July 6, 1989
1989: President George H. W. Bush presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian award, to Gen James H. Doolittle (retired) at the White House. Doolittle is the only person to have received […]
July 5, 1944
1944: Harry Crosby, company pilot, flies the Northrop MX-324, the first US rocket-powered aircraft, for the first time at Harper Dry Lake, CA.
July 2, 1943
1943: Lt Charles Hall, 99th Fighter Squadron, becomes the first US African-American pilot to shoot down an Axis plane, a German Focke-Wulf 190 over Sicily.
July 1, 1941
1941: The Air Corps Ferrying Command (ACFC) sends its first air transport flights from Bolling Field to Scotland via Montreal and Newfoundland. Using modified B-24 Liberator bombers with seats in the bomb bay, the “Arnold
June 30, 1947
1975: The USAF retires its last Douglas C-47B Skytrain (Gooney Bird) to the Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson AFB. Douglas Aircraft delivered the first aircraft in 1941.
June 29, 1972
1972: MEDAL OF HONOR. For heroic and valorous service this date, Capt Steven L. Bennett, a forward air controller, receives the Medal of Honor posthumously. Citation: http://www.cmohs.org/recipient-detail/3230/bennett-steven-l.php
June 28, 1927
1927: MACKAY TROPHY/DISTINGUISHED FLYING CROSS. Lts Lester J. Maitland and Albert F. Hegenberger fly the first nonstop flight from Oakland to Wheeler Field, Honolulu. They fly 2,407 miles in 25:50 by using the directional beacons
June 25, 1996
1996: Terrorists bomb Khobar Towers near King Abdul-Aziz AB, Saudi Arabia, killing 19 Air Force personnel and injuring 300 others. It is the worst terrorist attack against American military personnel since the 1983 bombing of
June 24, 1997
1997: Operation PROVIDE COMFORT/NORTHERN WATCH. EF-111A Ravens from the 429th Electronic Combat Squadron (ECS) at Cannon AFB leave Turkey for home after nearly 2,100 days of deployment to support the two operations.
June 23, 1944
1944: MEDAL OF HONOR. 2Lt David R. Kingsley, 97th Bombardment Group, Fifteenth Air Force, receives a Medal of Honor for putting his own parachute on his wounded tail-gunner (whose chute had been damaged). Kingsley thereby