The Michigan Aviation Hall of Fame last week inducted retired Maj. Gen. Richard Bodycombe, Lt. Col. John Slattery, Maj. Louis J. Sebille, and 1st Lt. Aleda Lutz. Bodycombe, who retired as the chief of the Air Force Reserve, flew the B-24 during World War II and was recalled for the Berlin Airlift. Slattery, who died in 2008, was a marine infantryman in World War II and Korea; switching to USAF and helicopters, he flew more than 100 rescue missions in Vietnam. Sebille, who flew the B-26 in WWII and F-51 during the Korean War, received the Medal of Honor posthumously for his support to ground forces at Pusan, where he flew his F-51 into enemy forces. Lutz was one of the most experienced flight nurses in WWII, flying 814 combat hours before being killed in a C-47 crash. (Also read Hall of Fame release; Free Press report; on Lutz, Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame biography; on Sebille, Air Force Magazine’s April 1990 Valor: Epitaph for a Valiant Airman)
KC-135 Crashes In Iraq While Supporting Iran Ops
March 12, 2026
A U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker supporting Operation Epic Fury against Iran crashed during a refueling incident involving two aircraft over Iraq March 12, U.S. Central Command announced. The aircraft were not shot down, CENTCOM added.