In 1966, Hackford flew as an F-105 pilot with the 469th TFS at Korat AB in Thailand where he flew 112 missions over North Vietnam; 36 as a Wild Weasel pilot. He returned to the U.S. as an instructor pilot, but was soon retired from flying due to injuries sustained in his shoot down over Laos in 1966.
Read MoreI was on my first tour in Vietnam as a “Phantom” F-4 backseat pilot, assigned to the 558 Tactical Fighter Squadron (TFS), 12th Tactical Fighter Wing (TFW), Cam Rahn Bay AB, Republic of Viet Nam (RVN). I was scheduled to be on 15-minute day alert on 3 Sep 1968.
Read MoreMichael Pirga enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Force in 1922 where he proudly served until 1957. On December 7, 1941 when Pearl Harbor came under attack, then Sergeant Pirga was in his barracks. He was buried under the collapsed building and had to be dug out by his comrades.
Read MoreLuis Martinez enlisted into the U.S. Air Force in November 1996, serving for nearly 16 years as a member of the 820th Red Horse Squadron and the 99th Civil Engineering Squadron, including tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. In February 2009, while deployed to Tikrit, Iraq, Martinez was wounded when the vehicle he was traveling in struck an IED.
Read MoreEd O’Neal first joined the U.S. Army in November 1977, serving in the Army until November 1980. He was commissioned into the U.S. Air Force in July 1986, serving for the next two decades until May 2007, serving with the U.S. Central Command, including time in Saudi Arabia during Operation Enduring Freedom.
Read MoreJosephine Keller enlisted into the U.S. Air Force in September 1991 and served for more than 26 years, including participation in Operations Southern Watch, Joint Guard, Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom, Noble Eagle, and New Dawn.
Read MoreTroy Green enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in May 1989 and served for 27 years, 15 of those years on active duty.
Read MoreOliver Hickok first enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in June of 1956 at the age of 17, eventually being stationed in Japan and then Hawaii, before finishing his time in Alabama. In December 1960, he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and attended boot camp at Paris Island.
Read MoreStaff Sergeant Flavio A. Martinez sustained injuries while engaged in operations against an opposing armed force near Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan on 21 December 2015.
Read MoreGervais Raoul Victor Lufbery (March 14, 1885 – May 19, 1918) was a French-American pilot of World War I. Lufbery served in both the Aéronautique Militaire and later the United States Army Air Force, and he is widely considered one of the founding fathers of the modern day United States Air Force.
Read MoreHailing from St. Louis, Missouri, Air Force Sergeant Dennis Fetter was wounded during the Tet Offensive in 1968.
Read MoreAmanda Martino was born on June 7, 1984 in Lindenhurst, on Long Island. She was born into an Italian family, “very loud and very loving.” Her dad had dropped out of high school to enlist in the military, and served in Vietnam before becoming the head of maintenance for a large company. As the youngest of three siblings,
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