The Wall › Panel 65E › North Carolina › John Hunter Crews III
JOHN HUNTER CREWS III
Captain · U.S. Air Force
December 31, 1941 – May 22, 1968
Service recordJohn Hunter Crews III, of Asheville, North Carolina, served as a Captain in the U.S. Air Force. He was lost on May 22, 1968, in North Vietnam, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 65E, Line 7 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 65E · Line 7
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
- Captain (CAPT)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Pilot (1115F)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 433 TFS
- Born
- December 31, 1941
- Home of record
- Asheville, North Carolina (Buncombe County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- May 22, 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
73 names on the Wall carry the date May 22, 1968. In May 1968, 2,418 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “433 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 65E, Line 7
- ROBERT LOUIS CREWSSergeant · May 22, 1968
- JOSEPH VERBERT CZAJKOWSKICorporal · May 22, 1968
- CARLOS A M DELA HOZPrivate First Class · May 22, 1968
- ALEJANDRO DIAZPrivate First Class · May 22, 1968
Same unit, same day
- DEAN PAUL STPIERRECaptain · Panel 66E, Line 3
From Asheville
- DON JOSEPH YORKCaptain · July 14, 1962
- CARL EDWARD MCBEELance Corporal · June 6, 1965
- ULYSSES ALFORDStaff Sergeant · July 9, 1966
- JAMES E PAYTONSergeant · January 8, 1967
- JOHNNY LEE BRUTONPrivate First Class · January 12, 1967
- EVERETTE EUGENE HARDINGPrivate First Class · March 21, 1967
- WILLIAM WINIFRED YOUNG JRPrivate First Class · June 15, 1967
- FLOYD HOLIFIELD JRFirst Lieutenant · July 7, 1967
- WILLIAM T EDGERTON JRSergeant · October 12, 1967
- MAURICE STEPHEN ELLISSpecialist Four · October 17, 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.