Friday, July 11th

This is your official Air Force Academy History Update for Friday, July 11th —  

On this day, back in 1998 – First Lieutenant Michael Blassie, Class of ’70, is buried in the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, Missouri.  He was killed on May 11, 1972 when his A-37B ‘Dragon Fly’ aircraft was shot down over An Loc City, South Vietnam.  He was the Vietnam Unknown in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery from 1984 until 1998. 

Also on this day, back in 2021 — A Virgin Galactic craft makes a rocket-powered flight to the fringe of space with Virgin Galactic owner Richard Branson aboard.  Michael Masucci, Class of ’85, was one of the two pilots who flew the vehicle on its sub-orbital test flight.  The craft reached the altitude of 53.5 miles, 3.5 miles above what the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Federal Aviation Administration consider the “boundary” of space. 

… For more information about what’s coming up and what’s going down at the Academy, listen to our cadet radio station by picking up the free KAFA mobile app, available for Apple and Android.