The remains of Capt. Lorenza Conner, an Air Force pilot missing for 41 years since the crash of his F-4D fighter in North Vietnam, have been identified, the Department of Defense announced Oct. 8. Conner’s F-4D was shot down by anti-aircraft fire on Oct. 27, 1967, over Tuyen Quang Province. While his co-pilot ejected safely and was captured, Conner was unable to eject before the airplane crashed. Between 1992 and 2003, and then in 2007, joint US-Vietnamese teams investigated the incident and surveyed the crash site, recovering aircraft wreckage and human remains that were identified as those of Conner.
Aircraft readiness will suffer if Congress does not approve some $1.5 billion worth of spare parts the Air Force requested in its annual Unfunded Priorities List, sent to Capitol Hill last week, Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin said.