Remains of WWII soldier from Massachusetts are identified
The Pentagon says it has identified the remains of a long-lost Massachusetts combat veteran killed at Pearl Harbor.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency said the remains of Navy Yeoman 3rd Class Edmund T. Ryan were being returned to his family in Wilbraham, Mass., for burial with full military honors.
Officials said burial is scheduled for Aug. 2 in Arlington National Cemetery.
Ryan was 21 and assigned to the USS Oklahoma when the ship was attacked by Japanese aircraft on Dec. 7, 1941.
The Oklahoma also took multiple torpedo hits and quickly capsized. Ryan was among 429 crewmen who lost their lives.
Scientists used DNA analysis and dental records to identify the remains. AP
U.S. bombers fly over South Korea after North’s 2nd ICBM test
The United States flew two supersonic bombers over the Korean Peninsula July 30 in a show of force against North Korea following the country’s latest intercontinental ballistic missile test.
The B-1 bombers were escorted by South Korean fighter jets as they performed a low-pass over an air base near the South Korean capital of Seoul before returning to Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, the U.S. Pacific Air Forces said in a statement.
It said the mission was a response to consecutive ICBM tests by North Korea this month. Analysts say flight data from the North’s second ICBM test, conducted July 28, showed that a broader part of the mainland United States, including Los Angeles and Chicago, is now in range of Pyongyang’s weapons.
“North Korea remains the most urgent threat to regional stability,” said Gen. Terrence J. O’Shaughnessy, Pacific Air Forces commander. “Diplomacy remains the lead. However, we have a responsibility to our allies and our nation to showcase our unwavering commitment while planning for the worst-case scenario.”
“If called upon, we are ready to respond with rapid, lethal, and overwhelming force at a time and place of our choosing,” O’Shaughnessy said.
The United States often sends powerful warplanes in times of heightened tensions with North Korea. B-1 bombers have been sent to South Korea for flyovers several times this year in response to the North’s banned missile tests, and also following the death of a U.S. college student last month after he was released by North Korea in a coma.
The Hwasong-14 ICBM, which the North first tested July 4, is the highlight of several new weapons systems Pyongyang launched this year. They include an intermediate range missile that North Korea says is capable of hitting Alaska and Hawaii, and a solid-fuel midrange missile, which analysts say can be fired faster and more secretly than liquid-fuel missiles. AP
Iran says U.S. Navy fires warning shots near its vessels
Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard said July 29 a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier fired a warning shot in an “unprofessional” confrontation with Iranian vessels, the official IRNA news agency reported.
IRNA quoted a statement from the Guard as saying that the USS Nimitz and an accompanying ship came near an Iranian oil offshore platform in the Persian Gulf and a helicopter from the ship hovered near vessels manned by Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard.
The report said the confrontation took place July 28 and the U.S. navy ships left the area following the encounter.
The U.S. Navy’s Bahrain-based 5th Fleet had no immediate comment.
The incident comes after a U.S. Navy patrol boat fired warning shots Tuesday near an Iranian vessel that American sailors said came dangerously close to them during a tense encounter.
Iran and the U.S. frequently have run-ins in the Persian Gulf, nearly all involving the Revolutionary Guard, a separate force from Iran’s military that answers only to the country’s supreme leader. In January, near the end of then-President Barack Obama’s term, the USS Mahan fired shots toward Iranian fast-attack boats as they neared the destroyer in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian forces view the American presence in the Gulf as a provocation. They have accused the U.S. Navy of unprofessional behavior, especially in the Strait of Hormuz, the mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a third of all oil trade passes by sea. AP
Air Force won’t pay for towns’ water contamination costs
Air Force officials say they won’t reimburse three Colorado communities for millions of dollars spent responding to water contamination caused by toxic firefighting foam previously used at a military base.
The Gazette reports Security, Widefield and Fountain’s water districts will likely have to pay $11 million of the $12.7 million tab expected by the end of 2018.
Air Force Civil Engineer Center officials say the Air Force does not have the authority to reimburse communities for the cost of dealing with environmental contamination issues.
Firefighting foam used at Peterson Air Force Base for decades seeped into the Widefield Aquifer, making well water in southern El Paso County unsafe to drink.
The Air Force has pledged $4.3 million in aid, most of which is being spent on bottled water and filters. AP
Navy seeks tool to detect devastating mineral in concrete
The U.S. Navy is working to develop a new high-tech gadget that can quickly identify whether a debilitating iron sulfide mineral exists in concrete, the same problem that’s plaguing thousands of Connecticut homeowners with crumbling foundations.
The Navy began last year seeking small businesses that could invent a device to quickly detect the substance pyrrhotite in concrete. Three firms were recently selected.
U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, a Democrat whose districts includes many of the affected towns, says the Navy’s efforts have been independent of the state’s and the congressional delegation’s efforts to help the homeowners. He says the Navy is a large consumer of concrete and wanted to make sure its structures are sound.
He says the device could be helpful in getting a better handle on Connecticut’s problem. AP
Airbus profits lag amid engine issues, military challenges
Airbus’ first-half profits took a hit amid ongoing problems with its A400M military transporter and engine problems for its A320neo, and deliveries are down though orders are on the rise.
The company said July 27 that sales in the second quarter fell but were stable overall in the first half at 28.7 billion euros ($33.4 billion) compared with 28.8 billion euros for the same period last year.
Net income dropped to 1.5 billion euros from 1.76 billion in the first half last year.
CEO Tom Enders said “we are facing challenges due to ongoing engine issues,” notably on the A320neo, blamed on supplier Pratt & Whitney. Airbus maintained its full-year forecast of delivering more than 700 planes but says it depends on engine makers meeting commitments to fixing problems. AP