Marine Captain Doster, 26, was flying a training sortie with Maj. Woody F. Gilliland, who was in his own Harrier. Gilliland's plane lost power because of a mechanical problem and he ejected successfully, parachuting into a cotton field near
Bennetsville, S.C. Soon afterward, Doster's Harrier crashed into trees. The cause could not be determined, but officials assume he lost control while trying to locate Gilliland for rescuers.

A bright, gregarious and athletic Marine
with a compact 5-foot-7 frame, Doster
came from a remarkable military family.

His father, Col. Grover Cleveland Doster,
was a Marine aviator who flew in World
War II, Korea and Vietnam, then served as
a White House naval aide during the
Kennedy and Johnson administrations.
 

Cleve Doster held a bachelor's degree in
engineering from Georgia Tech and a
master's in aeronautical engineering from
the University of West Florida. He dreamed
of being an astronaut. He had been
married for three years.
 

"He had always wanted to fly and his idea
of flight was real fast flight," said his
younger brother, David Doster.