Fighter Jets Soar Over Annapolis for Funeral of Pilot

Did you hear that sound overhead Friday at noon? It was the sound of four fighter jets flying over the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis in honor of a funeral for a Vietnam War Navy pilot whose remains were recently identified.

Naval Academy spokeswoman Judy Campbell said the jets were flying in a missing man formation in honor of Lt. Richard Laws, a 1962 graduate of the academy, who went missing in Northern Vietnam in 1966 when his plane crashed in the area.

"Laws was strafing enemy targets in Thanh Hoa Province, North Vietnam, when his F-8E Crusader was struck by enemy ground fire. His mission commander saw his aircraft crash into a nearby hillside and explode. As a result, Laws was declared killed in action," according to a release from the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office.

Because of technology at the time, remains found at the crash site could not be identified. But using evidence and forensic identification tools, "such as mitochondrial DNA—which matched Laws’ mother," his remains were identified, according to the release.

On May 7, the Defense Department confirmed Laws death. His funeral was Friday in Annapolis at the academy.