Retired SMSgt. Norman R. “Jack” Matthews died March 8 at age 92, reports the Suffolk News-Herald. Matthews was an aerial gunner sent to the Philippines with other airmen in late 1941 to await their airplanes during World War II. They joined with land forces to fight the Japanese when they invaded the island. Matthews survived the infamous Bataan Death March and served 27 years in the Air Force. (Read more on the death march in Air Force Magazine’s 1995 Valor article)
Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, held meetings with defense leaders from the Philippines, Japan, and South Korea during a trip to the Indo-Pacific this week.