Born in 1926 to sharecroppers in the segregated south, Jesse Brown, an outstanding student and top athlete, set his sights on becomeing a Navy pilot. He qualified for the Navy Reserve and was accepted into the Naval Air Training School in Illinois. He was the first African American to enter the program and then to fly a Navy fighter and make a carrier landing. A great story of a man who broke racial barriers and an amazing tale of naval carrier aviation and combat. Recipient of the Distinguished Clying Cross, fist African American naval officer killed in Korean War. He was 24. A frigate is named in his honor. killed. A movie about him is in production.