Military Funeral Honors with Funeral Escort are Conducted for U.S. Air Force Col. Joseph Kittinger, Jr. at Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia, Sept. 9, 2024 - 21

Airmen from the U.S. Air Force Honor Guard and the U.S. Air Force Ceremonial Brass conduct military funeral honors with funeral escort for U.S. Air Force Col. Joseph Kittinger, Jr. in Section 36 of Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia, Sept. 9, 2024. Kittinger enlisted in the Air Force in 1949 when he was accepted into the U.S. Air Force aviation school as an aviation cadet. During his 29-year career, Kittinger participated in several pre-space race projects and was part of hundreds of flight missions during the Vietnam War. In 1960, Kittinger set a world record for the highest parachute jump and freefall – 102,800 feet. Part of Project Excelsior, Kittinger rose more than 19 miles above the earth’s surface in a helium filled balloon before jumping. This record was held for more than 50 years. In 1962, Kittinger went up in a balloon again with Project Stargazer to test a telescope above the Earth’s atmosphere. After these feats, Kittinger returned to being a fighter pilot in the Vietnam War. In 1972, he became a prisoner of war for 11 months in Hoa Lo Prison when his F-4D Phantom jet was shot down. Kittinger retired from the Air Force in 1982. Six years later, he became

Date

2024

Photographer / author

Arlington National Cemetery

Archive

Wikimedia Commons

Type

image

Original size

7,360 × 4,912 pixels

Need photos for a whole script? Add Find Any Photo to Claude and ask for this one by its id: 56420.