JACK LEE CROXDALE II
.
.
SP4 - Army - Regular
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
173rd Airborne Brigade
Unit: C Company, 503rd Infantry,
173rd Infantry Brigade
18 year old Single, Caucasian,
Male
Born on Nov 20, 1948
(San Bernardino CA)
Home City of Record: Lake Charles
LA
Length of service 1 year
His tour of duty began on Nov
19, 1967
Casualty was on Nov 19, 1967
in KONTUM, SOUTH VIETNAM
HOSTILE, GROUND CASUALTY
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Loss Coordinates: 143500N 1073547E
(YB797137)
MISADVENTURE
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body
Not Recovered
Refno: 0921
Religion
BAPTIST
Panel 30E - - Line 23
Other Personnel In Incident:
Benjamin D. DeHerrera; Donald Iandoli (both
missing)
Category: 4
Source:Compiled
by Homecoming II Project 15 October 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
1998.
REMARKS:REMS
TAG'D - NOT IN MORTY
SYNOPSIS:
On November 19, 1967, SP4 Croxdale, radio operator, PFC Benjamin
D. DeHerrera, squad leader and
Sgt. Donald Iandoli, squad leader were
members of Company C, 503rd
Infantry on a Search and Destroy mission in
South Vietnam.
At 1435 hours, Companies A, C
and D, all part of the 503rd Infantry, were in
heavy contact with an unknown
sized North Vietnamese force and were
surrounded. During the operation,
Sgt. Iandoli was wounded and was seen in
the Company C command post area,
along with SP4 Croxdale and PFC DeHerrera.
At 1850 hours, a U.S. Marine
bomber dropped a 500 pound bomb which hit the
command post area in error,
resulting in additional casualties. No remains
were recovered that day because
of intense enemy activity.
The following day, a search of
the area was conducted. The remains of
Croxdale, DeHerrera and Iandoli
were identified and tagged. However, only
the remains of DeHerrera and
Croxdale were reported to have been placed on a
helicopter en route to Dak To.
Following the attack, a 3-day search of the
battle area was conducted without
success in locating Iandoli. However, as
of January 4, 1968, the U.S.
Army Mortuary at Than San Ut, South Vietnam,
had not processed or identified
any remains of DeHerrera, Croxdale or
Iandoli, and the location of
those remains is unknown.
Croxdale, DeHerrera and Iandoli
died the day their command post received
fire and are listed among the
dead. They are also listed among the missing
because no remains have been
returned to their families for burial. The
cases of many of the other nearly
2500 missing are not so clear. Many were
known to have been alive at
the time they disappeared. Some were
photographed in captivity.
Experts now believe hundreds
of Americans are held captive in Indochina.
While the members of Company
C may not be among them, one can imagine their
proudly defending one more firebase
for their comrades safe return.
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to Jon-An's MIA's