A dedication ceremony is planned June 13 for a historical marker that commemorates the 11 airmen who died 65 years earlier on that day in a B-17 crash over southeast South Dakota. The Argus Leader of Sioux Falls reported June 3 that the marker will commemorate the crew of B-17 No. 750 of the 393rd Bomb Group—the “Flying Sioux”—that went down near Fedora, S.D. after a midair collision with another B-17 during a three-ship training mission that left from Sioux City, Ia. The entire aircrew of aircraft 750 perished in the crash; all were age 23 or younger. B-17 No. 790, the second aircraft in the mishap, was severely damaged and made a belly landing, but all of its crew survived. An Army National Guard representative will be the main speaker at the ceremony.
The six-week government shutdown did not affect the hours flown by Air Force pilots, a service spokesperson told Air & Space Forces Magazine—avoiding what could have been a major blow at a time when flying hours are already lower than they have been in decades.
