FREDERICK PETER CROSBY
Date of Birth: 15 June 1933
Home City of Record: Orlando FL
Date of Loss: 01 June 1965
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 195759N 1054957E (WH871078)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Aircraft/Veicle/Ground: RF8A
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15
April 1990 from one or more of the following: raw
data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published
sources, interviews. Updated by the P.O.W.
NETWORK.
REMARKS: GFIRE CRASH - EXPLODE - J
SYNOPSIS: The Vought F8 "Crusader" saw action
early in U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia. Its
fighter models participated both in the first
Gulf of Tonkin reprisal in August 1964 and in the
myriad attacks against North Vietnam during
Operation Rolling Thunder. The Crusader was used
exclusively by the Navy and Marine air wings
(although there is one U.S. Air Force pilot
reported shot down on an F8) and represented half
or more of the carrier fighters in the Gulf of
Tonkin during the first four years of the war.
The aircraft was credited with nearly 53% of MiG
kills in Vietnam.
The most frequently used fighter versions of the
Crusader in Vietnam were the C,D, and E models
although the H and J were also used. The Charlie
carried only Sidewinders on fuselage racks, and
were assigned such missions as CAP (Combat Air
Patrol), flying at higher altitudes. The Echo
model had a heavier reinforced wing able to carry
extra Sidewinders or bombs, and were used to
attack ground targets, giving it increased
vulnerability. The Echo version launched with
less fuel, to accommodate the larger bomb store,
and frequently arrived back at ship low on fuel.
The RF-A models were equipped for photo
reconnaissance. The RF-G were also photographic
versions, but with additional cameras and
navigational equipment.
The combat attrition rate of the Crusader was
comparable to similar fighters. Between 1964 to
1972, eighty-three Crusaders were either lost or
destroyed by enemy fire. Another 109 required
major rebuilding. 145 Crusader pilots were
recovered; 57 were not. Twenty of these pilots
were captured and released. The other 43 remained
missing at the end of the war. In addition, there
were 16 pilots who went down on photographic
versions of the aircraft. Of these 16, seven were
captured (six were released, one died in
captivity).
Lt.Cdr. Frederick P. Crosby was the pilot of an
RF8A on a combat mission in Thanh Hoa Province,
North Vietnam on June 1, 1965. As he was about 5
miles northeast of the city of Thanh Hoa, his
aircraft was hit by enemy fire, crashed and
exploded. It was felt that there was little or no
hope that he survived, and Crosby was declared
Killed/Body Not Recovered. Located near the city
of Thanh Hoa was the famed "Dragon Jaw" bridge
which was the object of many vain bombing attempts
in 1965 and 1966.
Crosby is listed among the missing because his
remains were never located to return home. He is
among over 2300 still prisoner, missing, or
otherwise unaccounted for from the Vietnam War.
Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports relating
to Americans missing, prisoner or unaccounted for
in Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S.
Government. Many authorities who have examined
this largely classified information are convinced
that hundreds of Americans are still held captive
today. Fighter pilots in Vietnam were called upon
to fly in many dangerous circumstances, and were
prepared to be wounded, killed, or captured. It
probably never occurred to them that some of them
could be abandoned by the country they proudly
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