Bancroft, William W. Jr.
Air Force 1st lieutenant

William W. Jr. Bancroft, age 25, from Indianapolis, Indiana, Marion county.

Spouse: Sally Bancroft
Children: William W. Bancroft III

Service era: Vietnam
Schools: North Central High, Purdue University

Date of death: Friday, November 13, 1970
Death details: On November 13, 1970, an RF-4C Phantom II (tail number 66-0420) carrying two crew members took off as the lead aircraft in a two-plane low-level photo reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam. The Phantom was hit by enemy anti-aircraft fire while making a run over the target, causing it to explode in mid-air and crash in the vicinity of (GC) 48Q WE 864 957. Witnesses in the other aircraft on the mission reported that no parachutes emerged from the Phantom before it went down, and there was no sign of survivors at the crash site. Search efforts could not be conducted, as the incident took place deep in hostile territory. Both members of the Phantom’s crew remain unaccounted for. First Lieutenant William Warner Bancroft Jr., who joined the U.S. Air Force from Indiana, was a member of the 14th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron. He was the navigator aboard the Phantom when it went down, and he remains unaccounted for. Today, First Lieutenant Bancroft is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Indianapolis Star (1970), Associated Press (1970)