An insurgent rocket attack at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, early on the morning of Aug. 21 local time injured two airmen and damaged the front of a C-17 transport and one of its engines, said officials at the base. The two maintainers suffered cuts and bruises, they said. This particular C-17 was the aircraft that transported Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey to Afghanistan on Aug. 19 on his official visit. The incident mimicked previous attacks, said the officials. They noted that Dempsey “was never in any danger” and there was no indication that the insurgents were targeting him. (AFPS report by Jim Garamone)
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.