The Pentagon announced that Defense Department forensic experts have identified the remains of 1st Lt. Robert F. Dees, an F-84 pilot from Moultrie, Ga., missing in action from the Korean War. They were returned to his family for burial with full military honors. His funeral was scheduled for Jan. 22 in Ozark, Ala. On Oct. 9, 1952, Dees’ F-84 went down while attacking enemy boxcars on the railroad near Sinyang, North Korea. He was 23 at the time. Airborne searches over the battlefield failed to locate him or his aircraft. DOD forensic scientists used his dental records to identify his remains from among the repatriated remains of thousands US service personnel buried in 1956 as “unknown” in Hawaii. (DOD release)
Less than a day after arriving in the Middle East, F-15E Strike Eagles from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C. defended Israel from an Iranian attack in April 2024. DUDE flight, four F-15Es from the 335th Fighter Squadron, downed two dozen Iranian drones in roughly 45 minutes.