Ethan E. Rocke/MCT
Sherrie Hassenger poses with a picture of her husband, Arden Hassenger, who was killed when his aircraft crashed in Laos while conducting operations in support of the Vietnam War.
Top Story
A long-ago war, a missing plane and an enduring mystery
By Matthew Schofield | McClatchy Washington Bureau
Maj. Derrell Jeffords bounced his roaring Spooky 21 down and off the runway at Da Nang Air Base in Vietnam. It was just before 7:30 a.m., on Christmas Eve 1965. The big camouflaged belly of his twin-prop AC-47 was easily visible against a blue sky as he banked west.
The cargo plane-turned-gunship was on its way to Laos; its mission was top secret. » read more
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- Story | Interactive: The Flight of Spooky 21
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Rick Lund/MCT
The collapsed bridge where I-5 crosses the Skagit River in Mount Vernon, Washington, on Thursday, May 23, 2013.
Spotlight
Whatever cause, Washington state bridge collapse points to bigger problems
By Curtis Tate | McClatchy Washington Bureau
The collapse of an interstate highway bridge in Washington state brings new attention to the limits of the country’s infrastructure, especially older structures that were designed with little room for error and were never intended to carry the number of cars and trucks they see today. » read more
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- On the Web | I-5 Skagit River Bridge Inspection Information
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Snap! - a McClatchy photo gallery
Soldiers in the Third U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) place a small American flag one foot in front and centered before each grave marker for more than 220,000 graves during the annual Flags-In ceremony in advance of Memorial Day to honor the nation's fallen members of the military May 23, 2013 in Arlington Cemetery, Virginia. (Olivier Douliery / MCT) | More top photos from McClatchy
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