The US Air Force is finally and completely out of Uzbekistan. A Pentagon spokesman said a USAF C-17 flew out the last 90 personnel at the Karshi-Khanabad—or as American troops knew it, K2—Air Base following a brief ceremony this week. This was the residual force left behind to turn over the key. USAF began moving its personnel and equipment shortly after the Uzbeks told us to pack up and go. (DR 09/08/05)
Retired Col. Carlyle "Smitty" Harris, known for introducing the "tap code" by which American POWs in North Vietnam could surreptitiously communicate with one another, died July 6. Harris was brutalized by the North Vietnamese over almost eight years of captivity.