On This Day in History

  1918: The 96th Aero Squadron carries out the first American daylight-bombing mission in World War I from Amanty Airdrome against the occupied Dommary-Baroncourt rail yards in France. The squadron flies the Breguet 14B.2 bomber. 

  2007: ROBERT J. COLLIER TROPHY. The National Aeronautic Association presents its annual trophy to the Lockheed Martin Corporation and the USAF for developing the F-22 Raptor.

  1965: SAC declares the 400th Strategic Missile Squadron to be operational at Francis E. Warren AFB. This act ends the dep­loyment of 800 Minuteman 1 missiles in 16 squadrons.

1967: Project TURNKEY. The USAF completes a $52 million airbase at Tuy Hoa, Vietnam, in one year. It was the first base to be designed and built completely under Air Force supervision.

1974: Northrop’s YF-17 prototype makes its first flight at Edwards AFB. Northrop pilot Henry E. “Hank” Chouteau flies the jet for 61 minutes at altitudes up to 18,000 feet and speeds of 610 MPH. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_w92JPHLUg

  1980: In the first all-woman airlift mission, Capt Susan R. Regele flies a C-9 from Scott AFB. The crew includes two other pilots, two flight nurses, three aeromedical technicians, and a flight en­gineer.

1944: MEDAL OF HONOR. Lt Col Leon R. Vance Jr. receives the medal for his courage and valor. Citation: http://www.cmohs.org/recipient-detail/3033/vance-leon-r-jr.php Vance Air Force Base, Enid, Oklahoma (Vance’s hometown) is named in his honor.

1942: BATTLE OF MIDWAY. The battle rages through 7 June. Three US carriers destroy four Japanese carriers, losing one. The Japanese also lose a heavy cruiser, 322 aircraft, and 5,000 men, including a host of

1965: GEMINI IV. Through 7 June, USAF Astronauts Edward H. White II and James A. McDivitt complete a 97-hour, 58-minute space flight with two firsts: White makes a 23-minute spacewalk, and Houston’s Manned Spaceflight Center

  1995: Through 8 June, after a surface-to-air missile strike forces him to eject from his F-16 over Bosnia, Capt Scott O’Grady evades cap­ture by hostile forces for six days until Marine helicopters successfully rescue