July 9, 1944
1944: MEDAL OF HONOR. During an attack on the Ploesti oil refineries, Lt Donald D. Pucket’s B-24 receives heavy and direct hits and crashes. For his courage and supreme sacrifice in attempting to save the […]
July 6 , 1953
1953: Op KINDERLIFT. US Air Forces in Europe begin airlift of children from Berlin to West Germany for a summer vacation in German and American homes.
July 5, 1912
1912: Capt Charles DeForest Chandler, Lt Henry H. Arnold, and Lt Thomas DeWitt Milling become the first qualified “Military Aviators.” They receive their badges on 6 October.
July 4, 1942
1942: The Flying Tigers join the Army Air Forces as the 23rd Fighter Group, Col Robert L. Scott Jr commanding.
July 3 ,1936
1936: Henry Ford buys the Wright Brothers workshop, where the Wrights built the first airplane in Dayton, for his Greenfield Village exhibit in Dearborn, MI.
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.
June 29, 1972
1972: For valorous actions this date forward air controller Capt Steven L. Bennett receives the Medal of Honor posthumously. Citation: http://www.cmohs.org/recipient-detail/3230/bennett-steven-l.php
June 27, 1950
1950: KOREAN WAR. Pilot Lt. William G. “Skeeter” Hudson and radar operator Lt. Carl Fraiser, flying an F-82 Twin Mustang from the 68th Fighter All-Weather Squadron, score the first aerial victory of the war
June 26, 1972
1972: The Air Force unveils the F-15 superiority fighter in ceremonies at the McDonnell Douglas facility in St. Louis.