The remains of Col. David H. Zook, Jr., a pilot from West Liberty, Ohio, missing since the Vietnam War, have been identified, the Department of Defense announced Sept. 30. Zook was carrying out a psychological warfare mission in a U-10B aircraft on Oct. 4, 1967, over Song Be Province, South Vietnam, when the U-10B collided in midair with a C-7A and crashed and exploded. Several search-and rescue attempts failed to locate Zook’s remains. Investigations of the crash and excavations of the site conducted by joint US-Vietnamese teams in 1992, 1993, and in March 2008, led to the recovery of small pieces of military clothing and human remains that forensic analysis proved to be those of Zook, DOD said.
After years of experiments and tests, senior Air Force leaders say they're on the verge of using C-17s and other cargo aircraft to launch cruise missiles via airdrop, touting the development as a way to bolster the combat fleet and a major shift in the service’s mindset.