UCF documentary on Jesse L. Brown screens at Navy Memorial event

July 2011

Jesse Leroy Brown: First African American Navy Fighter Pilot, a documentary produced by UCF students and faculty, screened at the United States Navy Memorial Burke Theater in Washington, D.C. on July 28.

The screening was part of an event honoring Brown and commemorating the anniversary of the integration of the U.S. Armed Forces in the Centennial of Naval Aviation. The event also included a panel discussion moderated by Medal of Honor recipient Captain Thomas J. Hudner, Jr., U.S. Navy (Ret.).

Ensign Jesse L. Brown was a pioneering African-American naval aviator. On December 4, 1950, while on an air support mission at Chosin Reservoir in North Korea, Brown's plane was hit by enemy fire and crash-landed. Brown was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. His wingman Hudner, Jr., was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions that day.

The film was produced by Anthony B. Major with research, filming, and editing contributions from several UCF students including Dino Gallina (Film M.F.A.), Robert Rule (Film B.A.) and Alexander Charles (Film - World Cinema B.A.).

Major discusses the project and introduces footage from the documentary in this clip from UCF-TV.

See the program from the event.

• Anthony B. Major, M.F.A.