Wikipedia:Today's featured article/December 4, 2012

Jesse L. Brown (1926–1950) 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 had an avid interest in aircraft from a young age. After graduating as salutatorian of his high school, he enlisted in the US Navy in 1946 and became a midshipman one year later after finishing a degree at Ohio State University. He earned his pilot wings on 21 October 1948, and was subsequently assigned to Fighter Squadron 32 aboard the USS Leyte (CV-32). At the outset of the Korean War, the Leyte was ordered to the Korean Peninsula, arriving in October 1950. Brown flew 20 combat missions before his F4U Corsair aircraft came under fire and crashed on a remote mountaintop on 4 December 1950 during a mission supporting ground troops at the Battle of Chosin Reservoir. Brown died of his wounds in spite of efforts by wingman Thomas J. Hudner, Jr., who intentionally crashed his aircraft attempting a rescue and was later awarded the Medal of Honor. Brown's successes in the segregated US military were memorialized in several books, and the frigate USS Jesse L. Brown (FF-1089) was named in his honor. (Full article...)

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