A memorial ceremony was held Wednesday for John E. Weston at Arlington National Cemetery. Weston, a retired USAF lieutenant colonel who flew 31 missions in a B-17 and served in three wars, died August 9, 2016. According to the State Department, he trained in the US Army Air Corps’ cadet aviation program and was assigned to the 381st Bomber Group in Ridgewell, England, in February of 1944. He earned a Distinguished Flying Cross flying missions over Germany and occupied France. After World War II, Weston joined the Air National Guard and was stationed in Japan from 1951-1955, during and after the Korean War. In 1963 and 1969 Weston served in Vietnam in coordination with the CIA as an Air Force reconnaissance and operations officer. For his service in Vietnam he received both a Legion of Merit medal from the CIA and a Bronze Star from the Air Force. An AFA member since 1961, Weston retired from the Air Force in 1973 and continued to work as a civilian with the CIA until 1978. In 1987, he took a job with the Bureau of Diplomatic Security at the State Department as a technical writer. He remained at State for 28 years before retiring, at the age of 98, in 2015.
The last remaining T-1 Jayhawk at JBSA-Randolph, Texas, took its final flight to the "Boneyard" at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., on July 15. The 99th Flying Training Squadron will train pilots using T-6 and simulator until it gets T-7 Red Hawk in fiscal 2026.