Last summer “Top Gun: Maverick” became the second-highest-grossing film of the year, while it was nominated for numerous awards, including an Oscar for Best Picture. However, another war movie that chronicled the exploits of U.S. Navy aviators arguably “flew under the radar,” and though it didn’t have quite the bombastic aerial stunts, it offered a more personal story.
One factor is that “Devotion,” based on the 2015 book “Devotion: An Epic Story of Heroism, Friendship, and Sacrifice” chronicled the real-life exploits of Naval Officers Jesse Brown (the first African-American aviator for the U.S. Navy) and Tom Hudner of Fighter Squadron 32 (VF-32) — played by Jonathan Majors and Glen Powell respectively — operating from the Essex-class aircraft carrier USS Leyte (CV-32) during the early stages of the Korean War.
The film further dealt with the issue of racism in the military, as well as the sacrifices that need to be made in wartime.
The Corsair Fighter Had its Close-up
Arguably one of the stars of the film is the F4U-4 Corsair, the carrier-based fighter-bomber that was developed during the Second World War. Though “Devotion” lacks much of the plane-on-plane dogfighting of “Top Gun: Maverick,” there is still enough aerial action with the Corsair in the skies over Korea — including one notable exchange with a Chinese MiG-15. This was based on an actual event, although neither Brown nor Hudner were involved.
The Corsair has long been a favorite of aviation buffs and it is easy from this film to see why. Even as jet fighters were clearly the future, the F4U-4 was able to hold its own. It was fast, nimble, and proved to be more than capable ground-attack aircraft.
The bent-wing F4U-4 Corsair was armed with Browning M2 Aircraft .50 caliber machine guns; mounted in groups of three in each wing for a total of six. Each held around 375 to 400 rounds of ammunition, and in addition, the aircraft could carry up to 4,000 pounds of bombers. In the film, the Corsairs are seen carrying eight 5-inch (12.7) high-velocity aircraft rockets.
Small Arms of Devotion
Despite “Devotion” being primarily a film about aviators, it is noteworthy in that it also features a few scenes that show U.S. forces on the ground, as well as their Communist foes. It could have been easy for the filmmakers to skip out on showing any significant ground forces — as “Top Gun: Maverick” essentially did.
However, “Devotion” does feature a number of period-correct small arms that were used by the North Korean and Chinese People’s Volunteer Army (PVA) troops, as well as the United States Marine Corps in the fighting on the ground during the infamous Battle of Chosin Reservoir in December 1950.
Chi-Com and North Korean Guns
The PVA troopers are seen carrying a number of Arisaka Type 99 rifles, which were leftover from the Japanese forces that had occupied the Korean peninsula for more than five decades. Though South Korean forces were supplied with American and other Western small arms; the North Koreans and PVA utilized vast numbers of captured Type 99s, chambered in 7.7x58mm.
It has also been reported that while frontline Japanese troops in WWII that faced the USMC in the Pacific campaigns at Iwo Jima, Saipan, and Okinawa often relied on rifles that were of lesser quality, many of the Type 99s in Korea actually dated back to the earlier stages of the war and yet saw almost no combat. The Chinese and North Koreans certainly put them to good use in Korea!
Other PVA troops are seen with the Soviet-made Mosin Nagant M91/30 rifle — the same weapon carried by the Soviet Red Army in the Second World War. Even as more modern firearms were being introduced in the Soviet Union, notably the SKS and AK-47, the Mosin-Nagant was the standard infantry rifle of the North Korean and Chinese rifle of the war. The manually operated bolt action rifle was chambered for 7.62x54mmR and was fed from a five-round fixed magazine. It thus fired the same ammunition as other Soviet small arms such as the DP-27 light machine gun, and the PM-10 Maxim heavy machine gun. Neither of those weapons made an appearance in the film, however.
Yet, what was seen prominently in “Devotion” was a DShK heavy machine gun, employed as an anti-air defense weapon. Designed in 1938, it saw widespread use in the Second World War and was subsequently used by the People’s Liberation Army in the Chinese Civil War. Those weapons were the standard anti-aircraft platform of the communist forces in the Korean War.
Chambered to fire the 12.7x108mm cartridge, the DShK has often been compared to the U.S. M2 Browning — and it is notable that these are the only two .50 caliber machine guns designed prior to the Second World War that remain in service to the present day. The DShK is another connection to “Top Gun: Maverick” as the unnamed enemy is seen armed with one.
Moreover, it was apparently a real DShK in “Devotion,” a weapon that wasn’t readily available for use in Western-made films during the Cold War. In fact, 1984’s “Red Dawn” saw an M60D mocked up to resemble the Soviet heavy machine gun — and that prop was subsequently used in “Rambo: First Blood Part II,” and “Heartbreak Ridge,” while it appeared on TV’s “MacGyver” and “Airwolf.”
The USMC Guns
The firearms carried by the USMC in Korea were little different from the Second World War, and that included the M1 Garand and the M1 Carbine. By all accounts, both semi-automatic rifles performed quite well — even if each was showing its respective age.
Though more modern firearms were being produced, the M1 Garand still lived up to the praise of General George S. Patton who described it as “the greatest battle implement ever devised.”
The Springfield Armory, which had produced a large number of the M1 Garands during World War II, even began preparations for resuming manufacturing — while a few other firms also began to produce the rifle for service in the Korean War. Many rifles in U.S. military stocks were refurbished as well. In fact, firearms collectors often note that original WWII configuration M1 rifles are quite uncommon due to the Ordnance Corps rebuild and upgrade program
In the film, it is hard to tell if the examples of the Carbine seen are the original M1 or the select fire M2 that had largely replaced the Thompson submachine gun in U.S. military service. Both versions did acquire a reputation for jamming in the extreme cold, and that was eventually traced to weak return springs, and the freezing of parts due to the lubricants. However, the biggest criticism of the M1/M2 Carbine was that its .30 caliber rounds failed to penetrate the heavily padded Chinese winter clothing and gear. Some units issued standing orders to carbine users to aim for the head!
Though no U.S. Marines are seen in the film with any sniper rifle, one Chinese PVA marksman appears to be armed with a scoped M1903A4 Springfield — the same model rifle carried by Barry Pepper’s Pvt. Daniel Jackson in “Saving Private Ryan.” It is possible it is standing in for a Mosin-Nagant sniper rifle, but it wouldn’t be impossible for a Chinese soldier to be armed with the Springfield.
Large numbers of Springfield M1903s were supplied to the Chinese Nationalist forces during the Second World War, and those were in turn captured by the People’s Liberation Army. In addition, the M1903A4 was still used in a limited role by USMC snipers.
The Browning M2HB machine gun also appears in a few scenes, as it was the U.S. military’s primary frontline heavy machine gun.
Today, military aviators are armed with the ArmaLite AR-7 Explorer, a semi-automatic firearm in .22 Long Rifle. Such a gun isn’t seen in the film, as it wasn’t developed by Eugene Stoner until almost a decade later — so instead, Brown and Hudner can be seen with Smith & Wesson Model M&P (Military and Police) revolvers. That was the best a downed pilot had at the time, and it was truly better than nothing, but not by much!
Devotion — Worth Watching
Though not the most action-packed of war movies, “Devotion” is still recommended for sharing a largely forgotten story about the U.S. military’s involvement in the early stages of the Korean War. Because it is based on real history, it is also a lot more believable than the “Top Gun” films.
