Warner Winston Croxton Jr. was born on April 21, 1917, in Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama. He was the son of Warner Winston Croxton and Elizabeth Dearborn Croxton. He attended Central High School, where he served as a cadet for two years and achieved the rank of sergeant, graduating in 1935. Following this, he studied at Millard Preparatory School before entering the U.S. Military Academy on July 1, 1935, having been appointed by Representative A.J. Montague of Virginia’s Third District. He entered the academy at 18 years old with no prior college education and went on to graduate in 1939.

Following graduation, Croxton pursued aviation at Randolph and Kelly Fields, completing Primary and Advanced Flying Schools and earning his wings as an Army Air Corps pilot. He was first assigned to the 19th Bombardment Group in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and in May 1941 took part in the first mass B-17 flight to Hawaii. His unit later deployed to the Philippines, where they endured the Japanese bombing of Clark Field on December 7, 1941. Ordered to Bataan on Christmas Eve, Croxton was later among those evacuated from Corregidor to Java aboard the Sea Wolf. After being driven out of Java in early 1942, the group regrouped in Melbourne, Australia, to begin the Allied counteroffensive.

During the war, Croxton advanced rapidly through the ranks—First Lieutenant (Sept 9, 1940), Captain (May 18, 1942), Major (Nov 10, 1942), and Lieutenant Colonel (Aug 26, 1943)—and earned the Air Medal, Distinguished Flying Cross, and Distinguished Service Medal. Serving with the Fifth Air Force, he was instrumental in improving communications systems and developing an aircraft warning network in the Southwest Pacific.

In August 1943, Croxton was assigned to the Advanced Echelon (ADVON) of the Fifth Air Force in New Guinea, responsible for coordinating air operations preceding Allied land invasions. On March 8, 1944, he was killed in an aircraft accident in New Guinea. Initially buried at Finschhafen Cemetery No. 2, his remains were later reinterred at Arlington National Cemetery.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, alumni.westpointaog.org