Thomas J Hudner Jr
Thomas was born and raised in Fall River, Massachusetts, on the 31st of August, 1924. His father ran a chain of local grocery stores, Hudner's Markets, and at the age of fifteen, Thomas was enrolled in the Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. Not only did his father and uncle graduate from this academy, but he and his three younger brothers would all graduate from there. Thomas was active in their track, football, and lacrosse teams, as well as a class officer, student council member, and an assistant house counselor. The academy's headmaster made a speech shortly after the US's entry into World War 2 and this speech inspired Thomas to join the military. Once he graduated in 1942, he was one of ten from his class to be accepted into the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland in 1943. He never got to fight in the War because by the time he graduated and was commissioned in 1946, the War had been over. He did play football during his time there and was a starting running back for the junior varsity team.
Thomas served on board several surface ships as a communications officer and stated that he had no interest in aircrafts until 1948. He became interested in aviation and applied to and was accepted to flight school at Naval Air Station Pensacola. Here Thomas completed basic flight training and he then completed advanced flight training at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi in Texas. Now a qualified Naval aviator, Thomas was posted in Lebanon and then aboard the USS Leyte, flying F4U Corsairs. The USS Leyte was placed on alert in the Mediterranean Sea when the North Korean People's Army launched their invasion into the Republic of Korea. They were then ordered to sail from the Strait of Gibraltar, through the Panama Canal, making stops at San Diego, Hawaii, and Japan before arriving off the coast of Korea on the 8th of October, 1950. Thomas then flew twenty missions, including attacks on communication lines, concentration of troops, and military installations. When the Battle of Chosin Reservoir began, Thomas and his squadron were deployed to provide close air support to prevent the almost 100,000 Chinese troops from overrunning the surrounded 15,000 US troops of the US X Corps. It was during one of these missions that Thomas displayed actions that would earn him the Medal of Honor. The citation reads:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as a pilot in Fighter Squadron 32, while attempting to rescue a squadron mate whose plane struck by antiaircraft fire and trailing smoke, was forced down behind enemy lines. Quickly maneuvering to circle the downed pilot and protect him from enemy troops infesting the area, Lt. (J. G.) Hudner risked his life to save the injured flier who was trapped alive in the burning wreckage. Fully aware of the extreme danger in landing on the rough mountainous terrain and the scant hope of escape or survival in subzero temperature, he put his plane down skillfully in a deliberate wheels-up landing in the presence of enemy troops. With his bare hands, he packed the fuselage with snow to keep the flames away from the pilot and struggled to pull him free. Unsuccessful in this, he returned to his crashed aircraft and radioed other airborne planes, requesting that a helicopter be dispatched with an ax and fire extinguisher. He then remained on the spot despite the continuing danger from enemy action and, with the assistance of the rescue pilot, renewed a desperate but unavailing battle against time, cold, and flames. Lt. (J. G.) Hudner's exceptionally valiant action and selfless devotion to a shipmate sustain and enhance the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.
Thomas's actions would ground him for a month. He injured his back during the landing and he later said that injury would stick with him for almost a decade. The USS Leyte was rotated back to the Atlantic Fleet in January of 1951. Three months later, on the 13th of April, 1951, Thomas received the Medal of Honor from President Truman in a ceremony at the White House. It was at this time, he also met the widow of his wingman, Jesse Brown, that he had tried to save. Even though others would receive the Medal of Honor for actions earlier in the War, Thomas was the first service member to actually receive it.
Thomas was transferred to the Naval Air Station Corpus Christi in Texas to serve as a flight instructor for a year. He went on to fly developmental and experimental aircraft at Naval Air Station Atlantic City in New Jersey, and was also training on jet engine powered aircraft. By 1965, Thomas was a Captain and took command of Training Squadron 24 at Naval Air Station Chase Field in Texas. The following year he was assigned to the USS Kitty Hawk as its navigator and he then became the ship's executive officer. Thomas was on board when the ship was deployed to the shore of South Vietnam but he flew no missions himself. He was then assigned to be the operations officer for the Southeast Asia Operations division of the Navy in 1968, the same year he would marry Georgea Smith. They would have one child together, along with three children from Georgea's previous marriage. Before Thomas retired in February of 1973, he was the head of the Aviation Technical Training in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations in Washington DC. On the 17th of February, a few days before his retirement, he gave a dedication during the commissioning ceremony of the USS Jesse L Brown.
Thomas worked as a management consultant in retirement and then worked with the United Service Organizations, or USO, along with various other veterans groups. For eight years, he was the Commissioner for the Massachusetts Department of Veterans' Services and when he left the position, he handed it over to another Medal of Honor recipient, Thomas Kelley. Thomas and Georgea lived out their retirement in Concord, Massachusetts and in July of 2013, he made a trip to North Korea in an attempt to recover the remains of Jesse Brown. North Korean authorities told him to return in September when the weather would be more predictable. Thomas had been working on a biography with author Adam Makos called, Devotion: An Epic Story of Heroism, Friendship, and Sacrifice. It was release after seven years of work in October of 2015.
Thomas Jerome Hudner Jr was the only Naval aviator to receive the Medal of Honor during the Korean War and he died at his home on the 13th of November, 2017, at the age of 93. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery: Section 54, Grave 2135.
