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Born in Winchester, KY., to John H. Crone and Leila L. Morefield. He had two brothers; Norman and Carl. Married Eleanor G. Stansbury, May 10, 1921 and had three children.`
John was raised in Mt. Rainier, MD, and went to college at the age of 16. He
started in pre-law and two years later switched to Engineering. It became
apparent that his ability to study and grasp the meaning of complex subjects was
exceptional with little effort. He belonged to the ROTC at the University of MD, which led to a commission in the Army Air Corps in 1942 at the age of 21.
He was assigned to Bowling AFB in Wash. D.C., he attended the Parachute Infantry School at Ft. Benning, Georgia and took a course in engineering assault and demolition at Ft. Belvoir, VA. As Second Lieutenant Company Commander he led field exercises,
[was a] War Game Umpire, and a Division Commander where his Division won the exercise.
John went to England for the Invasion of Europe. He flew various types of aircraft there. When "D" day came, he, as 1st Lt. and Company Commander was the 1st man to jump over Normandy about six hours before the assault. He won a purple heart with an oak leaf cluster,
a Presidential Unit Citation, the Order of King Wilhelm Knight 4th class of Holland, the Order of the Lion from Belgium, the Croix de Guerre from France and Honorary Knighthood from England.
After the war, he remained on active duty in the Air Force until 1954. He attended Air Force School at Biloxi, Miss. and then USAF IT, Dayton, Ohio and set records as being the graduate with the highest grade average in the history of both schools. He was then assigned to the Air Force Special Weapons Program at Sandia Base, New Mexico, and also attended the University there and received his BS and MS degrees
in three
separate subjects. Aeronautical Engineering, Electronic Engineering and Mathematics.
Later, as a civilian John completed all academic requirements for a Doctorate in Physics at the Univ. of MD.
He married a second time in 1969 and had a son, Eric Crone
I am proud to say "This is my Daddy!"
[Sandra (Crone) Maroney] |
Grave marker for John L. Crone in Section
64, Grave 187, Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington (Arlington
county), Virginia.
The grave marker indicates his final rank of Major, U.S. Air Force.
John L. Crone registered for the draft ca. 1942 and
gave his place of residence as 3943 342nd street, Mt., Rainier (Prince
George's county), Maryland. He was then a student at the
University of Maryland and may have been temporarily exempted from the
draft. He was ultimate inducted into the Army.
1st Lt John L. Crone appeared on the 508tth Special Order
Nbr. 5, 7 September 1943 assigning him to duty: with the 2nd Bn as a
Company Umpire.
The 2nd Battalion also recorded
his duty as "assigned to this Co as of 13 Sept 1943 per SO 5 Hq 2nd Army
Umpire School, Cp Forrest, Tenn. 7 Sept 1943.
On 25 April 1944, Lt. Crone was transferred from the
Field Force Replacement Dept #8 to Hq 2nd with the principal duty
Assistant Platoon Leader. He was transferred to the 3rd Battalion the
following day.
1st Lt Crone was slightly wounded in action as of 29
June 1944 and evacuated. He was returned to the regiment on 14
July 1944 and assigned to Service Company for light duty. Two days later
he was transferred to Company G.
He returned to Hq 3rd on 29 Sept 1944.. On 8
December 1944 he was sent on detached duty to the 9th Troop Carrier
command Pathfinder School.
1st Lt Crone was transferred from Hq 3rd to Company G
as the unit commander on 9 February 1945.
He was recorded on the Officer's Directory published
on 1 July 1945 and listed as the 81mm Platoon Leader, Hq 3rd Bn.;
Tel Code: Blue; Quarters: 4 Im Burgfeld. John
died at home in Vienna, VA on 24 January 1984, stricken by colon cancer
which spread to lungs and liver. He was interred
in Arlington National Cemetery just two days later. |
