Following the
attack on Pearl Harbor and the United States' entry into
World War II, Hudner heard a speech by academy headmaster
Claude Fuess which he later said inspired him to join the military. One of 10 from Phillips to be accepted into the academy from his class, he entered the United States Naval Academy in
Annapolis, Maryland, in 1943 and graduated in 1946. By the time he was commissioned, however, World War II had ended. Hudner attended the Naval Academy with a number of notable classmates, including
James B. Stockdale,
Jimmy Carter,
Jeremiah Denton, and
Stansfield Turner. He played
college football at the academy, eventually becoming a starting
running back for the
junior varsity team. After graduation, Hudner served as a communications officer aboard several surface ships. During his initial years in the military, Hudner said he had no interest in aircraft. After a one-year tour of duty aboard the
Baltimore-class heavy cruiser , which was operating off the coast of
Taiwan, he transferred to a post as a communications officer at the
Naval Base Pearl Harbor where he served for another year. By 1948, Hudner became interested in aviation, and applied to flight school, seeing it as "a new challenge". He was accepted into
Naval Air Station Pensacola in
Pensacola, Florida, where he completed basic
flight training, and was transferred to
Naval Air Station Corpus Christi in Texas, where he completed advanced flight training and qualified as a naval aviator in August 1949. After a brief posting in
Lebanon, Hudner was assigned to VF-32 aboard the
aircraft carrier , piloting the F4U Corsair. He later said he enjoyed this assignment, as he considered the Corsair to be "safe and comfortable".
Korean War On the night of June 25, 1950, the
North Korean People's Army launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbor to the south, the
Republic of Korea. It caught the
Republic of Korea Army by surprise, resulting in a rout. To prevent South Korea's collapse, the
United Nations Security Council voted
to send military forces. The
United States Seventh Fleet dispatched
Task Force 77 to provide air and naval support. All United States Navy units and ships were placed on alert.
Leyte was in the
Mediterranean Sea, and Hudner did not expect to be deployed to Korea, but on August 8, a relief carrier arrived, and
Leyte was ordered to Korea. Naval commanders felt the
VF-32 pilots on
Leyte were better trained and prepared than those of other available carriers, so they were among the first dispatched to the theater.
Leyte sailed across the
Atlantic Ocean, through the
Panama Canal and arrived in the waters off Korea around October 8. The ship joined Task Force 77 off the northeast coast of the
Korean Peninsula. Hudner flew 20 missions. These missions included attacks on communication lines, troop concentrations, and military installations around
Wonsan,
Chongpu,
Songjim, and
Senanju. United Nations (UN) forces defeated the North Koreans and advanced into North Korea. With its ally in danger of collapse, the
People's Republic of China entered the war in October. The surprised, outnumbered UN forces had to fight desperately for survival. Almost 100,000 Chinese troops surrounded 15,000 American troops in the vicinity of the Chosin Reservoir. In the
Battle of Chosin Reservoir, Hudner and his squadron were dispatched to provide
close air support for the American
X Corps against the Chinese
People's Volunteer Army's 9th Army. The pilots on
Leyte were flying dozens of missions every day.
Medal of Honor action . Hudner received the
Medal of Honor for attempting to save Brown in 1950 On December 4, 1950, Hudner was part of a six-aircraft flight supporting
U.S. Marine Corps ground troops who were trapped by Chinese forces. At 13:38, he took off from
Leyte with squadron
executive officer Lieutenant Commander Dick Cevoli,
Lieutenant George Hudson, Lieutenant Junior Grade Bill Koenig,
Ensign Ralph E. McQueen, and the first African American Naval Aviator, Ensign
Jesse L. Brown, who was Hudner's
wingman. The flight traveled from Task Force 77's location to the Chosin Reservoir, flying 35 to 40 minutes through very harsh wintery weather to the vicinity of the villages Yudam-ni and Hagaru-ri. The flight began searching for targets along the west side of the reservoir, lowering their altitude to in the process. The three-hour
search and destroy mission was also an attempt to probe Chinese troop strength in the area. Though the flight spotted no Chinese, at 14:40 Koenig radioed to Brown that he appeared to be trailing fuel. The damage had likely come by
small arms fire from Chinese infantry, who were known to hide in the snow and ambush passing aircraft by firing in unison. At least one bullet had ruptured a fuel line. Brown, losing fuel pressure and increasingly unable to control the aircraft, dropped his
drop tanks and rockets and attempted to land the craft in a snow-covered clearing on the side of a mountain. Brown crashed into a bowl-shaped valley at approximately , near Somong-ni, behind Chinese lines; the temperature was . The aircraft broke up violently upon impact and was destroyed. In the crash, Brown's leg was pinned beneath the
fuselage of the Corsair, and he stripped off his helmet and gloves in an attempt to free himself, before waving to the other pilots, who were circling close overhead. Hudner and the other airborne pilots thought Brown had died in the crash, and they immediately began a
mayday radio to any heavy transport aircraft in the area as they canvassed the mountain for any sign of nearby Chinese ground forces. They received a signal that a rescue helicopter would come as soon as possible, but Brown's aircraft was smoking and a fire had started near its internal fuel tanks. Hudner attempted in vain to rescue Brown via radio instruction, before intentionally
crash-landing his aircraft, running to Brown's side and attempting to wrestle him free from the wreck. With Brown's condition worsening by the minute, Hudner attempted to drown the aircraft fire in snow and pull Brown from the aircraft, all in vain. Brown began slipping in and out of consciousness, but in spite of being in great pain, did not complain to Hudner. A rescue helicopter arrived around 15:00, and Hudner and its pilot, Lieutenant Charles Ward, were unable to put out the engine fire with a fire extinguisher. They tried in vain to free Brown with an axe for 45 minutes. They briefly considered, at Brown's request, amputating his trapped leg. Brown lost consciousness for the last time shortly thereafter. His last known words, which he told Hudner, were "tell Daisy I love her." The helicopter, which was unable to operate in the darkness, was forced to leave at nightfall with Hudner, leaving Brown behind. Brown is believed to have died shortly thereafter of his injuries and exposure to the extreme cold. No Chinese forces threatened the site, likely because of the heavy air presence of the VF-32 pilots. Hudner begged his superiors to allow him to return to the wreck to help extract Brown, but his request was denied, as they feared an ambush of vulnerable helicopters resulting in additional casualties. In order to prevent the body and the aircraft from falling into enemy hands, the U.S. Navy bombed the crash site with
napalm two days later; the aircrew recited the
Lord's Prayer over the radio as they watched flames consume Brown's body. The pilots observed that his body looked to have been disturbed and his clothes stolen, but he was still stuck in the aircraft. The remains of both Brown and the aircraft were never recovered. Brown was the first African-American U.S. Navy officer killed in the war. Hudner was grounded for a month, as he had injured his back in the landing, an injury he later said persisted for 6to 8years. He flew 27 combat missions during the war, serving there until January 20, 1951, when
Leyte was rotated back to the Atlantic Fleet. On April 13, 1951, Hudner received the Medal of Honor from President Harry S. Truman, meeting Brown's widow, Daisy Brown, in the process. The two stayed in regular contact for at least 50 years following this meeting. He was the first service member to receive the medal during the Korean War, though several others would receive the medal for actions which occurred before December 4, 1950. Hudner said he was occasionally criticized for his actions, and that "about 90" people had told him he acted recklessly. His commanders noted his actions may have endangered the helicopter pilot and sacrificed an aircraft, criticisms Hudner later said did not make him regret his decision, as he felt it was a spur-of-the-moment action. Still, commanders later issued orders forbidding pilots from crash-landing in a similar way to try to save downed wingmen. On later reflection, Hudner indicated he did not consider himself a hero for his actions.
Later Navy career After receiving the Medal of Honor, Hudner was transferred to the United States and served as a flight instructor at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi in Texas in 1952 and 1953. Following this, he served as a staff officer for
Carrier Division 3, which at the time was part of Task Force 77 and operating around Japan, in 1953 and 1954. In 1955 and 1956, he served in
Air Development Squadron 3 at
Naval Air Station Atlantic City in New Jersey, where he flew developmental and experimental aircraft. During this time, he was trained on
jet engine-powered aircraft. Beginning in October 1957, Hudner served in an exchange program with the
U.S. Air Force, flying for two years with the
60th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron at
Otis Air Force Base in
Barnstable County, Massachusetts. During this assignment, he flew the
F-94 Starfire and the
F-101 Voodoo. He was then promoted to
commander and served as aide to the Chief of the Bureau of Naval Weapons until 1962, when he attended the
Air War College at
Maxwell Air Force Base in
Montgomery, Alabama. Upon graduating in July 1963, he returned to flying duty and was appointed the executive officer of
Fighter Squadron 53, flying the
F-8E Crusader aboard . After serving as executive officer, Hudner assumed command of VF-53. Following this assignment, he was transferred to a position as Leadership Training Officer at the office of
Commander, Naval Air Forces, at
Naval Air Station North Island in
Coronado, California. in December 2008 Hudner was promoted to
captain in 1965, taking command of
Training Squadron 24 at
Naval Air Station Chase Field in
Bee County, Texas, which he commanded in 1965 and 1966. In 1966 he was assigned to , first as navigator, then as the ship's executive officer.
Kitty Hawk deployed off the shore of
South Vietnam in 1966 and 1967, launching missions in support of the
Vietnam War, and he served on the ship during this tour but saw no combat and flew none of the missions himself. In 1968, he was assigned as the
operations officer for the Southeast Asia Air Operations division of the U.S. Navy. That year, he married Georgea Smith, a widow with three children, whom he had met in San Diego. The two had one son together, Thomas Jerome Hudner III, born in 1971. Hudner's final Navy posting was as the head of Aviation Technical Training in the Office of the
Chief of Naval Operations in
Washington, D.C., a post which he held until his retirement in February 1973. On February 17, 1973, days before Hudner's retirement, the Navy commissioned the , the third U.S. ship to be named in honor of an African American. Present at the commissioning ceremony in
Boston, Massachusetts, were Daisy Brown Thorne, who had remarried, her daughter Pamela Brown, and Hudner, who gave a dedication. The ship was decommissioned on July 27, 1994, and sold to
Egypt. ==Later life and death==