FITTON, CROSLEY JAMES JR.
Remains Returned 21 December 1975

Name: Crosley James Fitton, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 28 February 1933
Home City of Record: Hartford CT (family in Salina KS)
Date of Loss: 29 February 1969
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 205500N 1054600E (WJ797129)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F105F
Refno: 1066

Other Personnel in Incident: Cleveland S. Harris (remains returned)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 April 1991 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 1998.

REMARKS: 751221 SRV RET REMS

SYNOPSIS: The F105 Thunderchief (or "Thud") performed yoeman service on many
diversified missions in Southeast Asia. F105s flew more combat missions over
North Vietnam than any other USAF aircraft and consequently suffered the
heaviest losses in action.

Maj. Crosley J. Fitton, Jr. was the pilot and Capt. Cleveland S. Harris was
the co-pilot of an F105F which was one in a flight of four F105s sent on a
combat mission on the outskirts of Hanoi on February 29, 1969.

During the mission, the aircraft was hit by a surface-to-air missile (SAM).
Others in the flight observed both Fitton and Harris bail out with good
parachutes. The flight leader tracked both on radar and picked up both
emergency radio beeper signals. The beepers, which must be manually shut
off, stopped shortly after the crewmen landed on the ground.

Although Fitton and Harris landed safely on the ground, it was not certain
what happened to them after that. Both were declared Missing in Action.
Their families resigned themselves to the long wait.

In the spring of 1973, 591 American POWs were released by the Vietnamese,
but Harris and Fitton were not among them. Military officials expressed
their dismay at the time that hundreds of men known or suspected to be
prisoners were not released.

In 1975, the Vietnamese discovered and returned the remains of Crosley J.
Fitton. It was another ten years before Harris was to return. His remains
were turned over to U.S. control in April of 1985.

Nearly 2500 Americans did not return from the war in Vietnam. Thousands of
reports have been received indicating that some hundreds remain alive in
captivity. As in the case of Fitton and Harris, Vietnam and her communist
allies can account for most of them. Current "negotiations" between the U.S.
and Vietnam have yielded the remains of nearly 300 Americans. The families
of these men at last have the peace of knowing whether their loved one is
alive or dead.

In the total view of the issue of the missing, however, the return of
remains signals no progress. In the early 1980's the very credible
Congressional testimony of a Vietnamese mortician indicated that the
Vietnamese are in possession of over 400 sets of remains. In 15 years, they
have returned barely half of them. More importantly, the same credible
witness, whose testimony is believed throughout Congress, stated that he had
seen live Americans held at the same location where the remains were stored.

As long as even one American remains alive in captivity in Solutheast Asia,
the only issue is that one living man. We must bring them home before there
are only remains to negotiate for.

---

Use your Browser's BACK function to return to the PREVIOUS page

---