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| Belated MoH for "We Were Soldiers" Helicopter Pilot |
| 2007-02-21 |
| It is the nation's highest military honor-- the Medal of Honor. On Monday, Bruce Crandall will receive it during a White House Ceremony for his role in the first big battle in the Vietnam War. "I don't think you can tell what a thrill that is or how important it is, in words. Other soldiers will know," says Crandall. "I'm very proud of him," says his wife Arlene. You won't find many heroes who admit they are. "Are you a hero?" I asked him in his Manchester [WA] home. "No.... No. The simple answer is no," says the 74-year-old Vietnam veteran. A major in the Army, the helicopter pilot and mission commander survived enemy fire, rescued dozens of soldiers in the battle of Ia Drang in November of 1965. "Like on the 5th lift, I had 3 dead and 3 wounded on my aircraft when I got back to the pick up point. And my crew chief had been shot through the throat, and the radio operator was killed in his seat," Crandall says. Crandall had faith he would survive. "I don't even consider dying. I've already lived 18 years longer than anyone in my family," says Crandall. He's lived long enough to have a famous actor play him. Greg Kinnear portrays him in the 2002 movie "We Were Soldiers". "It was wonderful except I was better looking at that age," Crandall says as he laughs. Crandall was a consultant on the film that starred Mel Gibson. Bruce Crandall and his wife Arlene fly out to Washington, D.C. Friday. He'll receive the Medal of Honor Monday, 42 years after the Battle of Ia Drang. |
| Posted by:Dar |
| #10 There's a great slideshow (30+ images) from Crandall's life and career at the profile above as well, from his wedding and days as a lieutenant to Feb. 5 of this year (with fellow MoH recipient Ed Freeman). Hover the mouse pointer over the pictures to get captions. |
| Posted by: Dar 2007-02-21 19:32 |
| #9 Profile of LTC (Ret.) Crandall at Army's MoH gallery here. |
| Posted by: Dar 2007-02-21 19:24 |
| #8 The soldier pictured on the Ia Drang battlefield on the cover of the first edition of We Were Soldiers Once....and Young is none other than Lt. (later Colonel) Rick Rescorla, who lost his life while leading evacuation efforts at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. |
| Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy 2007-02-21 17:11 |
| #7 I read the book after seeing the movie. What's interesting that after that battle, there was another one the next day about a half mile away that was just as bloody. |
| Posted by: Texhooey 2007-02-21 16:12 |
| #6 One thing about the movie: choice of the landing site wasn't haphazard as portrayed; in reality, use of high ground advantage was planned as means to inhibit flanking. VC/NVA had to re-think use of the human-wave envelopment tactic, after their defeat. Joe Galloway writes on the Medal of Honor award: http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/news/special_packages/galloway/16715229.htm |
| Posted by: Sneaze 2007-02-21 15:11 |
| #5 Great movie. The dude flew a full (hard-core!) day, went home and blew chunks. Yup. Realistic. |
| Posted by: mojo 2007-02-21 14:34 |
| #4 For me, the best song in the movie was "Sgt. McKenzie", a lament, played during the climatic battle scene, which illustrated the tragedy and glory of war at the same time. A music video of this piece is here. I read the book "We Were Soldiers" before the movie came out & thus didn't want to see it. Then I learned a cousin of mine was in the 1st Air Cav when he was shot down & KIA in 1970. I saw the movie & visited the Wall shortly after that. I met a lot of chopper crew vets there. Chivalry lives! |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2007-02-21 14:34 |
| #3 Outstanding song: "in the houses of the lord" at the end of the movie. |
| Posted by: JFM 2007-02-21 14:15 |
| #2 Damn good movie. |
| Posted by: John Frum 2007-02-21 13:14 |
| #1 good movie, too. |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-02-21 12:50 |