Walter Palmer, a member of the famed World War II Tuskegee Airmen, died March 28 at his home in Indiana, reports the Indianapolis Star. The 87-year-old Palmer flew 158 missions over Italy and Germany in a P-51 as part of the 99th Fighter Group. Palmer, whose military career ended with an eye injury from an automobile accident, was among the Tuskegee Airmen who traveled to Washington in 2007 for presentation of a collective Congressional Gold Medal.
A legislative standoff has led to a lapse in a $4.26 billion small business innovation contracting program widely used by the Air Force and could spell the end of it entirely, industry sources warned Air & Space Forces Magazine.
