Ret Msgt Douglas Roy Crawford, October 04, 1929 — December 19, 2018

Obituary for Ret. Msgt Douglas Roy Crawford On the morning of December 19, 2018, Douglas Roy Crawford, arose a new man and fly one last mission… “Up and up, he slipped the surly bonds of earth, straight on through to the Kingdom of Heaven and put out his hand and touched the face of God”. He was born to Lena (Brown) and Roy Crawford on Oct.

04, 1929 in Harrellsville, North Carolina. Douglas graduated from Harrellsville High School and enlisted in the US Army/Air Force Corp. Douglas entered the military at the end of WWII and was sent to Japan and was trained on a bulldozer to clean up radioactive materials from Hiroshima.

After, that he was sent to the Philippians as a Rifleman for 2 years and then onto Korea to work as a forward air controller. When the war started in Vietnam, he has already earned flight status and was a radar tracker. He would go out on dangerous missions to take photos of the land and relay them back to Washington.

On one mission, his plane was shot down over the jungle of Cambodia. Fearing being captive, the crew and him, destroyed the plane and was later rescued by an Air American plane that happened to be flying over and saw the crash. Douglas was a highly decorated solider.

He retired from the Air Force in 1968 after 23 years of honorable service and earned the rank of Master Sergeant. In 2004, Douglas gave an interview about his time in the military to be added to the book, National Museum of Pacific Wars and the University of North Texas, Oral Collections. In his pastime, he was a numismatic along with repairing and collecting clocks.

He also enjoyed Bar Be Que for his family and friends. He married the love of his life Solveig Vestal over forty years ago in Sacramento. They made California home until retiring to Kerrville in 1996.

He was a member of Zion Lutheran Church and served on many church boards over the years. Douglas is survived by his loving wife, Solveig Crawford of Kerrville; son, Douglas Roy Crawford II of Coos Bay, OR; step daughter, Solveig Vestal Frazier of Kerrville and three grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents; his daughter, Judy Crawford (1992) and his step son, Mark Vestal (2017).

Douglas was a great man, warrior, American, husband and father and will be greatly missed by all. In Lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to Zion Lutheran Church, Kerrville or charity of your choice. To send flowers or a memorial gift to the family of Ret.

Msgt Douglas Roy Crawford please visit our Sympathy Store.

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