The Defense Department announced yesterday that the remains of Lt. Col. Earl P. Hopper Jr., an F-4D Phantom pilot missing in action from the Vietnam War, have been identified and returned to his family. Hopper’s F-4D was shot down by a surface-to-air-missile during a four-ship mission near Hanoi, North Vietnam, on Jan. 10, 1968. While his co-pilot, Capt. Keith Hall, was able to eject and was subsequently captured and held as a POW until 1973, Hopper was unable to eject. A series of investigations and excavations at the crash site in Son La Province, west of Hanoi, between 1993 and 1998 led to the recovery of skeletal fragments and crew-related items that ultimately resulted in Hopper’s forensic identification.
Golden Dome Details Begin to Emerge
Dec. 7, 2025
The Golden Dome air and missile defense shield to protect the United States will have some “operational capability” in 2028, the program’s leader said Dec. 6 at the Reagan National Defense Forum.
