Carl Maxie Brashear (1931-2006)

March 08, 2020 
/ Contributed By: Samuel Momodu

Carl Maxie Brashear (US Navy)|Carl Brashear|US Navy Deep Sea Rescue Diver Carl Brashear

Carl Maxie Brashear

Courtesy U.S Navy

Carl Maxie Brashear was a United States Navy sailor and master diver. Brashear was born on January 19, 1931, to McDonald Brashear and Gonzella Brashear in Tonieville, Kentucky. Brashearโ€™s family later relocated to a farm in Sonara, Kentucky, where he attended the local grade school but dropped out in the seventh grade to help on the family farm. Brashear also worked as a gas station attendant in Sonora for a brief time.

At age seventeen, Brashear attempted to enlist in the navy, but was first rejected and then later accepted. On February 25, 1948, Brashear began attending the U.S. Navy Diving and Salvage School located in Bayonne, New Jersey, where he learned diving and graduated in 1954. Despite harassment including racial slurs from his classmates, in 1955 he became the first African American to graduate from the school. With his graduation he also became the first African American salvage diver in the military. His assignments included retrieving sunken planes, ships, and World War II torpedoes, which he sometimes had to detonate.

Carl Brashear

Carl Brashear
Public domain image

In 1960, Brashear received his high school equivalency diploma. That same year, he entered the navyโ€™s deep-sea diving school. Although he failed the courses in the science component that included mathematics, medicine, and physics, he performed exceptionally well in other areas and finally graduated in 1964 as a first-class diver.

US Navy Deep Sea Rescue Diver Carl Brashear

Rescue Diver Carl Brashear
Public domain image

On January 17, 1966, while on broad the U.S.S. Hoist of the coast off Palomares, Spain, Brashear helped recover a hydrogen bomb from a bomber that crashed into the Mediterranean Sea. As the bomb was lifted onto the ship, a heavy steel pipe broke and hurtled toward Brashear and other men on deck. Brashear pushed the other men out of the way to save them. The pipe struck his left leg, causing him to lose so much blood that he was nearly pronounced dead when he arrived at a local hospital. Yet he survived and was later transferred to Portsmouth (Virginia) Naval Hospital (now Naval Medical Center Portsmouth), where his leg was amputated. Brashear remained at the hospital for almost a year recovering from the amputation.

After recovery, Brashear was assigned to the Norfolk Harbor Clearance Unit Two, where he returned to active diving duty in 1967. A year later, he became the first amputee to be recertified as a navy diver.

In 1970, Brashear became the first African American to become a master diver. Nine years later, he retired from the navy as a master petty officer and master diver. He later served as a civilian employee for the government at Naval Station Norfolk (Virginia), retiring from that position in 1993. In 2000, the film Man of Honor, based on Brashear’s life and starring Cuba Gooding Jr., was released.

Brashear married three times during his lifetime to Junetta Wilcoxson, Hattie Elam, and Jeanette Brundage. He also had three children: Dewayne Brashear, Patrick Brashear, and Philip Brashear.

Carl Maxie Brashear died of heart failure on July 25, 2006, at the Naval Medical Center Portsmouth at age 75.

About the Author

Author Profile

Samuel Momodu, a native of Nashville, Tennessee, received his Associate of Arts Degree in History from Nashville State Community College in December 2014 and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History from Tennessee State University in May 2016. He received his Master of Arts Degree in history from Southern New Hampshire University in June 2019.

Momoduโ€™s main areas of research interest are African and African American History. His passion for learning Black history led him to contribute numerous entries to BlackPast.org for the last few years. Momodu has also worked as a history tour guide at President Andrew Jacksonโ€™s plantation home near Nashville, the Hermitage. He is currently an instructor at Tennessee State University. His passion for history has also helped him continue his education. In 2024, he received his Ph.D. in History from Liberty University, writing a dissertation titled The Protestant Vatican: Black Churches Involvement in the Nashville Civil Rights Movement 1865-1972. He hopes to use his Ph.D. degree to become a university professor or professional historian.

CITE THIS ENTRY IN APA FORMAT:

Momodu, S. (2020, March 08). Carl Maxie Brashear (1931-2006). BlackPast.org. https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/carl-maxie-brashear-1931-2006/

Source of the Author's Information:

โ€œCarl Maxie Brashear,โ€ The New York Times, https://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/27/us/27brashear.html; โ€œCarl Maxie Brashear,โ€ Radcliff Veterans Center Naming Ceremony, https://veterans.ky.gov/nursinghomes/Documents/Carl%20M.%20Brashear%20Radcliff%20Veterans%20Center.pdf; โ€œCarl Maxie Brashear,โ€ Find A Grave, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/15044278.

Further Reading