Bio, Crosby, Richard A.

Name: Richard Alexander Crosby
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: 48th Assault Helicopter Co. 268th Combat Aviation Btn., 17th Group
Date of Birth: 05 September 1941
Home City of Record: Spokane WA
Date of Loss: 02 December 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 125807N 1092417E
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1D
Refno: 9333

Other Personnel In Incident: Wallace W. Leeper; Manuel J. Moreida; Floyd W.
Strange (all missing)

Source: Compiled 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 in 2020.

SYNOPSIS: On December 2, 1967, WO Wallace Leeper, aircraft commander; WO
Floyd W. Strange, co-pilot; SP4 Manuel J. Moreida, crewchief; and SP4
Richard A. Crosby, door gunner, were crewmembers aboard a UH1D helicopter
(serial #6600811). The helicopter departed Phu Hiep airfield, Phu Kanh
(formerly Phu Yen) Province, Vietnam, in marginal weather, to return Captain
Woo Shik Pak, a Korean, to his unit which was located about 25 miles south
along the coast.

When the aircraft did not return to Phu Hiep at the scheduled time, a
communications and ramp check was initiated without success. Further
unsuccessful search and rescue efforts were conducted along the coastal and
mountain area from December 3-9. The aircraft was last seen as it departed
Phu Hiep airfield and headed in a southeasterly direction along the coast.
Subsequent information indicates that the aircraft crashed and burned in the
mountains north of Vung Ro Bay.

On September 3, 1973, a source reported that 3 local villagers of Hoa Xuan
village reported that they discovered a U.S. helicopter with 2 or 3 remains
in uniform at the crash site. Other reports were received that possibly
correlated with this incident, but were resolved to other cases.

No one knows for sure what happened to the crew of the UH1D that was lost on
December 2, 1967. All but Strange are classified in categories that would
indicate that the enemy probably does not know what happened to them.
Strange, however, is in a category of strong suspicion that his fate is
known by the enemy. While the Army currently carries them dead, body not
recovered, their status in 1973 was Missing In Action. Because of these
unusual discrepancies, it can be assumed that the whole story is not known.

With mounting evidence accumulating that indicates hundreds of Americans are
still alive in Southeast Asia, one must wonder if Richard Crosby is one of
them. And if so, what must he be thinking of us?

I feel it is appropriate to update the Vietnam Veterans of America, Inc
about the MIA-POW file referenced as number 0933. The remains of the crew
of UH-1D 66-00811 assigned to the 48th Assault Helicopter Company will be
buried at Arlington National Cemetery on October 24, 2002.

WO Wallace Leeper, WO Floyd W. Strange, Specialist Manuel J. Moreida, and
Specialist Richard A. Crosby departed Phu Hiep on December 2, 1967 to return
a Korean Captain Woo Shik Pak to his unit nearby. The aircraft did not
return. Search and rescue efforts conducted along the coastal and mountain
area from December 3-9 were unsuccessful. The missing aircraft and remains
of the crew were finally found in 1993.

The scheduled events include a family visitation on the evening of October
23, 2002 from 7-9 pm at Murphy's Funeral Home. A joint service with full
military honors begins at 11 o'clock am October 24, at Old Chapel. Family
and friends will afterward walk behind the caisson(s) to the burial site.
At the burial site there will be a final service with a volleyed rifle
salute, the playing of Taps, folding of flags and a presentation of the
flags to the families. A representative will attend on behalf of the
Secretary of Defense and a mournful nation. A reception follows the
ceremony, at Spates Hall.

SSG RICHARD ALEXANDER CROSBY

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Conflict
Service
Status
Date of Accounting

VIETNAM WAR
UNITED STATES ARMY
Accounted For
12/07/2001

On December 7, 2001, Joint Task Force–Full Accounting (JTF-FA, now DPAA) identified the remains of Staff Sergeant Richard Alexander Crosby, missing from the Vietnam War.

Staff Sergeant Crosby entered the U.S. Army from Washington and served with the 48th Assault Helicopter Company, 268th Combat Aviation Battalion, 17th Aviation Group. On December 2, 1967, he was the door gunner aboard a UH-1D Iroquois (tail number 66-00811) that took off from Phu Hiep Airfield, Phu Khanh Province, South Vietnam, on a personnel transport mission to Phu Yen Province. During the flight, the aircraft crashed for unknown reasons in the mountains north of Vung Ro Bay, killing SSG Crosby. Air and ground search operations did not locate the crash site, and SSG Crosby's remains could not be recovered at the time. In 1993, a joint search team investigated the crash site and recovered remains there, and the Vietnamese government repatriated additional remains that they associated with this incident. In 2001, U.S. analysts were able to identify SSG Crosby from these remains.

Staff Sergeant Crosby is memorialized in the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

If you are a family member of this serviceman, you may contact your casualty office representative to learn more about your service member.

SSG RICHARD ALEXANDER CROSBY

Unit
Historical Country of Loss
South Vietnam
Current Country of Loss
VIETNAM
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