I haven’t read the book, but if the movie is to be believed the Black guy was given an extra ration of crap beyond mere name-calling along the way at some stages by people who wanted him to fail. Sorta like reverse affirmative action. He also kept a book in which he wrote down every name he was called along his way up.
Anyways Hudner thought enough of him that he crash-landed his perfectly good Corsair in enemy held territory in the middle of a North Korean winter to try and help Brown get out of the wreckage after his plane was downed by ground fire.
The movie closes with an image of the last words Brown had written to his wife just prior to his last mission.
Actually the closing credits are really good, original photos from the 50’s from events depicted in the movie. I believe it stated that Hudner and Brown had flown 50 missions together over Korea before Brown was shot down.
Hudner got the Medal of Honor, Brown got a posthumous DFC.
Some great photography. Worth going to see to see actual Bearcats and Corsairs in flight. Dunno if the Mig was CGI, I’m sure several aircraft of all types were.
The funky early helicopter used to rescue Hudner was cool too.