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 Air Force has finished modifying and testing the new VC-25B Bridge aircraft that will serve as a temporary Air Force One, the service announced May 1. All that’s left now is to finish painting the jet before it starts flying this summer.