Defense Department officials announced that they identified the remains of 12 airmen missing in the Pacific theater since World War II. They are 1st Lt. Jack E. Volz, 21, of Indianapolis; 2nd Lt. Regis E. Dietz, 28, Pittsburgh; 2nd Lt. Edward J. Lake, 25, Brooklyn, N.Y.; 2nd Lt. Martin P. Murray, 21, Lowell, Mass.; 2nd Lt. William J. Shryock, 23, Gary, Ind.; TSgt. Robert S. Wren, 25, Seattle; TSgt. Hollis R. Smith, 22, Cove, Ark.; SSgt. Berthold A. Chastain, 27, Dalton, Ga.; SSgt. Clyde L. Green, 24, Erie, Pa.; SSgt. Frederick E. Harris, 23, Medford, Mass.; SSgt. Claude A. Ray, 24, Coffeyville, Kan.; and SSgt. Claude G. Tyler, 24, Landover, Md. These airmen were the crew of a B-24D Liberator that took off from Port Moresby, New Guinea, on a reconnaissance mission on Oct. 27, 1943. The aircraft never returned. A DOD team located the crash site in 2003 in New Guinea and recovered their remains in 2007. Remains of the entire crew were buried together with full military honors on Aug. 4 at Arlington National Cemetery.
The Air Force and Boeing agreed to a nearly $2.4 billion contract for a new lot of KC-46 aerial tankers on Nov. 21. The deal, announced by the Pentagon, is for 15 new aircraft in Lot 11 at a cost of $2.389 billion—some $159 million per tail.