Devotion True Story: What The Movie Gets Right & What It Changes (2024)

The Korean War epic Devotion true story is based on the U.S. Navy's first Black pilot, Jesse Brown, and his wingman Tom Hudner. The film is based on the 2015 novel Devotion: An Epic Story of Heroism, Friendship, and Sacrifice by Adam Makos, which retells the true story of the camaraderie between Jesse and Tom, recounting both Naval officers' experiences during the Korean War. The movie Devotion sticks relatively close to the true story, including Jesse's tragic death and Tom's efforts to save his friend.

Devotion has a breakout cast, starring Jonathan Majors (Lovecraft Country) as Jesse Brown and Glen Powell (Top Gun: Maverick) as Tom Hudner. Set in the early 1950s, Devotion sees Tom transferred to Fighter Squadron 32, where he meets Ensign Jesse Brown, the only African American in the unit. The two become fast friends, and the film follows them through Jesse's trials with racism, war, and his tragic death at the hands of a Chinese anti-aircraft gunner. However, there are differences between the Devotion true story and the movie.

What Is True In Devotion?

Jesse Was The U.S. Navy's First Black Pilot

Devotion is dedicated to Jesse's journey as the Navy's first Black pilot. Brown was the subject of racism and bigotry throughout his run in the Navy. He was the nation's first person of color to make it through the Naval flight training program, and his final exam saw him perform five perfect landings on an aircraft carrier.

At just 22 years old, he became a designated Naval Aviator, becoming the first Black American to receive the "golden wings" of a Naval Aviator badge and also the first to fly in combat. It appears that his family always laughed and thought it was a joke when Jesse said he wanted to be a Navy pilot, but he soon proved everyone wrong when he made those dreams come true (via Navy Times).

Devotion's Jesse Really Did THAT In The Mirror

A surprising scene in Devotion sees Jonathan Majors' Jesse Brown shouting racial epithets at himself in the mirror after struggling to deal with racist neighbors. In addition, Brown continues this self-abuse to motivate himself before missions. Reportedly, this is true. Brown endured racism in both his professional (especially during basic training) and private life and resorted to insulting himself to be able to better withstand these attacks.

In Makos' book, Jesse starts this when he is young and standing in front of his family's only mirror. The book doesn't mention if he still repeated this behavior during his time in the Navy, but it's highly likely.

Tom And Jesse Met Elizabeth Taylor In France

Another scene in Devotion sees Jesse meeting the iconic Cleopatra star Elizabeth Taylor on a beach in Nice, France. In the footage, Jesse secures invitations for the rest of the squadron to go to a casino. In real life, Jesse and Tom did meet Taylor, who was in Cannes for the eponymous Film Festival. Brown reportedly met her while she was dining at the Carlton Hotel. Hudner also met her four days later while she was visiting the Leyte.

It's unknown whether Taylor personally invited them to the casino. However, Taylor was well known for her support of the United States military personnel. The USO honored her by writing, "She was deeply passionate about supporting our troops, going on hospital visits, and entertaining the soldiers with the USO. In fact, she was a recipient of the USO Merit Award for all of her amazing volunteer efforts."

Devotion's Tom Risked His Life To Save Jesse

In Devotion's ending, Jesse Brown's plane is shot down by a Chinese anti-aircraft gunner, and he's forced to crash-land in the mountains of North Korea. Hudner sees that Brown is alive but trapped in his co*ckpit. Hudner purposely crashes his plane in the same clearing to save his friend. Though he's able to put out the fire, he's not able to save Jesse from the wreckage, and Brown sadly passes. The way that Devotion recounts Jesse's death, and Hudner's attempt to save him is completely accurate.

In one of the most tragic turns of the Devotion true story, it's believed a gunner hiding in the snow took Brown's plane down, and he crash-landed in a valley. He attempted to free himself but was unsuccessful. Tom Hudner did crash-land his plane just 100 meters from Brown's and used snow to put out the engine fire. He tried desperately for 45 minutes to free Jesse from the crash but to no avail. Rather than being court-martialed for downing his plane, Hudner received the first Navy Medal of Honor for the Korean War.

The Navy Sent A "Funeral Flight" For Jesse Brown

In Devotion, Hudner's superiors on the USS Leyte deny his request to send a team to the site of Brown's crash to retrieve his friend's body. The commander on the Leyte, Capt. Thomas Sisson (Dean Denton), determines that it's too risky to retrieve Jesse's body from the Chinese-controlled area. Instead, Jesse Brown is given a warrior's funeral, in which a V-32 destroys the downed Corsairs with his body still inside.

With some changes, this was in-line with what happened in Devotion's true story inspiration. In real life, the Navy sent seven fighter planes for Jesse Brown's "funeral flight." The seven planes flew in a circle around the site and then dropped napalm to engulf Brown's body and the planes in flames. As they did this, they recited the Lord's Prayer over the radio and then rocked their wings before leaving as a final salute to their fallen brother-in-arms.

What Is False In Devotion?

Tom Didn't Throw The First Punch In Devotion's True Story

Navy pilot Tom Hudner came to Jesse's defense multiple times in Devotion. However, one particular scene isn't taken from the Devotion true story. While on shore leave in Nice, France, Hudner gets in a drunken brawl with a Marine who had previously harassed Jesse. Jesse tells him not to fight his battles for him, just be there for him. This fight didn't happen. An incident that may have inspired the scene happened at a hotel when a waiter refused to serve Brown. Tom stood up and told the rest of the group, "Let's get the hell out of here."

Jesse Didn't Disobey Tom's Orders

During one of the flying missions in Devotion, Jesse disobeys Tom's orders to retreat and then blows up a bridge by himself. After the mission ends and both men are safely on land, Tom praises Jesse in the report, but Jesse tells him it will likely just be used by their racist superiors to deny him promotions in the Navy. Both of these moments are fictional, as there's no record mentioning that Jesse Brown blew up a bridge and disobeyed a direct order, or that Tom Hudner filed a report about it. (via History vs Hollywood)

While these scenes are not 100% authentic to Devotion's true story, they help establish the most crucial aspects of why the real Jesse Brown is important to Navy history. Though they're factually false, they shine a bright light on the racism Jesse faced, and how he dealt with it through sheer heroism and tenacity. Jesse disobeying an order to complete a mission, and Tom filing an accurate report, are both consistent with their respective characters. This was what made the scenes seem authentic even if they were entirely fictional.

Daisy And Tom Didn't Know Each Other

In the Devotion movie, Hudner and Brown frequently carpool, prompting Brown to introduce Hudner to his family, including his wife Daisy (Christina Jackson). Before being deployed to the Mediterranean, Daisy implores Hudner to be there for her husband, and he agrees. In Devotion's ending, Tom encounters Daisy at Jesse's funeral and apologizes to her for not being able to save him. Daisy rebuffs him and says that she only asked him to be there for Jesse, not to save him.

Tom then tells her Jesse's last words, which were about how much he loved his wife. It's a heart-wrenching scene in Devotion, unfortunately, it isn't factual. In the Devotion true story, Tom didn't actually meet Daisy until his medal of honor ceremony, and the two didn't carpool at all. Rather, fellow pilot Carol Mohring (Nick Hargrove) was the one that carpooled and frequented the Brown household. Daisy was in attendance at Tom's medal of honor ceremony, where she met Hudner.

The only time Tom had seen her previously was from a distance when she and Jesse were saying goodbye before he boarded the Leyte. This is probably the biggest departure that Devotion makes from the true story of Jesse Brown, which otherwise sticks pretty closely to his real-life experiences as the U.S. Navy's first Black pilot.

Were The Devotion True Story Changes A Good Thing?

While it is important to keep things close to factual when dealing with a story as important as the first Black Navy pilot, there are always changes needed to make this a tale for the big screen. However, the key is to make these changes in areas that focus on characters and not factual events. These changes happen in moments like when Tom gets in a drunken brawl while defending Jesse. It is nice to see this from a storytelling point of view, and it works better than the real story of just saying they wanted to leave.

However, those changes also veer a little too close to the White Savior trope, which sometimes threatens to sink movies like this. Luckily, it was a character moment built through the film and wasn't enough to hurt its reputation. Another change that helped weigh this out was when it showed Jesse breaking orders to win a battle, only to learn that he could lose a possible promotion. While not true, it did strengthen the Devotion storyline about Jesse succeeding despite racism holding him back.

Devotion

PG-13

Action

Drama

War

Release Date

November 23, 2022

Director

J.D. Dillard

Cast

Jonathan Majors , Glen Powell , Christina Jackson , Joe Jonas , Thomas Sadoski , Serinda Swan , Rossy de Palma , Daren Kagasoff

Runtime

138 minutes

Writers

Jake Crane , Jonathan Stewart , Adam Makos

Story By

Adam Makos

Cinematographer

Erik Messerschmidt

Producer

Molly Smith, Rachel Smith, Thad Luckinbill, Trent Luckinbill