Crews, John Hunter III
Air Force Captain

John Hunter Crews III from Asheville, North Carolina, Buncombe county.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: Wednesday, May 22, 1968

Death details:

On May 22, 1968, an F-4D Phantom II (tail number 66-0246, call sign Dipper 02) with two crew members took off as one of two aircraft on a nighttime armed reconnaissance mission over enemy targets in North Vietnam. Immediately after the other aircraft on the mission passed over the target area, its crew heard this F-4D’s crew radio to say they were taking heavy enemy anti-aircraft fire. The other aircraft then saw a large fireball on the ground near the target and circled the area for several minutes, but could not locate this F-4D or any sign of its crew. Another flight relieved the lead aircraft and began a search but was similarly unsuccessful due to the darkness. Attempts to locate and investigate the crash site were precluded by enemy presence in the area, and further attempts to locate the F-4D’s crew members were unsuccessful.

First Lieutenant John Hunter Crews III entered the U.S. Air Force from North Carolina and served in the 433th Tactical Fighter Squadron. He was the aircraft commander aboard the F-4D when it was lost, and his remains were not recovered following the incident. Subsequent to the incident, and while held in a missing in action status, the U.S. Air Force promoted First Lieutentant Crews to the rank of Captain.  Today, Captain Crews is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency