The Pentagon has identified the remains of three Army Air Forces airmen missing in action since 1941. They are: 2nd Lt. Augustus J. Allen, Myrtle Springs, Tex.; SSgt. James D. Cartwright, Los Angeles; and Cpl. Paul R. Stubbs, Haverhill, Mass. The three, who were assigned to the 39th Observation Squadron, flew from France Field in Panama, on June 8, 1941, in an O-47A bound for Rio Hato, Panama, but never arrived. Air and ground search forces found no trace of the airmen or the aircraft. In 1999 a man hunting in mountainous Panama Province spotted wreckage. In August 1999, a DOD team surveyed the area. It would be February 2002 before a team excavated the site. To read more, click here.
Navy Adm. Samuel J. Paparo Jr. assumed leadership of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, succeeding Navy Adm. John Aquilino at a change of command ceremony, urging action amid China's “increasing intrusive and expansionist claims,” on May 3