By Stan Prince

March 24, 1973 while manning the rails aboard the USS America we tied up at Pier 12 in Norfolk. Marching down the gang plank I took my first step on US soil in over 10 months.

There were crowds of people looking for their loved one as they disembarked the Ship. Many reuniting with families, many Sailors seeing their newborn daughter or son for the first time. We marched to our awaiting buses and made our way to the airport to our Marine C -130 and our short flight Home to MCAS Beaufort SC. There we had our HOMECOMING and all the pomp and circumstance the Corps is known for.

Lieutenant Colonel Lee T. "Bear" Lasseter (1934–1980) was an Officer and aviator in the United States Marine Corps. Then Major Lasseter and his Radar Intercept Officer (RIO) Captain John "Lil" Cummings are the only all USMC aircrew to shoot down a North Vietnam MiG during the Viet Nam War. On 11 September 1972, while piloting his F-4J of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 333(VMFA-333) off the deck of the USS America (CV-66), he and his RIO led a four-ship MigCap mission northeast of Hanoi and successfully shot down a MiG-21 and damaged a second MiG. On egress their F-4J was hit by a Surface to Air Missile (SAM), forcing the crew to eject feet wet out to sea and were successfully rescued. Lasseter died in 1980 following gall bladder surgery in Florida.

A top congressional Republican said Sunday he agrees with a four-star Air Force general’s memo predicting the U.S. will be at war with China in two years.

In the memo, sent Friday and obtained by NBC News, Gen. Mike Minihan, the head of Air Mobility Command, wrote: “I hope I am wrong. My gut tells me will fight in 2025.”

Asked to weigh in on the prediction in an interview on “Fox News Sunday,” Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, who chairs the Foreign Affairs Committee, said: “I hope he’s wrong, as well. I think he’s right, though, unfortunately."

On Jan. 27, a memo from Air Mobility Command boss Gen. Mike Minihan began circulating on social media. In it, Minihan warned of a possible war between the U.S. and China in 2025 and offered instructions for the Airmen of AMC.

The memo generated international headlines and sparked debate among lawmakers, experts, and observers. The full text of the memo can be read below, with additional context in brackets:

DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE
HEADQUARTERS AIR MOBILITY COMMAND

MEMORANDUM FOR 18 AF/CC, EC/CC, 22 AF/CC, 4 AF/CC, 618 AOC/CC, ALL AMC WING COMMANDERS

FROM: AMC/CC

1 February 2023

Last updated: 01-02-2023

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