THE NATIONAL BESTSELLER • SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE • From America’s “forgotten war” in Korea comes an unforgettable tale of courage by the author of A Higher Call. Devotion tells the inspirational story of the U.S. Navy’s most famous aviator duo, Lieutenant Tom Hudner and Ensign Jesse Brown, and the Marines they fought to defend. A white New Englander from the country-club scene, Tom … from the country-club scene, Tom passed up Harvard to fly fighters for his country. An African American sharecropper’s son from Mississippi, Jesse became the navy’s first black carrier pilot, defending a nation that wouldn’t even serve him in a bar.
While much of America remained divided by segregation, Jesse and Tom joined forces as wingmen in Fighter Squadron 32. Adam Makos takes us into the cockpit as these bold young aviators cut their teeth at the world’s most dangerous job—landing on the deck of an aircraft carrier—a line of work that Jesse’s young wife, Daisy, struggles to accept.
Deployed to the Mediterranean, Tom and Jesse meet the Fleet Marines, boys like PFC “Red” Parkinson, a farm kid from the Catskills. In between war games in the sun, the young men revel on the Riviera, partying with millionaires and even befriending the Hollywood starlet Elizabeth Taylor. Then comes the war no one expected, in faraway Korea.
Devotion takes us soaring overhead with Tom and Jesse, and into the foxholes with Red and the Marines as they battle a North Korean invasion. As the fury of the fighting escalates and the Marines are cornered at the Chosin Reservoir, Tom and Jesse fly, guns blazing, to try and save them. When one of the duo is shot down behind enemy lines and pinned in his burning plane, the other faces an unthinkable choice: watch his friend die or attempt history’s most audacious one-man rescue mission.
A tug-at-the-heartstrings tale of bravery and selflessness, Devotion asks: How far would you go to save a friend?
Praise for Devotion
“Riveting . . . a meticulously researched and moving account.”—USA Today
“An inspiring tale . . . portrayed by Makos in sharp, fact-filled prose and with strong reporting.”—Los Angeles Times
“[A] must-read.”—New York Post
“Stirring.”—Parade
“A masterful storyteller . . . [Makos brings] Devotion to life with amazing vividness. . . . [It] reads like a dream. The perfectly paced story cruises along in the fast lane—when you’re finished, you’ll want to start all over again.”—Associated Press
“A delight to read . . . Devotion is a story you will not forget.”—The Washington Times
“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
“This is aerial drama at its best—fast, powerful, and moving.”—Erik Larson, New York Times bestselling author of Dead Wake
“Though it concerns a famously cold battle in the Korean War, make no mistake: Devotion will warm your heart.”—Hampton Sides, New York Times bestselling author of Ghost Soldiers and In the Kingdom of Ice
“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
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What a great story. My father fought in the Korean War and it’s rightly called the “Forgotten War.” But this book does serious justice to the heroism and bravery of those men. Especially the aviators, who rarely get any attention. And this story in particular is fascinating because it tells of the unique relationship between the first black carrier pilot, a sharecropper’s son, and a white New Englander from the country club scene. What a story.
I loved this book. I’ve read quite a bit about the Korean War but very little about the Navy and Marine pilots flying WW2 Corsairs in the ground attack role. Good stuff, and also a great story about the first black Corsair pilot in the Navy. Highly enjoyable.
Aaron Sharp | January 22, 2021
It’s time for another book reaction.
This time it is Devotion: An Epic Story of Heroism, Friendship, and Sacrifice by Adam Makos.
For those that haven’t seen my method on writing about books,the premise is that one of my readers is asking me questions. For the record, this is just a device I am using to have fun. I’m the one asking and answering. It’s more interesting for me to write them this way, and it gives the other voices in my head a chance to talk. If you don’t like it, well, there are plenty of other things to do online.
Well, let’s get on with it!
Why did you read Devotion?
A while back I read On Desperate Ground: The Marines at The Reservoir, the Korean War’s Greatest Battle by Hampton Sides, a fantastic author by the way, and he referenced the story that is found in Devotion. I spent some time looking up the people involved and that led me to this book by Adam Makos. It really is a fantastic story and some very heroic actions.
What war is this book about again?
The Korean War.
Which one was that again?
The one right after World War 2.
Where was this war fought?
Kor…
Just kidding. Obviously it was Vietnam.
This is why we’ve got to stop ignoring history in our educational system.
Anyway, you read a lot of books about military history, what makes this book different?
Well, as I alluded to, the Korean conflict is criminally neglected. There are reasons for that, but I don’t think we as a culture do a particularly good job of self reflection, so I don’t see that changing anytime soon. Beyond that, the particular people and circumstances of this story are unique. A large portion of this book revolves around the life and (spoiler alert) death of Jesse Brown, the first black pilot in the United States Navy. The quality of man he was, and the lengths that his wingman Thomas Hudner went to try and save him were just extraordinary. I probably think of these things a little different now as a dad, but (even though you know it is coming) the depictions of Jesse Brown’s parents, wife, and young daughter dealing with his death are just overwhelming. At the end of the book is a reprint of the last letter Jesse wrote his wife on the night before he died. You could do worse as a man and as a husband than modeling yourself after that letter.
What most impressed you about the writing of this book?
As a reader it is easy to find a book with this many characters overwhelming. I think it is the sign of a good job by the author that I didn’t spend a lot of time trying to remember who people were, or how they factored in. A number of pieces of the story, such as the description of Tom Hudner being given the Medal of Honor for his attempts to save Jesse, with Jesse’s wife in attendance, was some fine writing.
You aren’t exactly a crier, but you told Elaina that this book was almost a tearjerker. What did you mean by that?
I’m not really a crier, but I will tell you that there is something about fatherhood that makes the tears flow freer, for me at least. This book was tough because I knew what was going to happen, I knew that it was going to happen to a good man, and then I read about how everyone responded to him. His wingman risked a court martial to try and save him, his shipmates (who weren’t exactly rich) took up a collocation to pay for his daughters college education, his mother had a stroke within a month, and the description of his wife’s grief was very powerful.
Want to read more of my bookish thoughts? Check what else i’ve had to say at https://www.oursharpology.com/culture
A must read! Meticulously researched and lovingly written, this story of heroism and courage under fire is one all should know of. History teachers should assign it as required reading.
A very good, true story. Lovers of history need to know about this part of our history. Well written.
Again, this author spends a great deal of time building up the narrative of individual characters before he tells the rest of the story. Still, you come to know the characters through the narrative and feel for them when the story comes to a conclusion.
Without breaking a sweat you can learn about the beginning of the Korean War by following the lives of a group of young aviators and another group of Marines who fight a war that has mostly been forgotten. The author, a young man working on his first novel (this book) gets up the courage to approach a famous, decorated, retired fighter pilot at a chance encounter in an airport. He is rewarded with a promise by the pilot to tell his story. But his story leads to the incredibly intersected stories of more than a dozen other men who fought in the air, at sea, and on the ground.
The author enlists his own father and several others to interview all of the men and women mentioned by the pilot to get their stories, and pulls in historical facts that add up to make one hell of great book. The author insisted on having the interviewers ask those they interviewed what they said when an event happened and who they were speaking to at the time. You will never forget the real life characters from this book, and you will gain an understanding of the Korean War from the perspective of those who fought it.
Great history.
One of the best books I have read in a while Books with historical meaning. Are some of my favorite types of books.
No fluff..just a great story well told.
A very readable and concise history of the most famous battle of the Korean war–the fighting “retreat” from Chosin. It gives the reader a fantastic insight of the sacrifices made by a whole, almost forgotten generation of american heroes both on the ground and in the air. I liked everything about this book.
Probably the best book I’ve read this year….and I’ve ready probably 125 books, generally action genre, books.
At first, I found the writing somewhat strained and overwrought as the characters were introduced and the settings developed. But once past the initiation stage, the narrative flow was very good. The technical details were well expressed and explained. And the real sense of the effort, terror and camaraderie was thoroughly conveyed. Overall, a worthy read.
A great look at the Koren war from a Navy pilot.
As a writer, I often hear that good writing is in the editing. I now believe that it is in the preparation. Adam Makos was obviously as prepared as a writer can be before ever tapping out the first sentence.
This is a rich, deep, and layered story so well told I feel as if I know each of the many characters therein. And that is such a good thing because you will want to know them all personally. Makos doesn’t just introduce us to the Navy flyboys and their mind-boggling heroics as you might expect. He also takes us on the ground with the Marines at the Chosin Reservoir to see and feel how their dramatic stories are so intertwined and how the boys with the rifles so depended on the young men with the wings for their very survival.
By the time I reached the Chosin campaign, my heart had knotted up and, for the rest of the book, it found little relief from the grip Makos had on it. I felt true fear for those Marines as I experienced the terrifying battles seemingly first-hand. From those incredible stories and all the way through the Afterward, not only did I break up emotionally, I had to steady myself against all-out sobbing at times. This story is heart-wrenching and beautiful all at the same time.
Robert M. Lynch, Author of THE BED I MADE: A journey of fulfilled hope, fifty years in the making.
I really wanted to like this book more, but it was rather dull, and subdued. You have a story about friendship and respect during a time of racial tensions. You have anecdotes about young, brave sailors and soldiers, including a movie star, and famous people, and yet, the story is almost emblematic of how it was in the states during that time period. We won the big one, so why should we be concerned with this small one?
An inspiring, patriotic narrative of valor, this book will stir the reader. It is entertaining, exciting, and at times heart-breaking. The reader becomes attached to some of the characters, and then sincerely grieves when that character dies. The author does not always mask well what lies ahead. His style tends to tip his hand, portending the fate that awaits some characters. I was never surprised by who died, though I did not necessarily anticipate when and how they sacrificed all. This book will stir patriotism, which is refreshing in our day of revisionist history. This generation would do well to read this book and learn anew the price of freedom.
Caused me to add another name to my “hero list”
This book or one of the other non fiction books written on the Chosin Reservoir and Korea should be required reading.
This is a great historical story about Jesse L. Brown and the Korean War…. I served on the USS Jesse L Brown and wished I had known more about him while serving on a ship honoring him…. a great book and read on discrimination and how people contributed to it and how others fought against it.