Chinese National Cemetery

Retired U.S. Navy Capt. Thomas J. Hudner Jr. was the first to be awarded the nation's highest military honor during the Korean War. He died Nov. 13 at home at the age of 93.Hudner will be laid to rest with full military honors as aircraft from the squadron he flew with, Strike Fighter Squadron 32 (VF-32) stationed at Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach, Virginia, performs a "missing man" flyover.Flags across Massachusetts will fly at half-staff Wednesday in his honor.   His name will continue with the Navy as DDG-116, a guided missile destroyer to be named the USS Thomas Hudner. The destroyer, built in Bath, Maine, will be commissioned later this year.Hudner was an active veteran in Massachusetts, and served as commissioner of the Department of Veterans' Services from 1991 to 1999."He was someone who was extremely caring and passionate, not only about veterans, but specifically about their social needs," Francisco A. Urena, secretary of the state Department of Veterans' Services, said. "He was someone who made us all proud to be civil servants."According to Medal of Honor Sound Off, Hudner was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir.Thousands of surrounded Marines fought Chinese military units as they made their way hundreds of miles to the safety of the coast of Korea.Hudner was a Corsair F4U pilot with VF-32 aboard the U.S. Leyte, an aircraft carrier off the coast of what would later become North Korea during December 1950. On Dec. 4, Hudner was flying wing for Jesse Brown, of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, the Navy's first black fighter pilot. The two were part of a six-plane reconnaissance flight. As he was strafing enemy positions, Brown's plane took antiaircraft fire and was badly damaged. Too low for him to bail out and rapidly losing altitude, Brown prepared to crash land the plane. Hudner flew alongside reading off checklists to make sure Brown was prepared, according to the account on Medal o... (MassLive.com)