The Air Force recognized the service of SSgt. Merle Y. Strang, a chaplain’s assistant assigned in 1950 to 5th Air Force in South Korea, by awarding a Bronze Star posthumously to his brother Homer Strang in Brewer, Maine. Sergeant Strang assisted with a Korean War airlift that saved nearly 1,000 orphans.
The 301st Fighter Wing in Fort Worth, Texas, became the first standalone Reserve unit in the Air Force to get its own F-35s, welcoming the first fighter Nov. 5.