Apollo 12 Command Module Yankee Clipper on display at the Virginia Air and Space Center in Hampton, Virginia

The Yankee Clipper returned to Earth at 3:58pm EST, in the Pacific Ocean, about 
500 nautical miles east of American Samoa.  After recovery by the USS Hornet,
they were flown to Pago Pago International Airport in Tafuna for a reception,
before being flown on a C-141 cargo plane to Honolulu.

Gordon Meredith Lightfoot, Jr. 

Gordon is a Canadian born singer-songwriter who achieved international success
in folk, folk-rock, and country music. He has been credited for helping define the
folk-pop sound of the 1960s and 1970s and is referred to as Canada‘s greatest
songwriter and internationally as a folk-rock legend.

Lightfoot composed the song in 1964, supposedly inspired
by seeing off a friend at the Los Angeles airport.

Initially part of the United States Army, the United States Air Force was formed as a 
separate branch of the military on 18 September 1947 under the National Security
Act of 1947. It is the most recent branch of the U.S. military to be formed,
 

Colonel Horace A. Hanes with his F-100C, Super Saber, at Edwards 
AFB, California after setting a supersonic speed record.

U.S. Air Force pilot Colonel Hanes, flew to Mach 1.25 at an altitude of 
40,000 feet and broke the flight airspeed record at 822.135 mph at the 
National Air Show. This was the first supersonic world speed record. It 
was also the first speed record set at high altitude. All speed records
in the past were set close to the ground for measurement purposes,
  

The Mackay Trophy is awarded yearly by the U.S. Air Force
for the "most meritorious flight of the year".