**
**
Name:
Eliott Crook
Rank/Branch:
E4/US Army
Unit:
Company A, 101st Aviation Battalion, 101st Airborne Division
Date
of Birth: 12 June 1948 (Sacaton AZ)
Home
City of Record: Phoenix AZ
Date
of Loss: 16 May 1971
Country
of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss
Coordinates: 161527N 1072019E (YC499987)
Status
(in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category:
3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground:
UH1H
Other
Personnel in Incident: Craig L. Farlow; Timothy J. Jacobsen; Joseph
P.Nolan
(all missing)
REMARKS:
SYNOPSIS:
On May 16, 1971, Lt. Joseph P. Nolan, pilot; W1 Craig L.Farlow, aircraft
commander; SP4 Elliott Crook, crew chief; SP4 Timothy J.
Jacobsen,door
gunner; comprised the crew of a UH1H helicopter conducting a combat assault
insertion of ARVN Marines into a landing zone (LZ) in the
vicinity
of Hue, Thua Thin Province, South Vietnam.
Lt.
Nolan's helicopter was the seventh to land on the LZ. On departing the
LZ, pilots of the fifth and sixth helicopters stated that they were taking
enemy
fire.
Lt. Nolan radioed after touchdown that he was taking heavy ground
fire,
that his crew chief was wounded. Lt. Nolan immediately took off and at
250
feet, witnesses saw his aircraft rapidly lose rotor RPM and crash into
the
tree tops, bursting into flames. No survivors were seen to exit the aircraft.
On
May 24, a search and recovery team made a ground search and found 2
partial
skulls and one partial right foot, all badly burned. It was also noted
that
there were four more possible remains that were trapped under the heavy
wreckage. The partial skulls were later determined to be Vietnamese. The
other remains were not recovered because of hostile fire.
The
name Elliott Crook appears on Panel 01W Line 26 of "THE
WALL"
The
crew of the UH1H was presumed to be dead, and their bodies were never recovered.
They are listed with honor among the nearly 2500 Americans still missing
in Southeast Asia until such time as their remains can be returned home
for an honorable burial.
Others
missing in Southeast Asia do not have such certain fates. Many
were
alive and well the last they were seen. Some described their imminent
capture
over radio to would-be rescuers. Still others were known to be captives,
but disappeared from the prison system and were not released.
Unfortunately,
mounting evidence indicates that hundreds of Americans are
still
captive, waiting for the country they proudly served to secure their
freedom.
In
our haste to leave an unpopular war, it now appears that we abandoned
some
of our best men. In our haste to heal the wounds of this same war, will
we
sign their death warrants, or will we do what is necessary to bring them
home?
Be
sure to write your letter to the President, Congressmen and
Representatives.
Let them know how concerned you are about the POW/MIA's
whom
have still not returned home. For email addresses for the elected
officials:
http://www.ojc.org/Webring/contact.htm
Information
about Operation Just Cause can be found at:
http://www.ojc.org/
"All
Biographical and loss information on POW's provided by Operation Just Cause
have been supplied by Chuck and Mary Schantag of POWNET. Please check
with http://www.asde.com/~pownet/
regularly
for updates."
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