CW3 Crossan was born in Beckley, West Virginia on 25 June, 1945. He loved flying, starting with getting his student pilot's license and making his first solo flight in 1962. He enlisted in the Army in 1970 and was assigned to Fort Rucker, Alabama for rotary wing pilot training, qualifying him as a CH-47 Chinook pilot.
Assigned to Vietnam, he flew many missions including resupplying mountain-top fire bases, where he took “some hits,” but always brought his CH-47 and crew safely back to the base. Electing to stay in the Army after returning from Vietnam, he served at Fort Carson, Colorado and then did a two-year tour in Germany.
Upon his return from Europe, he was assigned to Fort Campbell, Kentucky and became one of the earliest Night Stalkers, serving in Alpha Company, 159th Aviation Battalion.
The accident that claimed his life on a CH-47 Chinook, #845, occurred on 10 March, 1983 on South Fox Island, Michigan at the northern tip of Lake Michigan, where they were planning and developing new doctrine, tactics, and techniques that have made this unit what it is today.
He was married to Gillian Major and had two children, Thomas and Kathryn.
Back to Memorial Wall
