Former JCS chairman Crowe dies at 82

[GreatAmerican]

<p><a href=“http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/18/AR2007101801320.html?hpid=topnews[/url]”>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/18/AR2007101801320.html?hpid=topnews&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>

William J. Crowe Jr., 82, the Navy admiral who held the nation’s top military job as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff as the Cold War neared its end and who in retirement publicly criticized military and presidential decisions, died of cardiac arrest Oct. 18 at Bethesda Naval Medical Center. </p>

<p>Adm. Crowe, a nonconformist whose background combined political skills with military experience, led American troops through crises ranging from the 1986 air raid on Libya to the showdown with Iran over control of the Persian Gulf. He also shortened the military chain of command, broke down inter-service rivalries and developed an unprecedented relationship with the head of the Soviet military that helped prevent military confrontations between the two superpowers. </p>

<p>Adm. Crowe also quickly defused a brink-of-war situation with an immediate apology in 1988 after a U.S. warship in the Persian Gulf mistook a civilian jetliner for an Iranian F14 attack fighter and blew it out of the sky, killing 290 civilians. …

</p>