Thousands of spectators attended a ceremony on a small French island to commemorate an American bomber crew that crash landed there during World War II, reported Breaking Defense. On July 4, 1943, the B-17 went down in shallow water near the Atlantic island of Noirmoutier after an attack on a German airfield. The Germans captured the 10-member crew; these airmen remained prisoners of war for the rest of the war. The ceremony, held on June 30, featured a flyover from Sally B, the last remaining airworthy B-17 in Europe, as well as the unveiling of a monument erected on the beach near where the B-17 crashed, and where its wreckage still lies. “Even for the island’s youngest generation, [the wreckage] acts as a vivid reminder of the sacrifices made by France’s American allies toward the cause of liberating France, and Europe, from the scourge of Nazi occupation,” said Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Fla.) in a speech on the House floor on June 12. (For more on Sally B, see B-17 Preservation Limited’s website.)
In the wake of a major Chinese military shakeup, the head of U.S. Space Command warned of China’s “breathtakingly fast” advances in space during visits to Japan and South Korea. Gen. Stephen N. Whiting’s trip to the Indo-Pacific is his first overseas visit since taking command of SPACECOM in January.