Armed Forces Day

Today is Armed Forces Day.

Curiously, Armed Forces Day seems over the years to have diminished in importance. There may be several reasons for that. It's on a Saturday, not a Monday, so people aren't as aware of it as they used to be. Then as security has gotten tighter, many military installations which formerly opened their doors to the public on Armed Forces Day either no longer do so, or do so with conditions and restrictions. Another factor is that with the increased use of the National Guard and the Reserves, communities are more engaged with the military than they were in the 1960's. And on the other hand, increased Reserve and Guard deployments mean that personnel who were once available for the displays and events of the day are no longer available.

As a kid, I lived at a semi-secret atomic weapons base on the southeast edge of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Nearby was Kirtland Air Force Base, which hosted the region's Armed Forces Day celebrations. The gates of Kirtland were opened to the community and numerous static displays of aircraft were available to inspect. There usually was an air show, featuring the U.S. Air Force Demonstration Squadron, the Thunderbirds. In those days, the Thunderbirds flew the F-100D SuperSabre, which I thought was the coolest airplane I'd ever seen.

The air shows and static displays had their intended effect on me: I was motivated to join the Air Force and I did.

If you missed Armed Forces Day this year, check it out next year. Go and mingle with military folks and find out what they're all about, especially if there are none in your neighborhood.

The Wild Blue Yonder . . .

Today is the 60th Anniversary of the United States Air Force!

Babies Buried in Libya?

The U.S. Air Force is trying to find the relatives of seventy-two U.S. citizens whose bodies were recently disinterred from an Italian cemetery in Libya. The deceased Americans are believed to be family members of U.S. military personnel once stationed at the former Wheelus Air Base outside Tripoli. Seventy of the persons were infants.

Wheelus was originally an Italian airfield, but was captured by Allied forces during World War II. The United States controlled it until 1969, when Col. Muammar al-Gaddafi expelled Americans from Libya.

During the time that the Air Force controlled Wheelus, the U.S. government had no provisions for the return of civilians who died overseas. The Italian military offered the Americans free plots and gravemarkers at their cemetery.

Recently, the cemetery was scheduled undergo renovations that would have covered up the American graves. The United States, with the cooperation of the Libyan government, undertook a two-week recovery project in order to repatriate the bodies. The bodies have been taken to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.

Air Force spokesmen say that all the babies and two adults have been identified, but that relatives have not been located and notified.

The persons died between 1958 and 1969.

Persons who believe they are related to one of these deceased should call the Air Force Mortuary Office in San Antonio at 1-800-531-5803.

Information from U.S. Air Force press release, 21 May 2007.