Earlier this month, for the first time in 68 years, Don Nicholson climbed into a B-17 bomber for a seat in his old navigator’s perch and a half-hour flight from Chesterfield, Mo., to St. Louis. The flight in the Liberty Foundation’s Memphis Belle was part of a Boeing internal event, according to the company’s Oct. 15 release. Nicholson’s wife of 67 years, Betty June, accompanied him on the ride. The flight brought back memories for the 90-year-old former airman. “Anti-aircraft explosions would make your plane jump,” said Nicholson in recalling his 26 bombing missions during the war. On his last mission in September 1944, German anti-aircraft fire brought down his B-17 and he spent nearly a year as a prisoner of war. “It was definitely a worthy cause,” said Shawn Knight of Boeing Flight Operations who made Nicholson’s flight possible. Knight added, “It’s an honor just to give him a chance to ride in [the B-17] again.” (Includes Oct. 9 release from New for St. Louis website.)
7 Air Force B-2s Drop 14 Bunker-Buster Bombs on Iran
June 22, 2025
The U.S. military struck three Iranian nuclear sites in the early hours of June 22 local time in Operation Midnight Hammer, intended to shut down Iran’s nuclear program and not harm the country’s leadership. U.S. Air Force B-2 bombers and submarine-launched cruise missiles struck three sites: Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan.