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  • “Accounted For”: The 82-year Journey to bring a lost WWII pilot home

    Nearly eighty-two years ago, 1st Lt. Franklin H. McKinney took off in his F-5E Lightning over northern Thailand on November 5, 1944. Assigned to "G" Flight of the 35th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron during the twilight of World War II, his mission was to conduct aerial photography operations

  • An Austrian V-J Day: The 371st Fighter Group and the Victory over Japan

    When Japan announced its surrender on August 15, 1945, effectively ending the war in the Pacific, an interim period transpired before Victory over Japan Day (V-J Day) was officially proclaimed. On the other side of the planet, August 15 found an impact on the 371st Fighter Group, the future 142nd

  • The Purple Heart Mission of First Lieutenant Alvin M. Pollingue

    The Purple Heart medal of the US Armed Forces is the oldest military award in America, with origins going back to August 7, 1782.  On that day, General George Washington created the Badge of Military Merit, awarded for ““any singularly meritorious act.”  It later became known as the Purple Heart.

  • 142nd Wing Drops Bombs in Historic First

    Pilots and maintainers to include munitions and weapons Airmen from the 142nd Wing traveled to Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho in early May where they accomplished a pivotal first step in the process of enhancing the capability of the wing’s fleet of F-15EX Eagle II aircraft.

  • Oregon Airman Awarded by Portland Fire & Rescue

    Senior Airman Joshua Mayer, a cyber systems specialist assigned to the Oregon Air National Guard’s 116th Air Control Squadron was awarded the Certificate of Merit by Portland Fire and Rescue this June at a ceremony in Portland, Ore.

  • Down South American Way: Remembering Lt. John H. Shepard in Two Americas

    Sunday, June 18, 1944:  American forces in Normandy strove to isolate the German-held port city of Cherbourg by cutting across the base of the Cotentin Peninsula (also known as the Cherbourg Peninsula) on the northwest coast of France.  American tactical airpower wielded by Ninth Air Force was

  • The Surge after D-Day

    The contribution of the 142nd Wing, designated the 371st Fighter Group in World War II, to the Allied landing in Normandy on D-Day is documented in previous articles published on this website. Such as “Chomping at the Bit: The 371st Fighter Group’s Start on D-Day,”