CROSBY-ROBERT

ACCIDENTAL  DEATH

Robert Leroy Crosby was born on December 24, 1943, in South Hamilton, Massachusetts.  Following graduation from Cornell University and Officer Candidate School, he arrived in Vietnam in the fall of 1968 and was assigned duties as Officer-In-Charge of a “swift boat,” formally titled a Patrol Craft Fast or PCF.  Initially he was assigned to Coastal Division 11 and his PCF patrolled both the coastal waters and the river network which forms the Mekong Delta.  Toward the end of his tour, LTJG Crosby was transferred to duties as the Maintenance Officer for Coastal Division 12 at Danang in southern South Vietnam.  The maintenance functions he performed were primarily conducted from the barracks barge YFBN-2.  On September 24, 1969, LTJG Crosby was aboard PCF-13 which was undergoing repairs berthed alongside YFBN-2.  Without warning a single .50 caliber round was accidently discharged striking LTJG point-blank in the abdomen.  He was rushed to the Army’s 3^rd Field Hospital in Saigon where he died of his injuries on September 26, 1969.  His body was returned home and buried at Hamilton Cemetery in Hamilton, Massachusetts.

Submitted by CDR Roy A. Mosteller, USNR (Ret)