Additional remains have been identified of Capt. Herbert C. Crosby and his Firebird Nine One crew SFC Wayne C. Allen, and SFC Francis G. Graziosi who were previously identified in 1991 and 2006. This latest identification process also produced positive identification of the remaining unidentified crew member, CW3 George A. Howes. Welcome Home Firebird Nine One crew! This is fabulous news, indeed.

The following is a summary from the official report provided to our family on December 18, 2010:
“Available evidence establishes that Cpt. Herbert C. Crosby, CW3 George A. Howes, SFC Wayne C. Allen, and SFC Francis G. Graziosi died in Quang Nam Province, South Vietnam, on 10 January 1970 when their UH-1C Iroquois helicopter crashed in bad weather. In 1988, and again in 1989, the S.R.V. repatriated commingled human remains that they alleged were those of U.S. servicemen. In 1991 some of the remains turned over by the S.R.V. in 1989 were identified as those of SFC Allen. In 1995 additional human remains were recovered from a secondary burial site in Quang Ham Dan Nag Province by U.S. personnel investigating REFNO 1547 [Firebird 91 case]. In 2006 laboratory analysis allowed for some of the 1989 and 1994 remains to be exclusively associated to CPT. Crosby, SFC Allen, and SFC Graziosi to the exclusion of other reasonable possibilities; however, the forensic technology available at the time did not allow for the 1988 remains to be identified. Laboratory analysis now allows for some of the 1988 remains to be identified as those of CW3 George A. Howes to the exclusion of other reasonable possibilities. Similarly, laboratory testing allows for some of the remains to be identified as Additional Remains of CPT Crosby, SFC Allen, and SFC Graziosi.”​

George A. [Andy] Howes, 1969, Chu-Lai, Vietnam