Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Date of Birth: 05 October 1945
Home City of Record: Ft. Lauderdale FL
Date of Loss: 16 May 1968
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 173300N 1061800E (XE361472)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Refno: 1177
Other Personnel in Incident: Gerald J. Crosson
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project with the
assistance of one or more of the following: raw
data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published
sources, interviews: 01 January 1990. Updated by
the P.O.W. NETWORK 1998.
REMARKS: NO CHUTES OR BEEPERS WITNESSED
SYNOPSIS: The Phantom, used by Air Force, Marine
and Navy air wings, served a multitude of functions
including fighter-bomber and interceptor, photo
and electronic surveillance. The two man aircraft
was extremely fast (Mach 2), and had a long range
(900 - 2300 miles, depending on stores and
mission type). The F4 was also extremely
maneuverable and handled well at low and high
altitudes. The F4 was selected for a number of
state-of-the-art electronics conversions, which
improved radar intercept and computer bombing
capabilities enormously. Most pilots considered
it one of the "hottest" planes around.
Capt. David J. Rickel, pilot, and Lt. Gerald J.
Crosson, Jr., navigator/bombardier, were assigned
an F4D mission over North Vietnam on May 16, 1968.
Rickel was four years out of the Air Force Academy
where he had been named to the Superintendent's
List all eight semesters he attended the Academy.
He had a promising career ahead.
At a point about 20 miles southwest of the city
of Quang Khe, Quang Binh Province, North Vietnam,
Rickel and Crosson were shot down. Other air crew
in the area did not see parachutes indicating that
the two had ejected from their aircraft, nor did
they hear emergency beeper signals. Searches were
eventually cancelled and both men were classified
Missing in Action.
The Rickel and Crosson knew that there was a good
chance their men had been captured because of
circumstances surrounding the loss and the loss
location, and settled in to wait for the war to
end, hoping for some word to come.
When 591 American POWs were released from Southeast
Asia in the spring of 1973, Rickel and Crosson
were not among them. No returning POW reported
being held with them, and their names appeared on
no lists provided by the Vietnamese. The
Vietnamese denied any knowledge of them.
It was generally believed that the Americans who
remained missing were dead, including Rickel and
Crosson.
When Saigon fell to communist rule in 1975, tens
of thousands of refugees began fleeing Vietnam,
bringing with them stories of Americans still held
in captivity in Vietnam. By 1990 the number of
such reports had reached nearly 10,000. Many
authorities now believe that there are hundreds
of Americans still in captivity, waiting for their
country to free them.
Whether Rickel and Crosson survived the crash of
their aircraft to be captured is not known. What
seems certain, however, is that someone knows what
happened to them. They are prisoners of war,
living or dead, until they are found and returned
home.
David J. Rickel graduated from the United States
Air Force Academy in 1964.
