The Wall › Panel 52E › Michigan › Gregory John Crossman
GREGORY JOHN CROSSMAN
Major · U.S. Air Force
August 9, 1941 – April 25, 1968
Service recordGregory John Crossman, of Sturgis, Michigan, served as a Major in the U.S. Air Force. He was lost on April 25, 1968, in North Vietnam, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 52E, Line 4 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 52E · Line 4
Names are inscribed in the order of loss, starting at Panel 1E at the apex and ending at Panel 1W. At the Memorial, find the panel number at the base and count down from the top line.
Remember
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Service
- Branch
- U.S. Air Force
- Rank
- Major (MAJ)
- Service
- Reserve / National Guard
- Occupation
- Pilot (1115R)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 497 TFS
- Born
- August 9, 1941
- Home of record
- Sturgis, Michigan (St Joseph County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- April 25, 1968
- Country
- North Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Declared Dead
- Circumstance
- Aircraft Crash — crew
- First reported
- Missing in action
- Remains
- Not recovered as of the 2008 DoD record
Context · from the records
What was happening
53 names on the Wall carry the date April 25, 1968. In April 1968, 1,580 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “497 TFS”, his unit in the record, lost 2 of its members that month.
He died in North Vietnam while Operation Rolling Thunder was under way. Operation Rolling Thunder (March 1965–November 1968) was the sustained U.S. bombing campaign against North Vietnam, flown by Air Force fighter-bombers from Thailand and Navy aircraft from carriers in the Gulf of Tonkin against some of the densest air defenses in the world.
His remains had not been recovered when the 2008 record was compiled. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency continues to search for Americans still missing from the war; families can find case information through dpaa.mil.
Read the history
On the Wall
Also on Panel 52E, Line 4
- ANDREW PHILLIP CORBINPrivate First Class · April 25, 1968
- PAUL LESLIE DENNISLance Corporal · April 25, 1968
- LINDEN DALE EILER JRCorporal · April 25, 1968
- ERVIN JAMES HOYTWarrant Officer 1 · April 25, 1968
Same unit, same day
- ALBERT COOK MITCHELLColonel · Panel 52E, Line 8
From Sturgis
- PEDRO ANDRE SMITHCorporal · February 15, 1967
- BRUCE EDWARD LARGEPrivate First Class · July 25, 1967
- IRVILLE J KNOXPrivate First Class · December 27, 1967
Source. U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Casualty Analysis System, Vietnam Conflict Extract Data File (as of April 29, 2008), Records of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Record Group 330, National Archives (NAID 2240992). Panel and line as recorded in that file. This page presents the official record and its historical context; no biography has been written for him yet. See something wrong? Report a correction.