Significance of wings insignia (very minor spoiler)

Hudner was commissioned in 1946 and served on a ship. He did not become a qualified pilot until August 1949. Brown qualified in October 1948. So while Hudner outranked Brown on the ground, Hudner was Brown's wingman when they flew together.

I have not seen the film yet, but the book describes a time when Hudner gave his wings to a young lady he was trying to court. He never saw her again.

My impression of that scene was that Hudner forgot or lost his wings insignia but didn’t realize it until Jesse pointed it out. When Jesse pointed to Hudner’s chest he said, “You’re without your wings” and Hudner looked down at his chest in surprise and responded with a laugh, “You’ve got to be kidding me.” I interpreted Hudner’s reaction as embarrassment about his missing pilot insignia which would have helped him impress the French girl he was interested in. Jesse helped out by loaning Hudner his own wings before he took his shot with the girl.