Air Force officials on Friday will bury Col. Leo S. Boston of Canon City, Colo., with full military honors at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. Defense Department forensic scientists identified the Vietnam War pilot’s remains in April. Boston went missing over North Vietnam west of the Black River in Son La Province on April 29, 1966, while flying his A-1E Skyraider during a search and rescue mission. Then a captain, he flew with the 602nd Fighter Squadron out of Thailand. DOD considered him missing-in-action until April 1978, when his status changed to presumed dead. The Air Force promoted Boston to the rank of colonel while he was listed as MIA. Between 1996 and 2005, joint US-Vietnamese teams investigated Boston’s case, eventually recovering aircraft wreckage, human remains, and crew-related equipment that led to his identification. (Colorado Springs release)
A semi-autonomous Collaborative Combat Aircraft drone shot down an air-to-air target in a Dec. 8 test supported by the U.S. Air Force, a notable milestone in the development of the loyal wingman-type drones that will join the fleets of the USAF, other American services, and allies and adversaries.
