TSgt. Allen J. Avery, of Arlington, Mass., will be buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery on Friday—exactly 40 years to the day of his HH-53C Super Jolly Green Giant crashing in Quang Tri Province in South Vietnam. Allen was one of six airmen flying in the helicopter on a combat search and rescue mission that day when enemy ground fire struck the platform and it crashed. In 2010, as a result of mitochondrial DNA testing, Defense Department forensic scientists were able to identify four of the six airmen, including Avery, from sets of remains recovered as far back as 1988. (Defense Department release)
The U.S. supports “a stronger and more capable” European defense, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III said during an Oct. 22 press conference in Brussels—but that defense should not duplicate the functions and capabilities of the NATO alliance.