The remains of CMSgt. Melvin D. Rash, a C-130 loadmaster, missing since his aircraft went down in May 1968 near the Vietnam-Laos border, presumably to enemy fire, were laid to rest with full military honors in December at Arlington National Cemetery. The Newport News Daily Press reported Dec. 28 that the ceremony was Dec. 7. Rash was 22 at the time of the crash. According to the newspaper, the aircraft’s wreckage was found in 2002, but it took another six years for military investigators to get to the site and find the human remains of Rash and four more of the aircraft’s nine crew members. The Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office record shows that Rash’s remains were identified last March. The remains of CMSgt. John Quincy Adam, one of Rash’s colleagues, were buried in Kansas City, Kan., in July.
Airmen and Guardians in the Active and Reserve component, as well as civilian employees, in “mission critical and high-risk populations” are now required to receive influenza vaccinations annually to “preserve force readiness,” according to a recent Department of the Air Force memo.