August 5, 1950
1950: MEDAL OF HONOR. Maj Louis J. Sebille, the 67th Fighter Bomber Squadron Commander, dies near Hamchang, Korea, when he crashes his severely damaged F-51 into an enemy position. Major Sebille posthumously received the first […]
August 4, 1955
1955: China releases the crewmen of a Special Operations B-29, “The Stardust 40.” They were captured on 13 January 1953 and were held longer than any other prisoners of war in the Korean War.
August 3, 1942
1942: The US begins work on its top secret Manhattan Project to develop an atomic bomb. The photo shows the Hanford B Reactor, the first full-size weapons-grade plutonium production reactor in the world.
August 2, 1968
1968: The modified XV-5A (now the XV-5B Verifan aircraft) makes its first vertical and hovering flights.
July 30, 1971
1971: The last F-100 leaves Vietnam for the CONUS. Its departure ends a combat employment which began in 1964 and produced 360,283 combat sorties with 243 aircraft losses.
July 29, 1995
1995: The 11th Reconnaissance Squadron is activated at Nellis AFB in preparation of the squadron to operate Predator unmanned drones. It is the first such unit in the Air Force.
July 28, 1943
1943: MEDAL OF HONOR. Flight Officer John C. “Red” Morgan receives the medal for saving his B-17 and crew. Lt Gen Ira Eaker does the presentation. Citation: http://www.cmohs.org/recipient-detail/2899/morgan-john-c.php. On 6 March 1944, the German’s shoot
July 27, 1972
1972: Test pilot Irving L. Burrows takes the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle up for its first flight at Edwards AFB.
July 26, 1943
1943: A flight of 10 P-47s land at Prestwick on 11 August, achieving the first, last, and only flight of single-engine fighters (recip engines) across the Atlantic in World War II. The flight’s pilots includes
July 23, 1948
1948: The Military Air Transport Service deploys men and equipment to establish an Airlift Task Force in Germany to relieve Berlin. Maj Gen William H. Tunner (Shown here as Brigadier General) commands the Task Force