On This Day in History

1982: The crew for the movie “The Right Stuff” arrived at Edwards AFB to shoot the film. #Spaceman #Guardian

1967: MEDAL OF HONOR. Maj Leo K. Thorsness receives his medal by protecting a mission to rescue downed airmen in North Vietnam. He is shot down, captured, and held as a prisoner of war until

1942: KEY EVENT–MEDAL OF HONOR. From the carrier USS Hornet, located 668 miles off Tokyo, Lt Col James H. Doolittle led 16 B-25s in the first raid on Japan. The range of the mission caused

1952: Boeing pilot A. M. “Tex” Johnston flies the YB-52 prototype for the first time. After a two+ hour flight the plane lands at Larson AFB, Moses Lake WA. #Bomber

1986: Operation EL DORADO CANYON. The US retaliates against Libya for its involvement in terrorism with an airstrike using 24 F-111s from RAF Lakenheath, five EF-111s from RAF Upper Heyford, and Navy aircraft from the

  1999: Operation ALLIED FORCE. US Army General Wesley Clark, the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, asks for 300 more U.S. aircraft in addition to the 82 aircraft he requested on 9 April. His request brings

1981: SPACE SHUTTLE’S MAIDEN VOYAGE. The Space Shuttle Columbia with Capt Robert Crippen (USN) and John Young on board launch on the first flight of a reusable spacecraft. On 14 April, they return from space

  Apri 11, 1966: April 11, 1966: MEDAL OF HONOR/AIR FORCE CROSS. Near Cam My, South Vietnam, A1C William H. Pitsenbarger, a pararescueman, hoisted nine soldiers to safety aboard a HH-43 Huskie and then remained

1943:  A P-47 Thunderbolt flies its first combat sortie over Western Europe. #Fighter Pilot

1916: Mexican mounted Rurales fire on Lt Herbert A. Dargue at Chihauhau City, Mexico, where he had landed with dispatches from the U.S. Consul. Capt Benjamin D. Foulois, who had left the plane before the