Saint Joseph Michigan

Gregory John Crossman, age 26, from Sturgis, Michigan, Saint Joseph county.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: April 25, 1968

Parent: Aileen Crossman

Schools: Sturgis High graduate, Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo
Death details: On April 25, 1968, an F-4D Phantom II (tail number 66-8736) with two crew members took off as the number two aircraft in a two-plane night armed reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam. While proceeding to targets in the Xuan Son Ferry area, the aircraft commander aboard the Phantom radioed to the flight leader on the mission that he would attack a truck convoy that he had spotted south of the Song Troc River. The flight leader then lost sight of the Phantom, and did not see the aircraft again. A short time later, witnesses aboard the other aircraft saw a fireball near the Phantom’s intended position in the vicinity of (GC) 48Q XE 371 435. The Phantom’s crew could not be contacted by radio, and no parachutes were seen in the area. Search efforts could not be conducted due to strong enemy presence, and both crew members remain unaccounted for.

First Lieutenant Gregory John Crossman, who joined the U.S. Air Force from Michigan, was a member of the 497th Tactical Fighter Squadron. He was the pilot systems officer aboard the Phantom when it went missing on April 25, 1968, and he was lost with the aircraft and his remains have not been recovered. After the incident, the Air Force promoted 1st Lt Crossman to the rank of Major (Maj). Today, Major Crossman is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, South Bend Tribune (1993)