| Jesse LeRoy Brown was born in Hattiesburg, Miss. on Oct. 13, 1926. One of five siblings, Brown and his family lived in a small house without indoor plumbing or heating. When he was six years old, his father took him to an airshow. Young Jesse became infatuated with the idea of flying, a life-long dream that eventually became a reality.Jesse Brown was intensely aware of the racist structures of segregation that limited him from pursuing his dream. In 1937, he wrote a letter to US President Franklin D. Roosevelt questioning the injustice of African-American pilots being kept out of the US Army Air Corps.While attending a segregated high school, Brown became a popular student. He was very talented in both academics and athletics, and while there fell in love with his future wife, Daisy. He wanted to pursue a college degree outside of the American South, in a non-segregated school, so he enrolled in Ohio State University – just like his role model (and for whom he was named), Jesse Owens.Even though he majored in architectural engineering, Jesse L. Brown longed to join Ohio State’s aviation program. However, each application was denied because of his race. The following year, he discovered the US Navy created the V-5 Aviation Cadet Training Program for colleges to train and recruit future pilots.Of the 52 colleges that offered the program, none were historically made up of a Black student population – alienating African-American students. Regardless of the racial barriers that stood in his way, Brown passed his entrance exams and enrolled in the program.In July 1946, Brown enlisted in the US Naval Reserve and became a member of the Officer Training Corps, specializing in aviation. At the time, he was one of 14 Black students enlisted in the program, which was comprised of over 5,000 students.***For those who would like to learn about the life of Jesse LeRoy Brown, the Navy’s First African American Combat Aviator, check out the movie, “Devotion. ” This film, starring Jonathan Majors, follows the true story of naval pilot Jesse L. Brown during the Korean War. |
