Devotion: An Epic Story of Heroism, Brotherhood and Sacrifice - Now a Major Film

Description

Devotion is the gripping story of the US Navy's most famous aviator duo - Tom Hudner, a white, blue-blooded New Englander, and Jesse Brown, a black sharecropper's son from Mississippi. Against all odds, Jesse beat back racism to become the Navy's first black aviator. Against all expectations, Tom passed up a free ride at Harvard to fly fighter planes for his country. Barely a year after President Truman ordered the desegregation of the military, the two became wingmen in Fighter Squadron 32 and went on to fight side-by-side in the Korean War. In the war's climatic battle at the Chosin Reservoir, Tom and Jesse flew headlong into waves of troops in order to defend an entire division of Marines trapped on a frozen lake. Jesse was shot down and pinned in the burning wreckage of his fighter. Tom then faced an unthinkable choice - to see his friend burn to death or to go down in a blaze of glory, flouting the rules to crash-land behind enemy lines and save Jesse - or die trying. The question was crueller than the freezing wind: How far will you go to save a friend?

Adam Makos is a journalist, historian and editor of the military magazine, Valor. Makos has interviewed countless veterans from the Second World War, Korea, Vietnam, and present-day wars. In 2008 Makos travelled to Iraq to accompany the 101st Airborne and Army Special Forces on their hunt for Al Qaeda terrorists. He is the author, with Larry Alexander, of A Higher Call, which was a Sunday Times bestseller.

A must read. * New York Post * Riveting. * USA Today * A delight to read. * Washington Times * An inspiring tale. * Los Angeles Times * Reads like a dream. * Associated Press * This is aerial drama at its best. Fast, powerful, and moving. * Erik Larson, New York Times bestselling author of Dead Wake * At last, the Korean War has its epic, a story that will stay with you long after you close this book. * Eric Blehm, New York Times bestselling author of Fearless and Legend * Lovingly rendered and meticulously researched, here is a tale of true friendship from across the racial divide. Though it concerns a famously cold battle in the Cold War, make no mistake: Devotion will warm your heart. * Hampton Sides, author of Ghost Soldiers and In the Kingdom of Ice * In this beautifully written book, Adam Makos reveals a long-lost story of heroism set in the frozen realm of North Korea. You won't be able to put this down. * Joseph L. Galloway, co-author of the #1 bestseller We Were Soldiers, Once and Young * My great respect for Tom Hudner knows no bounds. He is a true hero; and in reading this book, you will understand why I feel that way. * President George H.W. Bush * Adam Makos immerses you in a story so crisp that you'll forget you're reading a book. Prepare to be swept away. * Michael Tougias, co-author of The Finest Hours * Once again, Adam Makos demonstrates himself as a rising star in historical nonfiction. Getting the stories are only half the battle. Telling the story is where he thrives. * Colin Heaton, co-author of The Star of Africa *