30 November 1957 – Capt Benny Lacombe is killed when he unsuccessfully attempts to bail out of Lockheed U-2A, 56-6704, Article 371, 13 miles SE of Laughlin AFB. Ejection seats had not yet been fitted to U-2s at this point. The history of the U-2 program is fraught with fatalities and crashes. “CIA pilots Wilburn S.
David Kim Burke flew F-100s with the 352nd Tactical Fighter Squadron out of Phan Rang.
Col. David Burke became a pilot through ROTC and had more than 27 years of active service in Vietnam, the United Kingdom, and other parts of the world. Col. Burke served in over 800 combat missions, over 1200 combat flying hours, and over 5,000 total flight hours in a variety of military and civilian aircraft.
Dave was a valued member of the SSS family.
After retiring from active duty in 1994, he served in uniform as a retired Colonel for nearly 20 years with the Civil Air Patrol. He was a Liaison Officer for 3 years and an Air Force Junior ROTC Senior Aerospace Science Instructor for more than 15 years.
Dave was a valued member of the SSS family and was an assistant editor for the Super Sabre Society’s journal The Intake from 2010 to 2016.
