US defense and Australian officials paid tribute Nov. 8 at the Australian Embassy in Washington to 40 US servicemen that were killed in a B-17 crash in Australia on June 14, 1943. Now featured on the grounds of the embassy is a granite memorial—with a base of Australian pink granite—listing the servicemen’s names. Bound for New Guinea, the B-17C crashed at Bakers Creek in Queensland shortly after takeoff, killing all but one aboard. The crash was kept secret during the war—and for many years afterwards—to prevent the Japanese who were threatening Australia from learning of American troop presence there. Robert Cutler, a George Washington University professor and executive director of the Bakers Creek Memorial Association, said the stone memorial would stay at the embassy until a permanent site is found, possibly at Arlington National Cemetery.
The Space Force should take bold, decisive steps—and soon—to develop the capabilities and architecture needed to support more flexible, dynamic operations in orbit and counter Chinese aggression and technological progress, according to a new report from AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.
