Marshall Reid Crow, age 86, of Decatur, GA, passed away, Monday, November 16, 2009. Born in Washington, GA, he resided most of his life in Decatur, GA. He is preceded in death by his wife Elizabeth “Libba” Dillard Crow, brother retired Lt. Col. U.S. Air Force WWII James A. Crow, father James J. Crow and mother Mary Isabelle Logan Crow. He is survived by nieces Tricia Crow Lehmann of Dunwoody, Kathy Crow Jones of Snellville, Martha Harrington Ingram of Jasper, Carol Mansfield Cornelius of Atlanta, and nephew Bobby Dillard of Raleigh NC. Mr. Crow enlisted in the military shortly after Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. He trained as an aircraft engineer and gunner and became a member of the Army 8th Air Corps, 95th Bomber Group, 412th Air Squadron, in early 1943. He was a B-17 engineer and top turret gunner, and flew 23 missions over Europe in a B-17, “Miss Flowers”, before being shot down over Germany. The entire crew survived. They were prisoners of war for the next 19 months in German Stalag 17b, which at its peak held 4000 American, plus thousands more British and Russian soldiers. The soldiers survived on two bowls of garbage soup (weevil and rotted food) a day and a hunk of bread. All the men quickly shrank to about 100 pounds. The men wintered in the remnants of the shirts, pants and shoes they were captured in. Prior to liberation of the camp, the soldiers who could still walk were forced to march (in no coats, rags, and whatever may be left of the foot gear they had when captured) for three weeks over the Alps and in the direction of the American front. The German soldiers surmised that they would be better off surrendering to the Americans, rather than the Russian troops who were closing in on the stalag. The imprisoned airmen spent the remainder of the war without shelter, under guard, in an Austrian forest. Upon their liberation shortly after VE day, Mr. Crow and his fellow soldiers were transported to France, where he awaited a ship for his return home to Georgia. He served in the Air Reserves until 1953 and on occasion flew with his brother James (also a B-17 airman during the war). Like much of his generation, Mr. Crow then pursued the American dream. He married his sweetheart, Elizabeth “Libba” Dillard, and went into business. He and James owned and ran a successful printing company for 40 years, Collegiate Press, in downtown Atlanta until his retirement in 1991. He is a beloved and respected resident of the Emory/Decatur community and an active member of First Baptist Church of Decatur and Dixie Wing-a branch of the Commemorative Air Force. He continued to stay in touch with members of his crew and Stalag 17b. This heroic man, Marshall Reid Crow, is now on his 24th and most important mission, this time with God as his pilot, to join his beloved wife and family. Graveside services will be held at 1 P.M. Saturday, November 21st at Decatur City Cemetery. The family will receive friends and family on Friday, November 20th, from 5 P.M. until 7 P.M. at A.S Turner & Sons, Decatur GA., 404-292-1551. In lieu of flowers the family would like to have donations made out to the USO on Mr. Crow’s behalf: Jean R. Amos USO Center, attn: MaryLou Austin, Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, #320, Terminal Atrium, Atlanta, Georgia, 30320, Phone: (404) 530-6770. A. S. Turner & Sons
