Japanese soldiers disarm World War II-era ordnance in Naha city, Okinawa, Sept. 29, 2024, in this screenshot from a Japan Ground Self-Defense Force video.

Japanese troops disarm and remove WWII-era bomb in Okinawa’s capital city

Japanese troops successfully disarmed and removed a suspected World War II-era bomb from Okinawa prefecture’s capital city Sunday, according to city and military officials.

Shielded from view by smoke created by smoke track vehicles of the 4th Chemical Company, military vehicles cross the Imjin River.

From the Archives: Hazy shade of success

Two ID troops complete annual training event. This article first appeared in the Stars and Stripes Pacific edition, Mar. 7, 2002. It is republished unedited in its original form.

Elmer Calvin Smith, who died at age 101 on Sept. 20, 2024, wears his Army Air Corps uniform in this undated photo. Smith was 18 when his Army airfield in Hawaii was attacked by Japanese aircraft on Dec. 7, 1941.

Soldier who survived 1941 Japanese attack on Hawaii Army airfield dies at 101

Elmer Calvin Smith, who as an 18-year-old soldier stationed at an Army airfield survived the Japanese surprise attack on Hawaii in 1941, died Friday at age 101. Smith was among fewer than two dozen still-living veterans who survived the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Oahu, although the exact number is unknown.

WWII veteran’s souvenir Japanese rifle lost for decades recovered by his son

After the war ended in 1945, Hibray flew over Hiroshima to view the devastation and into Osaka, where he purchased an Arisaka Japanese military rifle with a bayonet as a souvenir and had it shipped back to the United States.

Sharon Deane places a bronze rosette beside the name of her father, Army Lt. Col. William Deane, at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu on Sept. 20, 2024. His missing remains from the Vietnam War were identified in 1999.

MIA/POW ceremony recognizes the Vietnam War lost who have been found

During the annual National POW/MIA Recognition Day at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, the first of nearly 1,000 formerly unaccounted for troops from the Vietnam War received long-overdue rosettes next to their names on the walls of the Courts of the Missing to signify they have been identified.

Vietnam War ‘Dustoff’ helicopter crews to receive Congressional Gold Medal

The Dustoffs extracted 900,000 wounded U.S., Vietnamese, and allied soldiers from May 1962 to March 1973. The Army said the medevac crews had a one-in-three chance of becoming casualties themselves.

Aboard the USS Oriskany off the coast of Okinawa, June 28, 1955: Crew members of the USS Oriskany examine the crushed remains of the Banshee jet that crashed into the fantail of the attack aircraft carrier on June 22. The Navy Banshee - coming in for a landing that day - slid into the groove blinking its wing lights as it dipped for a landing. The landing signal officer with his electrically-lighted paddles began to guide it in – then hurriedly waved the paddles over his head as he saw the Jet sinking too low for a safe landing. It was too late. The jet flamed out. A wing dipped, and the Banshee, piloted by Lt. (jg) John R. Mitchell of Quincy, Mass. Plowed into the fantail at 125 miles an hour. As high octane gas flamed into the night sky and the ship's fire crew ran to put them out, his fellow pilots gathered to remember Lt. Mitchell. Then, the phone rang. Read the 1955 eyewitness story of Lt. Mitchell's crash here. Looking for Stars and Stripes’ historic coverage? Subscribe to Stars and Stripes’ historic newspaper archive! We have digitized our 1948-1999 European and Pacific editions, as well as several of our WWII editions and made them available online through https://starsandstripes.newspaperarchive.com/ META TAGS: U.S. Navy; aircraft carrier; F2H-2 Banshees; USS Oriskany; CVA-34; jet; accident;

From the Archives: Jet pilot ‘vanishes’ in crash on carrier

SP3 Neal E. Callahan, Stars and Stripes staffer, was aboard the carrier Oriskany when a Navy Banshee jet crashed into the fantail during a landing. This is his eyewitness account. This article first appeared in the Stars and Stripes Pacific edition, Jul. 4, 1955. It is republished unedited in its original form.

Explosive ordnance technicians with the 36th Wing removed a World War II-era Japanese grenade from a construction site on Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, on Aug. 21, 2024.

Unexploded WWII-era Japanese hand grenade removed from Guam construction site

Explosive ordnance technicians recently removed an unexploded World War II-era Japanese grenade from a construction site at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam.

The U.S. Air Force celebrates its 77th birthday on Sept. 18, 2024. The celebration is of special importance to the Kaiserslautern Military Community which houses one of the busiest Air Force bases outside of the continental United States: Ramstein Air Base, Germany. (U.S. Air Force graphic by Senior Airman Christian Conrad)

Air Force celebrates 77th birthday with overhauls, modernizations

The U.S. military community is celebrating the day the U.S. Air Force became an independent branch of the military. The USAF has been the world’s most powerful air force for its entire history — and it has plans to stay that way.

Major General Ray Shields, the adjutant general of New York, presents the New York State Conspicuous Service Cross, to the niece and grand-niece of Pvt. John Greschiak, a World War II Soldier who was killed in action on Sept. 16, 1944, during a ceremony at which he was posthumously at New York National Guard headquarters in Latham, New York on Sept. 16, 2024. They, at left, Donna Cramer of Albany, and Cheri Gagliardi, a Rotterdam resident. (U.S. Army National Guard Photo by Stephanie Butler)

Family of WWII Purple Heart recipient receives New York service medal, 80 years after soldier’s death

The family of a WWII soldier who was killed in action in September 1944 during a fight in Germany received the New York State Conspicuous Service Cross at New York National Guard headquarters on Monday, 80 years after his death.