Nearly six decades after his aircraft went down over the South China Sea, Maj. Everett McPherson’s

Gunnery Sgt. Bobby G. Philips Jr., a Marine in the Reserve previously honored for his civilian heroism, was meritoriously promoted to the rank of gunnery sergeant in a ceremony on April 2, 2026. The event was held at the Beirut Memorial, in front of the Eagle, Globe, and Anchor statue. In January 2024, he was awarded the Columbia-Richland Fire Department Medal of Honor for his life-saving actions during a three-alarm apartment fire on May 26, 2023. While serving as a fire captain, Philips and his team at Rescue 1 responded to the major fire. After rescuing a woman and her dog, he was instrumental in saving two fellow firefighters who were trapped when the building collapsed.

At minus 45 degrees Fahrenheit, even fuel begins to freeze. During Arctic Edge 2026, the extreme cold caused the JP-8 fuel inside several Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement vehicles to thicken into a jelly-like consistency, threatening to halt operations in the motor pool. For U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Christopher Duran, an automotive maintenance technician with Combat Logistics Regiment 453, the problem became a test of ingenuity. Drawing on his experience as a heavy-duty diesel mechanic, Duran developed creative solutions that helped keep Marine Corps vehicles running in Alaska’s unforgiving Arctic conditions.