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"Looking down at the airplane we could see that the engine had been torn off, but there was smoke coming from the forward part of the airplane, just a little bit of smoke. And he had opened his cockpit, opened the canopy and waved to us, and we said, 'My God, he's alive!' And even though we knew a helicopter was coming up, there was great concern that that smoke would turn into an open fire and possibly catch Jesse who for some reason, we had no idea why, was caught in the cockpit. So when I was assured that a helicopter was coming up but also knowing that it would be a minimum of 20 minutes before it got up there, I decided I'd make a crash landing near his airplane and pull him out of the cockpit while waiting for the helicopter." Capt. Thomas Hudner, Jr., Korean and Vietnam War Veteran of Navy Air Corps. and Medal of Honor recipient, recounting his daring attempt to rescue downed fellow-navy pilot Ens. Jesse Brown who was the first African-American navy pilot. This incident took place in the mountains
of Korea during the Korean War.
"We advanced through the fields, and then we went along this footpath. And they gave an order to go up into the cornfield in the side of the hill - to go through the cornfield and clean out the Japanese in there. But they counterattacked. They killed most of the guys, and I run back down the hill. A Lieutenant was with us, Lt. Powell, and another fellow in front of me. And I could see the bullets kicking up as I zigzagged down the hill." Wilfred Tetrault, Marine Corps. Veteran of WWII, describes the scene in the first wave in the invasion of the Pacific Island of Saipan.
