One Hundred Years of Flight USAF Chronology ... - The Air University

August 1: Headquarters Air Force Reserve was organized at Robins Air Force
Base, Georgia, replacing Continental Air Command as manager of Air
Reserve resources. At the same time, the Air Reserve Personnel Center
at Denver, Colorado, was established as a separate operating
agency.
August 25: The North American OV–10 Bronco, the Air Force’s newest forward-air-control
aircraft, began a 90-day combat-evaluation program in
South Vietnam.
September 1: Serving as the on-scene commander during the attempted rescue
of a downed American pilot, Lt. Col. William A. Jones, III, USAF,
repeatedly flew his A1–H Skyraider aircraft over enemy gun emplacements,
sustaining heavy damage and severe burns. Discovering that his
radio transmitters were inoperative, Colonel Jones refused to egress
his crippled aircraft and, in extreme pain, flew back to base, where he
reported the downed pilot’s location. For his heroic efforts, he
received the Medal of Honor.
October 11: USAF units supported the launch from Cape Kennedy, Florida,
of Apollo 7, the first manned Apollo space mission. One of the three
astronauts was Maj. Donn F. Eisele, USAF.
November 26: Piloting a UH–1F helicopter, 1st Lt. James P. Fleming, USAF,
twice exposed his aircraft to intense hostile fire while rescuing a special
forces reconnaissance patrol, earning the Medal of Honor.
December 21: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration
launched Apollo 8 atop a Saturn V booster from Cape Kennedy,
Florida. The astronauts aboard included Col. Frank Borman and Col.
William A. Anders, USAF, and Capt. James A. Lovell, Jr., United States
Navy. A few days later, the three men achieved the first lunar orbit.
The Saturn V, the largest rocket the United States had
ever developed, was designed to send men to the Moon.
1968
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