Welcome back to the Aeon blog! This Vought F4U Corsair is displaying the markings of the VF-32 "Swordsmen" fighter group which flew these aircraft from 1949-1951 aboard the USS Leyte aircraft carrier (CV 32). It is showing the specific markings of an F4U-4 flown by LT (j.g.) Jesse L. Brown, the first African-American aviator to complete the U.S. Navy's basic flight training program and who was a recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross. He flew twenty combat missions before his Corsair came under fire and crashed on a remote mountaintop on December 4, 1950 while supporting US Marines who were pinned down at the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir. Brown died of his wounds despite the efforts of his wingman, Lt. (j.g.) Thomas J. Hudner Jr., who intentionally crashed his own aircraft in a rescue attempt. A major motion picture titled "Devotion" is planned for release depicting these two heroic pilots and their sacrifices. This photo was taken at the 2022 Arlington Skyfest air show.
