On This Day in History

1996: Operation PACIFIC HAVEN. USAF airlifters carry thousands of Kurdish refugees from Northern Iraq to Andersen AFB, Guam where they are processed for resettlement in the U.S.

1951: MEDAL OF HONOR. Capt John S. Walmsley, Jr., dies while illuminating an enemy supply train with his searchlight-equipped B-26 Invader. After stopping the train with bombs, Walmsley repeatedly passes over the train to guide

1943: The 52nd Troop Carrier Wing uses more than 80 troop transports to drop 1,200 paratroopers from the 82d Air­borne Division on Italy’s Salerno Beach, with no losses of planes or men. This effort was

  2005: The first-ever C-130 combat mission by an all-female crew is flown from a forward location in Southwest Asia. The crew includes Capt Carol J. Mitchell, aircraft commander; 1st Lt Siobhan Couturier, pilot; Capt

  1972: To become the Vietnam War’s leading ace, Capt Charles B. DeBellevue, flying as a weapon systems officer in a 555th Tactical Fighter Squadron  F-4, shoots down his fifth and sixth enemy planes. He

1971: The USAF’s 17th Special Operations Squadron at Tan Son Nhut AB flies its final AC-119G “Shadow” gunship mission and then turns the aircraft over to the Vietnamese Air Force. The aircraft were nicknamed “Shadow”

  1995: Two 436th Airlift Wing  C-5s from Dover AFB airlift gas turbine generators from Ramstein AB to Incirlik AB to provide electrical power for Kurdish refugees living in northern Iraq.

2002: Operation NOBLE EAGLE. Fighters continue 24-hour combat air patrols over Washington, DC and New York City as the anniversary of the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks approaches.

1999: Capt Julie Hudson of the 175th Wing (Maryland Air National Guard) qualifies as the Guard’s first fully combat ready female A-10 fighter pilot.

1945: Japan surrenders to the U.S. on the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, marking the end of World War II.