Colonel Frederick A. Crow Jr., USAF Ret.

1926 - 2020

"Slipping the surly bonds of earth", Col. Frederick A. Crow, Jr., 94, passed away peacefully, with his eldest son and daughter-in-law at his side, on June 16, 2020 at Baywoods of Annapolis. Fred was a highly decorated USAF fighter pilot who endured six years of brutal captivity as a Vietnam MIA/POW. To his surviving children and grandchildren, "Pawpaw" was a true American hero who will be remembered for his devotion to his beloved wife Mary of 65 years, his gallant and valorous service to his country, his gifted storytelling, and his fun-loving and often mischievous good nature. Fred was born into a Navy family in Gloucester, Massachusetts on February 3, 1926 to Dorothy and Frederick A. Crow, Sr. Along with his younger sister Marylyn, they moved around the country to his father's various duty stations which included two years living in the lighthouse keeper's house on Dungeness Spit in Washington and in Honolulu from 1936 to 1942, where he witnessed the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor at age 15. Fred quit high school and enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve in December 1943, entered the Aviation Cadet Program of the U.S. Army Air Forces in February 1944, and was discharged at the war's end in October 1945. He finished high school in Beverly MA and took advantage of the GI Bill to matriculate at Cornell University in 1947. His years at Cornell included membership in the Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity, ROTC, and a summer working in a vineyard in France. He graduated in 1951 with a BA in English, rejoined the U.S. Air Force for pilot training as a newly commissioned 2nd Lt, and was awarded his pilot wings in June 1952. Fred met Mary Morrison, an auburn-haired Tufts graduate and teacher from Medford MA, while on a date with his then fiancé at the Stork Club in Manhattan in the fall of 1952. He had the opportunity for one dance with Mary and, in his words, was "struck by the thunderbolt". After a whirlwind romance they were married in Boston in December 1952. Fred's early career as a fighter pilot encompassed assignments flying the F-86 Sabre, F-100 Super Sabre, and F-4 Phantom, and a two-year stint with the 82nd Airborne as a forward air controller. He and Mary travelled the world as they made their home in numerous locations including Bitburg, Germany and ten different postings across the US. Along the way they were blessed with four children, Cathy, Rick, Jeff, and Pat. With Fred often deployed for long periods of time and in perilous situations such as the Berlin Crisis, Cuban Missile Crisis, and Vietnam War, Mary steadfastly raised her family of four, often by herself. On Easter Sunday 1967, Fred was leading a flight of F-4 Phantoms on a strike in North Vietnam against a target area under withering fire from hostile air defenses and enemy aircraft. He was hit by a surface-to-air missile, forced to eject, captured and held as a Prisoner of War for six years, three of those years in solitary confinement. During his captivity in the "Hanoi Hilton" Fred was subjected to mental and physical cruelties by his captors to obtain information, confessions, and propaganda and "resisted these demands by calling upon his deepest inner strengths in a manner which reflected his devotion to duty and great credit upon himself and the United States Air Force." Fred's decorations include two Silver Stars for gallantry in action, a Legion of Merit for his resistance to the enemy, two Purple Hearts for injuries received, two Distinguished Flying Crosses, two Bronze Stars, and 22 Air Medals. At the time of his retirement Fred was the most highly decorated officer on active duty in the Air Force. Fred returned home as part of "Operation Homecoming" and was reunited with his family on March 7, 1973. After briefly being hospitalized at Andrews to recover from his injuries, Fred returned to active service. He was the President of his class at the National War College in Washington, D.C. and then was assigned as the Vice Wing Commander of the 35th Tactical Fighter Wing at George AFB, California. His final assignment was at Langley AFB in Hampton Virginia, where he retired from the Air Force on October 1, 1981. Fred and Mary resided in Hampton for twenty-three years, and then Williamsburg VA for ten years before moving to Baywoods in Annapolis, Maryland in 2013. In retirement Fred was a realtor, docent at the Virginia Air & Space Museum, annual United Way Campaign committee member, and weekly attendee at pancake house breakfasts with his buddies. He enjoyed R&B music, fat cocktail onions in his gin, and his dune-top perch at Nags Head NC. Most of all Fred loved life, his country, the USAF, and his family, always providing them a shining example of integrity, humor, selfless humility, and boundless love. Surviving members of his family include his three sons, Frederick A. Crow, III (Charlotte) of Davidsonville, MD, Jeffrey F. Crow (Joan) of Moseley, VA, and LTC (Ret.) C. Patrick Crow (Madrienne) of Palm City, FL, seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. His was predeceased by his wife Mary in 2017 and his cherished daughter, Cathryn C. Gilmore, in 2011. The family extends sincere gratitude to the nurses, caregivers, and staff at the Assisted Living and Health Care Center at Baywoods of Annapolis who provided loving care to both Fred and Mary over the last several years. Memorial Services with Full Military Honors are pending at Arlington National Cemetery. 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