The remains of CMSgt. John Quincy Adam, whose C-130 went down May 22, 1968, on a mission over the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Vietnam, were buried in his hometown of Kansas City, Kan., July 27, 2009. Adam, an airman 1st class at the time his cargo aircraft went down, and the aircraft’s entire crew were listed as missing in action since 1968. After the airborne command and control aircraft lost contact with Adam’s C-130, call sign Blind Bat 01, another C-130, Blind Bat 02, flew over the target area and spotted a large fire, which USAF later believed was the wreckage of Blind Bat 01. It would take another nearly 40 years before remains were positively identified. (According to the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office record, Adam’s remains were identified on March 13, 2009.) Among members of Adam’s family at the military burial was his nephew, SSgt. Adam Blankenship, a member of the 436th Security Forces Squadron at Dover AFB, Del. (509th Bomb Wing report by SrA. Kenny Holston)
A provision in the fiscal 2025 defense policy bill will require the Defense Department to include the military occupational specialty of service members who die by suicide in its annual report on suicide deaths, though it remains to be seen how much data the department will actually disclose.