Robert McCracken served in the U.S. Air Force as a Second Lieutenant in the 3561st Student Training Squadron during the Vietnam War. A student in the USAF undergraduate pilot training program at Webb Air Force Base in Big Spring, Texas, McCracken and his instructor were killed on December 17, 1969 in a T-37 aircraft accident while practicing spin recovery. The aircraft became inverted and they were unable to eject before impacting the ground.
