He became Del Rio's first World War II casualty when the plane he was flying in (most likely as a waist gunner for the mission) was lost at sea, having succumbed to damage received over the Makassar Strait on 29 (or 28) January 1942.

The damage occurred during two bombing runs against Japanese warships and transports in the Makassar Strait off the coast of Balikpapan, Borneo.

Training provided new pilots with basic bombing and gunnery combat skills in the F-80 Shooting Star, F-84 Thunderjet, and T-33 jet aircraft, but within short time crews used only the T-33.

The film from Major Heyser's mission was developed, analyzed and the photos were shown to the United Nations Security Council on October 22, 1962, proving to the world, that offensive missiles were on the island of Cuba.

Another 4080th pilot, Major Rudolf Anderson, Jr., perished when his U-2 was hit by shrapnel from a Soviet-made SA-2 surface-to-air missile on October 22, 1962, while overflying Cuba from McCoy AFB.

While the U-2 did not suffer a direct hit, Anderson was struck by fragments from the proximity fused warhead's explosion which penetrated and compromised his pressure suit (at altitude, unconsciousness and death came very quickly).

Plans called to transfer in about half the student load from Laredo Air Force Base, Texas.

[13] Laughlin AFB is served by the San Felipe Del Rio Consolidated Independent School District.

This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency