A Berlin Airlift relic lies in pieces in North Carolina, but a revival is planned

A C-54 dubbed Spirit of Freedom, which played a supporting role in the Berlin Airlift, was damaged by a tornado in April 2020. The damaged aircraft will now become a showpiece in Aviator Brewing Company’s new brewery under construction in North Carolina.

Target practice on USS Bataan, 2001

Somewhere in the Arabian Sea, Nov. 30, 2001: Marines from the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) fire their weapons off the end of the USS Bataan.

Intimate artifact from USS Amesbury sunk off Key West found stashed in piece of furniture

A log that details the USS Amesbury’s travels was found in Massachusetts, stuck in a piece of furniture.

Derek Dixon, 9 (left) and J.T. Williams III on the playground. J.T., son of Spec. 4 William and Karen Carroll saved Derek's life by performing the Heimlich maneuver when he saw his friend choking at lunch.

From the archives, 1980: Boy, 9, saves fellow student from choking

Derek Dixon, 9, son of Spec. 5 Anthony and Myrna Dixon, was eating his lunch and talking when a piece of chicken got lodged in his throat. Fellow student J.T. Williams III used the Heimlich maneuver to save Dixon’s life.

Frankfurt, Germany, Nov. 20, 1980: Derek Dixon, 9 (left) and J.T. Williams III pose on the playground at Frankfurt Elementary School. J.T., son of Spec. 4 William and Karen Carroll saved Derek's life by performing the Heimlich maneuver when he saw his friend choking at lunch. J.T., who is also 9-years-old, had seen how to perform the life-saving maneuver when their teacher Ms. Kathryn Willers' showed a movie on it to her fourth grade class at Frankfurt Elementery School No. 2. Derek is the son of Spec. 5 Anthony and Myrna Dixon.

Stars and Stripes celebrates the Month of the Military Child! Check out stories and drawings of dozens of "military brats" here.https://militarychild.stripes.com/

For J.T.'s and Derek's story - and more images of the duo, check here.

META TAGS: DODEA; DODDS; students; first aid; CPR; medical emergencies; Heimlich maneuver; military family;

A young hero, 1980

Frankfurt, Germany, Nov. 20, 1980: Derek Dixon, 9 (left), and J.T. Williams III pose on the playground at Frankfurt Elementary School. J.T., son of Spc. 4 William and Karen Carroll, saved Derek’s life by performing the Heimlich maneuver.

A vehicle destroyed by a Hezbollah missile in Kibbutz Menara. MUST CREDIT: Bloomberg photo by Amnon Gutman

Iran and Israel’s shadow war has lasted years: Key moments before the attack

Iran launched its first-ever direct attack at Israel with more than 300 missiles and drones. Here are some key events that led to the Iran attack on Israel.

Tachikawa Air Base, Japan, Oct. 22, 1960: Standard of Athens leads Junior Olympic paraders at Tachi West Track Saturday. Behind These Athletes Are Competitors From Argos, Corinth, Thebes, Sparta, Other Ancient Cities.
Seven sixth grade classes from the Tachikawa Air Base, Japan, Dependent Elementary School got together at the Tachikawa West Track Saturday for their own version of the athletic classic. Boys and girls on the teams ran the gamut of competitive skills in the big global event, including shot-putting, broad jumping and relay races.
The 1960 Junior Olympics began when student Tom Mulky, acting as the Olympic flame runner, touched his torch to the fire pot that burned throughout the competition. The teams were named after the seven cities of ancient Greece – Corinth, Olympia, Argos, Thebes, Sparta, Marathon and Athens.

Pictured here is a scan of the original 1960 print created by Stars and Stripes Pacific's photo department to run in the print newspaper. The red marks indicate the crop lines. Only the middle part of the image would appear in the newspaper. As the vast majority of pre-1964 Stars and Stripes Pacific negatives and slides were unwittingly destroyed by poor temporary storage in 1963, the prints developed from the late 1940s through 1963 are often the only images left of Stripes' news photography from those decades. Stars and Stripes' archives team is scanning these prints to ensure their preservation.

Check out additional images of the 1960 Junior Olympics here.

META TAGS: Pacific; DoDEA; DODDS; school; education; dependents; children; civilians; prep track and field; prep athletics; sports; military family

From the archives, 1960: Young athletes compete in Junior Olympics at Tachikawa Air Base, Japan

Seven sixth grade classes from the Tachikawa Air Base, Japan, Dependent Elementary School got together at the Tachikawa West Track Saturday, Oct. 22, 1960, for the Junior Olympics, their own version of the athletic classic.

Junior Olympics in Japan, 1960

Tachikawa Air Base, Japan, Oct. 22, 1960: The standard of Athens leads Junior Olympic paraders at Tachi West Track.

Annotations written by William T. Sherman can be seen in the margins of a copy of Ulysses S. Grant's memoir. The book is among the Sherman-related artifacts that will be auctioned in Columbus on May 14, 2024.

Civil War Gen. William T. Sherman’s military sword, family Bible, personal items to go to auction

Civil War Union Gen. William T. Sherman’s personal sword and military trunk, his family Bible and other mementos will be auctioned off May 14 in Columbus, Ohio.

Baghdad, Iraq, Nov. 19, 2003: At Baghdad International Airport in Iraq, soldiers from the 1st Armored Division pull maintenance on part of the Firefinder radar system, which can pinpoint from where enemy mortar or artillery is being fired. Chief Warrant Officer Hipolito Medina, left, a radar section leader, and Spc. Nathaniel Rumph, a radar repairman, are both members of Battery D, 1st Battalion, 94th Field Artillery Regiment.

META TAGS: Operation Iraqi Freedom; Wars on Terror; U.S. Army;

Firefinder maintenance in Baghdad, 2003

Baghdad, Iraq, Nov. 19, 2003: At Baghdad International Airport, soldiers from the 1st Armored Division pull maintenance on part of the Firefinder radar system, which can pinpoint from where enemy mortar or artillery is being fired.

Kirtland AFB 58th Special Operations Wing Flight Line Mechanics post for a group photo with the UH-1N helicopter that crossed the 20,000 flight hours milestone on March 22, 2024. The UH-1N Hueys were initially designed to be 4,000 hour aircrafts but continue to serve the air crew and the mission due to their robust design and adaptations.

Kirtland AFB Huey: Old warrior won’t hear of retirement

Its arms aren’t tired. Kirtland Air Force Base is the home of a record-holding, long-flying aircraft. The UH-1N Huey reached the impressive milestone on March 18 — 20,000 flight hours.

Navy Fireman 1st Class Walter F. Schleiter, who died aboard the USS Oklahoma at Pearl Harbor in 1941, receives a military burial on April 11, 2024, at the National Cemetery of the Alleghenies in Cecil Township, Pa.

A long journey home for Pennsylvania WWII sailor, more than 82 years later

Dozens stood in the steady rain last week to pay final respects to a man they never knew. Navy Fireman 1st Class Walter F. Schleiter died aboard the USS Oklahoma in 1941 before many of them were even born. More than 82 years later, he made it home.

Anthony Quinn in Malaga, Spain, 1965

Malaga, Spain, July 1965: Actor Anthony Quinn during a break in the filming of “The Centurions” (later released as “Lost Command”), in which Quinn stars as Pierre Raspeguy, a French paratrooper fighting in Indochina and Algeria in the 1950s.

121st Evacuation Hospital in South Korea, 1957

South Korea, August 1957: Spc. Paul W. Sebesky prepares a leg cast at the 121st Evacuation Hospital.

A photograph published in The Times in 1925 shows Confederate veterans and others at Hollywood Forever Cemetery for the unveiling of a monument to fallen soldiers of the Confederacy.

Confederate sentiment in Southern California ran deeper than you might know

How did Southern California wind up so … Southern? Well, the Butterfield stagecoach routes ran from Texas through Arizona and New Mexico into Los Angeles, and people heading west brought enslaved Black men and women with them, to the gold fields and, after the gold played out, throughout the state.

Kutno, Poland, July 23, 2003: Stars and Stripes waves over the stands during the final game of the Little League Baseball's Trans-Atlantic regional playoffs. It flies with glags from (left to right) of Saudi Arabia, Belgium, France and Russia. These countries had teams playing in the two regional finals.

META DATA: flag; baseball; sports; military life; leisure

Little League playoffs in Poland, 2003

Kutno, Poland, July 23, 2003: The Stars and Stripes waves over the stands during the final game of the Little League Baseball’s Trans-Atlantic regional playoffs.

In this photo taken in March 1944 in the Pacific, Richard Bong, then a captain in the U.S. Army Air Force, sits in the cockpit of his P-38 fighter plane adorned with an image of his girlfriend, Marge, and a scoreboard tallying his 25 aerial victories over Japanese aircraft.

Missing Marge: Search expert sets sights on wreckage of famed fighter flown by WWII ace

Justin Taylan, director of the nonprofit search-and-recovery organization Pacific Wrecks, is preparing to lead a team to Papua New Guinea to locate one of the most famous aircraft from World War II: a P-38 named Marge flown by ace fighter pilot Richard Bong.

Soldiers from the 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) and the U.S. Army Band, “Pershing’s Own”, conduct military funeral honors with funeral escort for U.S. Army Air Forces Sgt. Irving Newman in Section 4 of Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Va., Apr. 11, 2024.

From a news release from Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA):

In May 1943, Newman was assigned to the 343d Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 98th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 9th Air Force, in the European Theater. On May 6, Newman along with the other nine crew members of a B-24D Liberator were participating in a bombing mission of Reggio di Calabria harbor, in Sicily. While heading to the target, their plane began experiencing engine trouble forcing the pilots to make a course correction away from the main bomber group, directly into enemy anti-aircraft fire. During an emergency landing the plane caught fire and crashed into the water near Benghajsa Point, Malta, injuring at least five crew members. Nine airmen survived the incident, but Newman was not able to be rescued and his remains were not recovered following the war.

Following the war, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), Army Quartermaster Corps, was the organization tasked with recovering missing American personnel in the European Theater. In 1949, a board of officers reviewed the AGRS field investigations for 82 personnel missing from the Mediterranean area, including Newman. The board recommended the individuals be designated non-recoverable. The Identification Branch of the Office of the Quartermaster General approved the recommendation on September 6, 1949.

In recent years, the University of Malta and a private company located the wreckage of a B-24D near Benghajsa Point, Malta, at a depth of 180 feet. Beginning in 2018, a partner organization supported by DPAA archaeology recovered material evidence, life support equipment, and suspected human remains from this crash site.

To identify Newman’s rem

Army Air Forces sergeant, killed during WWII, buried with full military honors at Arlington Cemetery

The remains of U.S. Army Air Forces Sgt. Irving R. Newman, killed in action in 1943, were buried with full military honors Thursday at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

Exercise Combine in West Germany, 1951

West Germany, October 1951: A farmer with an ox-drawn cart passes a jeep parked in the shade of a tree during Exercise Combine in the Rhine Valley.