Jesse L. Brown
Jesse LeRoy Brown (October 13, 1926 – December 4, 1950) was a United States Navy officer. He was the first African-American aviator to complete the United States Navy's basic flight training program (though not the first African-American Navy aviator), the first African-American naval officer killed in the Korean War, and a recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross. Born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, to an impoverished family, Brown was avidly interested in aircraft from a young age. He graduated as salutatorian of his high school, notwithstanding its racial segregation, and later earned a degree from Ohio State University. Brown enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1946, becoming a midshipman. Brown earned his pilot wings on October 21, 1948, amid a flurry of press coverage. In January 1949 he was assigned to Fighter Squadron 32 (VF-32) aboard the aircraft carrier . At the outset of the Korean War, ''Leyte'' was ordered to the Korean Peninsula, arriving in October 1950. VF-32 fle ...
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Hattiesburg, Mississippi
Hattiesburg is a city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, located primarily in Forrest County, Mississippi, Forrest County (where it is the county seat and largest city) and extending west into Lamar County, Mississippi, Lamar County. The city population was 45,989 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, with the population now being 48,730 in 2020. Hattiesburg is the principal city of the Hattiesburg metropolitan area, Hattiesburg Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses Covington County, Mississippi, Covington, Forrest County, Mississippi, Forrest, Lamar County, Mississippi, Lamar, and Perry County, Mississippi, Perry counties. The city is located in the Pine Belt (Mississippi), Pine Belt region. Development of the interior of Mississippi by European Americans took place primarily after the American Civil War. Before that time, only properties along the major rivers were developed as plantations. Founded in 1882 by civil engineer William H. Hardy, Hattiesburg was na ...
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