The Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office has identified nine airmen missing in action from World War II. They are: 2nd Lt. Hugh L. Johnson Jr. of Montgomery, Ala.; 2nd Lt. Byron L. Stenen of Northridge, Calif.; 2nd Lt. John F. Green of Watertown, N.Y.; 2nd Lt. John M. Meisner of Pembroke, Mass.; SSgt. Walter Knudsen of Sioux City, Iowa; Cpl. John A. DeCarlo of Newark, N.J.; Cpl. Robert E. Raney of Monon, Ind.; Cpl. William G. Mohr of Mt. Wolf, Pa.; and Cpl. Michael J. Pushkar of Mahanoy City, Pa. They took off on the morning of Oct. 9, 1944, in their B-24D Liberator to fly a training mission from New Guinea. The aircraft was never seen again, and officials speculated the crew ran into bad weather. In 2002, US officials learned that villagers in Morobe Province, New Guinea, had found two dog tags and launched an investigation.
The Pentagon announced new long-term agreements with four defense companies May 13 to develop and produce large numbers of low-cost cruise missiles. And while the effort will focus mostly on the Army to start, it pairs with Air Force efforts to find more affordable munitions.