. From that point on, he constantly thought about flight, and dreamed of a time when he could take to the skies. Brown performed well in school, especially in mathematics, and endeavored to obtain a higher education no matter what it took. In 1944, he enrolled in Ohio State University where he studied architectural engineering. Brown worked numerous jobs, including unloading boxcars for the Pennsylvania Railroad to pay for his education. While in school, he informed his sweetheart, Daisy Pearl Nix, that he planned to join the Naval Reserve to help pay for his educational expenses. He met early resistance to his attempts to enlist in the naval aviation program, despite the active recruitment program at Ohio State. After much effort with the recruitment officer, Brown took the first series of tests granting him entrance into the program. In a letter to a friend in July 1946, he wrote:

"I’m in the Navy, as an Apprentice Seaman, USNR [US Naval Reserve], V-5, on inactive duty. I had to go down to Cincinnati to take the test and for a while I thought the mental exams were going to be too much for me, but I managed to muddle thru the five hours of written tests. One interviewer asked me a lot about aircraft types and thank God I knew the answers. By evening, about half the guys were eliminated. I took the physical tests the next day. No problem. All that running and lifting boxes in the railroad yard took care of me. I’m not sure the Navy really wants me. I’m classified 'desirable' rather than 'outstanding or superior.' I guess I’m lucky to be 'desirable.' However they classify me, I’ll be getting $50 a month for the privilege of taking naval orientation, drilling, etc.…"

In August 1947, Brown started Basic Flight training after completing his preflight requirements. He married Nix over a weekend in secret as cadets were not permitted to be married while training, and he could have been removed from the program if anyone found out. It was during this training that Brown faced additional hurdles. He struggled with mistakes, hampered by men like Ross Tipton, whose racism towards Brown created an atmosphere where Brown almost seemed destined to fail. Brown faced a panel to decide whether he would be allowed to continue in the program or be removed. To his surprise, Bill Zastri, an instructor who worked with Brown earlier in his training, came to his defense, and Brown continued with his training. He trained in numerous locations, including Glenview, Illinois, Naval Air Station Ottumwa, and Naval Air Station Pensacola, in aircraft such as the F6F Hellcat and became the first African American to complete Navy flight training on October 21, 1948.

Brown earned the rank of ensign in 1949, and trained in Grumman F8F Bearcats and later the Vought F-4U Corsairs as part of the USS Wright. At the outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950, Brown was stationed aboard the USS Leyte, which was sent to support military operations in Korea in August of that year. In December, Brown and his section were tasked with providing close air support for 15,000 Marines on the ground who were attempting to make it to the port of Hungnam to be evacuated while under constant attack by Chinese forces. Brown flew numerous flights in terrible winter weather to assist the Marine forces out of their encirclements. On December 4, 1950, Brown reported that his aircraft had loss oil pressure after being hit by ground fire while supporting troops in the Chosin Reservoir. Lt. Cmdr. Richard L. Cevoli, the executive officer for Brown’s squadron later reported:

“We saw Brown set his plane down in a rough field about five miles beyond our friendly lines. He must have hit something, because the landing gear was up and the engine flew off the plane. I could tell that Brown was still alive, so I went off to summon a rescue helicopter. I instructed [Brown’s wingman Lieutenant (j.g) Thomas J.] Hudner and another pilot to destroy the plane as soon as the pilot was clear. Hudner started circling Brown’s plane to protect him from the hundreds of Chinese troops whose footprints could be seen in the snow everywhere in the area. The injured pilot waved his arms to show that he was alive, but remained in the plane even though it was beginning to burn. Realizing that Brown could not extricate himself from the plane and that he would shortly be burned to death, Lieutenant Hudner unhesitantly landed nearby to help his injured shipmate. Finding that he could not open the burning plane’s canopy, Lieutenant Hudner packed the fuselage with hastily scooped-up snow in an effort to keep flames away from Ensign Brown.”

Hudner failed to free Brown from the aircraft, even after receiving assistance from Marine First Lt. Charlie Ward, pilot of a rescue helicopter that arrived to evacuate them both. Brown remained trapped in the wreckage before he passed away due to injuries and the extreme cold, and reportedly requested Hudner to pass his love onto Daisy Brown. Hudner and Ward reluctantly left Brown’s body in the aircraft and evacuated the area for fear of capture. Brown became the first African American Naval officer killed in the Korean War, and was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart, the Air Medal, and the Distinguished Flying Cross. The story was recently made into a major motion picture Devotion, showcasing the friendship between Hudner and Brown. Hudner was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his attempts to save Brown at great personal risk. The New York Times reported that Daisy Brown, his widow, attended the ceremony and, “sobbed quietly in the background in the rose garden of the White House, [as President Harry S.] Truman recited the stirring details of Lieutenant Hudner’s “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty” in trying to rescue her husband…”

The news of the death of Brown affected many African American members in the armed forces, but also offered inspiration to what the future could hold. In his biography Into the Tiger's Jaw: America's First Black Marine Aviator, U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Frank Petersen Jr. wrote, “Late on a December evening in 1950 on Treasure Island, I lay sacked out listening to music and the news on my portable radio, as was my usual habit. That’s when I heard about Ens. Jesse L. Brown, the black Navy pilot shot down over Korea. The first black man to earn the Navy’s ‘wings of gold,’ Jesse manned his F-4U Corsair on the carrier USS Leyte, flew off on a mission to help free a trapped Marine division, and was killed. A posthumous Distinguished Flying Cross was awarded. I sat straight up. Possibilities surged in my mind. My first awareness dawned that blacks could, in fact, be a part of the Naval Cadet Program. It was a dream I’d harbored. Jesse had done it, so now it didn’t seem impossible. Perhaps it could be done again.” Petersen Jr. went on to become the first African American aviator in the Marine Corps, as well as the first African American general officer in the Marine Corps, a dream realized in no small part to the service, dedication, and sacrifice of Ensign Jesse Leroy Brown.