CONCORD, Mass. (AP)—Retired U.S. Navy pilot Thomas Hudner is 91 now, but he’s never been able to shake the promise he made to a trusted Korean War wingman 65 years ago: “Don’t worry, we’ll be back for you.”
Two years ago, his lifelong quest took him back to North Korea in hopes of recovering the remains of Ensign Jesse Brown, the Navy’s first Black combat pilot. In 1950, after Brown was shot down, Hudner crash-landed his own Corsair on the frozen North Korean landscape in an unsuccessful effort to save his friend.
A new book out just in time for Veterans Day chronicles the two men’s remarkable friendship and the heroism that won Hudner the Medal of Honor, America’s highest military award.
Adam Makos’ book “Devotion,” released Oct. 27, chronicles their story: from their vastly different childhoods, to their time on the aircraft carrier USS Leyte, to their final frantic moments together when Hudner made his promise. It includes first-person accounts of the horrific conditions experienced by the Marines on the ground during the fighting around the Jangjin Reservoir—known to Americans as the Chosin Reservoir.
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