{"id":18298,"date":"2017-04-08T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-04-08T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2017\/04\/08\/navy-christens-uss-thomas-hudner-in-honor-of-moh-aviator\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T18:55:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T18:55:15","slug":"navy-christens-uss-thomas-hudner-in-honor-of-moh-aviator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2017\/04\/08\/navy-christens-uss-thomas-hudner-in-honor-of-moh-aviator\/","title":{"rendered":"Navy christens USS Thomas Hudner in honor of MOH aviator"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>BATH, Maine \u2014 \u00adThe USS Thomas Hudner, DDG 116, was christened April 1 in cold driving snow \u2014 appropriate for a warship that honors a Navy pilot who struggled in the freezing North Korean mountains to save a downed aviator and friend nearly 67 years ago.<br\/><br\/> Capt. Thomas J. Hudner, now 92 and retired, received the Medal of Honor for trying to rescue Ensign Jesse L. Brown, the Navy\u2019s first African American aviator whose Corsair F4U-4 was shot down Dec. 4, 1950. He\u2019s the Korean War\u2019s first and oldest living medal recipient.<br\/><br\/> A crowd of about 1,000 civilians and Navy personnel listened as guest speakers, including<span class=\"apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>Allison Stiller, principal civilian deputy and assistant secretary of the Navy for research development and acquisition<span class=\"apple-converted-space\">; <\/span>two U.S. senators; and two U.S House members, praised Hudner\u2019s bravery and the new ship and its crew.<br\/><br\/> &#8220;Thomas Hudner\u2019s story is also Jesse Brown\u2019s story,&#8221; Stiller said. &#8220;What happened on that day will not be forgotten.&#8221;<br\/><br\/><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Commander Nathan W. Scherry, right, greeted Capt. Thomas Hudner at the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath, Maine, following christening ceremony of the USS Thomas Hudner April 1. Scherry will command the Hudner. \" data-alignment=\"center\" data-object-id=\"0000015b-3ea9-d218-a1db-7fbf158d0000\" data-type=\"image\" src=\"http:\/\/snagfilms-a.akamaihd.net\/70\/6c\/42e5b9504fa582967070c26c7216\/commander-nathan-w-scherry-right-greeted-capt-thomas-hudner-at-the-maine-maritime-museum-in-bath-maine-following-christening-ceremony-of-the-uss-thomas-hudner-april-1-scherry-will-command-the-hudner.scherry.10.jpg\"\/><figcaption> <span>Commander Nathan W. Scherry, right, greeted Capt. Thomas Hudner at the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath following the christening ceremony of the USS Thomas Hudner. Scherry will command the Hudner. <\/span><\/figcaption><figcaption> <span>Photo Credit: George Petras<\/span><\/figcaption><br\/>The christening took place at General Dynamics\u2019 Bath Iron Works shipyard here. Hudner\u2019s namesake is the Navy\u2019s newest Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, the 36<sup>th<\/sup> such ship built in Bath.<br\/><br\/> Members of the Hudner and Brown families attended the ceremony. Georgea Hudner, Hudner\u2019s wife, and Barbara Miller, wife of retired Vice Adm. Michael Miller, broke the traditional champagne bottles against the ship.<br\/><br\/> Hudner\u2019s son, Thomas Hudner III, reminded the crowd that while the cold might be uncomfortable, it was nothing compared to what pilots and Marines on the ground endured. Temperatures Saturday in Bath were near freezing, but it was well below zero in the North Korean mountains that day in 1950.<br\/><br\/> &#8220;In comparison this is the tropics,&#8221; Hudner\u2019s son said. &#8220;We should take a moment to think about what they went through and be glad where we are.&#8221;<br\/><br\/> In 1950, then-Lieutenant (J.G.) Hudner and Brown were part of a six-plane squadron flying close air support for outnumbered U.S. Marines fighting Chinese and North Korean troops in the Chosin Reservoir.<br\/><br\/> Hudner was Brown\u2019s wingman when groundfire pierced an oil line in Brown\u2019s plane, forcing him to crash-land on a mountainside about 15 miles behind enemy lines.<br\/><br\/> As his fellow pilots circled overhead, ready to drive off encroaching Chinese troops, Brown\u2019s plane caught fire. He was trapped inside.<br\/><br\/> &#8220;The nose of Brown\u2019s plane was bent in the crash,&#8221; recalled Capt. William Wilkinson, now 89, a former Navy and commercial airline pilot who attended the christening. He flew with Hudner and Brown. &#8220;His right leg was pinned against a panel in the cockpit.&#8221;<br\/><br\/> Seeing Brown alive inside his burning plane, Hudner intentionally ditched his own Corsair in a belly landing and ran through deep snow to Brown\u2019s aid. Lacking a fire extinguisher, he threw snow on the engine to bank the fire.<br\/><br\/> He soon was joined by Marine Lt. Charles Ward in a Sikorsky rescue helicopter. Together they used a rescue axe to try and cut through the fuselage.<br\/><br\/> &#8220;Oh, they beat on that thing,&#8221; Wilkinson said. &#8220;But it wouldn\u2019t budge. The axe kept bouncing off.&#8221;<br\/><br\/> Brown succumbed to his injuries and the cold. Hudner and Ward were forced to leave him behind.<br\/><br\/> Brown\u2019s last words to Hudner were a message to his wife: &#8220;Just tell Daisy how much I love her.&#8221;<br\/><br\/><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Ensign Jesse L. Brown\" data-alignment=\"center\" data-object-id=\"0000015b-3ea3-dd7b-a17b-fef73c520000\" data-type=\"image\" src=\"http:\/\/snagfilms-a.akamaihd.net\/93\/3e\/2ec4d4f34a2eb45a3ba36dc6fc6e\/ensign-jesse-brown.10.jpg\"\/><figcaption> <span>Ensign Jesse L. Brown&#8217;s plane was shot down in the frozen mountains of North Korea. <\/span><\/figcaption><figcaption> <span>Photo Credit: U.S. Navy<\/span><\/figcaption><br\/>Recovering Brown\u2019s body was too dangerous because of enemy forces. On Dec. 7, seven planes from the Leyte dropped napalm on the two crashed Corsairs, giving Brown a warrior\u2019s funeral.<br\/><br\/> On April 13, 1951, Hudner received the Medal of Honor from President Truman. Ward later received a Silver Star.<br\/><br\/> &#8220;In World War II, a few brave pilots landed and picked up downed wingmen,&#8221; said military historian and author Adam Makos, who extensively researched Hudner\u2019s and Brown\u2019s story for his well-received 2015 book, &#8220;Devotion: An Epic Story of Heroism, Friendship and Sacrifice.&#8221;<br\/><br\/> &#8220;What Tom Hudner did that day in North Korea had never been attempted before or since,&#8221; Makos said.<br\/><br\/> Hudner and Brown were members of the VF-32 fighter group, assigned to the USS Leyte (CV 32), an Essex-class carrier. The ship joined Task Force 77 in support of U.S. and U.N. troops in Korea in October 1950.<br\/><br\/> Though friends, the two men could not have been more different.<br\/><br\/> Hudner, white, was raised in Fall River, Mass., and graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy. Brown, an African American, grew up poor in Hattiesburg, Miss., and entered the Navy through its V-5 college program at Ohio State University.<br\/><br\/> Hudner served with distinction in the Navy for another 22 years, retiring in 1973. He\u2019s said he thinks of Brown every time he puts on the medal.<br\/><br\/><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Thomas J. Hudner\" data-alignment=\"center\" data-object-id=\"0000015b-3eac-db64-a3ff-ffeefb100000\" data-type=\"image\" src=\"http:\/\/snagfilms-a.akamaihd.net\/0b\/25\/66089eb645e1b4af78263b5da3d8\/thomas-j-hudner.10.jpg\"\/><figcaption> <span>Thomas J. Hudner received the Medal of Honor for intentionally crashing his plane in an effort to save his downed wingman, Jesse L. Brown.<\/span><\/figcaption><figcaption> <span>Photo Credit: U.S. Navy<\/span><\/figcaption><br\/>After Brown\u2019s death, &#8220;Capt. Hudner and my grandmother maintained a friendship,&#8221; said Jessica Knight Henry, 34, Jesse Brown\u2019s granddaughter. &#8220;He would travel to Mississippi for events honoring Jesse. He was there when Jesse\u2019s ship was christened.&#8221;<br\/><br\/> The Navy honored Brown in 1973 with a ship bearing his name \u2014 the USS Jesse L. Brown, the 38th\u00a0Knox-class frigate.<br\/><br\/> Saturday\u2019s event was &#8220;an amazing honor for Captain Hudner,&#8221; Jessica Henry said. &#8220;We were happy to be there for him.&#8221;<br\/><br\/> Hudner and Brown\u2019s friendship is also a part of Navy lore.<br\/><br\/> &#8220;Oh, yes, that\u2019s a well-known story,&#8221; said Francis Zygmont, 86, who attended the christening. Zygmont served aboard the USS Leyte from 1951-53 but didn\u2019t know Hudner personally. &#8220;Everyone heard about it.&#8221;<br\/><br\/> Hudner returned to North Korea in 2013 to retrieve Brown\u2019s remains. Bad weather prevented an attempt. But Hudner believes DDG 116 will keep the story alive. <br\/><br\/> &#8220;I see Jesse Brown as being a part of that ship, too, very definitely,&#8221; he wrote. &#8220;This ship will tell his story as it sails the high seas.&#8221; <br\/><br\/> The USS Jesse L. Brown served in the Atlantic and Mediterranean before it was decommissioned in 1994. The ship was transferred to the Egyptian navy and renamed Damiyat.<br\/><br\/> When the new Secretary of the Navy takes office, a letter will be waiting, one asking for another ship to bear Brown\u2019s name.<br\/><br\/> Hudner agrees. &#8220;The Navy\u2019s often commissioning and naming new ships as we maintain the fleet,&#8221; he says. &#8220;And I passionately believe there should be another\u00a0USS Jesse L. Brown.<br\/><br\/> &#8220;If we can get a ship named for Jesse, he\u2019ll be remembered. If we can work with the North Koreans to bring him home \u2014 they know where his crash site is \u2014 he\u2019ll be remembered. I owe it to him to keep trying.&#8221;<br\/><br\/> \u00a0<i>George Petras is a graphics editor\/researcher for USA TODAY in McLean, Va.<\/i><br\/><br\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u00adThe USS Thomas Hudner, DDG 116, was christened April 1 in cold driving snow \u2014 appropriate for a warship that honors a Navy pilot who struggled in the freezing North Korean mountains to save a downed aviator and friend nearly 67 years 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