Cropper, Curtis Henry
Navy Lieutenant
Curtis Henry Cropper, age 26, from Paso Robles, California, San Luis Obispo county.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Sunday, April 5, 1970
Death details: On April 5, 1970, an F-4B Phantom II (bureau number 152325, call sign “Switchbox 103”) carrying two crew members took off from the USS Coral Sea (CVA 43) in the Gulf of Tonkin for a combat mission. During its return to the carrier, “Switchbox 103” experienced two nearly simultaneous explosions of unknown cause. Both crew members ejected, but during his descent, the pilot observed the other crew member not moving in his parachute. The two men entered the water approximately one mile apart in the vicinity of (GC) 48Q ZF 156 091. The pilot survived the incident and was recovered, but searches failed to locate the other crew member.
Lieutenant Curtis Henry Cropper entered the U.S. Navy from California and was a member of Fighter Squadron 151 embarked aboard the Coral Sea. He was the copilot aboard this Phantom, and was the crew member who could not be located following the incident. Further efforts to locate his remains were unsuccessful.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
