On This Day in History

  1972: Capt Richard S. “Steve” Ritchie, flying with Capt Charles D. DeBellevue, shoots down his 5th MiG-21 becoming the first USAF ace of the Vietnam War. (This was DeBellevue’s 4th kill. Subsequently, flying with […]

1941: William R. Dunn, flying with Eagle Squadron 71 (RAF), shoots down his fifth enemy plane to become the first American “Ace” in Europe. He served in Europe, Burma, and China, and ended the war

1967: MEDAL OF HONOR. After shooting down his F-100 Super Sabre, the North Vietnamese capture Maj George E. Day. For his subsequent valorous service in escaping from and evading enemy forces and resistance while in

  1987: When Col (Dr.) Thomas J. Tredici retires from the USAF School of Aerospace Medicine at Brooks AFB, he becomes the last remaining B-17 pilot from World War II to leave active duty.

2001: At Grand Forks AFB, contractors implode Minuteman III missile silo H-22 near Petersburg, N.D. It was the last silo of 450 ICBM silos to be destroyed under the START I agreement. Con­tractors imploded 14

1923: The first airways lighting occurs when 18- and 36-inch electric arc beacons are used to light 42 landing fields between Chicago and Cheyenne. They were visible for 50 miles.

1953: Dr. Werner von Braun and his team join US Army personnel at Cape Canaveral in firing the first Redstone (Redstone No. 1). It was our first truly ballistic missile.

  1940: First flight of the North American B-25 Mitchell bomber.

  1978: At McConnell AFB, A1C Tina M. Ponzer (381st SMW) becomes SAC’s first enlisted female to perform Titan II alert duty. (on the left, with Lt Patricia Fornes on the right)

1943: The Air Transport Command  uses a C-87 Liberator (converted B-24) to carry Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt on a tour of the Pacific theater to boost morale, inspect Red Cross installations, and learn how women from