foreign
The most iconic image of the Vietnam War was the helicopter
whether used as an observation medical evacuation troop transport or gunship. The primary aircraft
was the Bell Iroquois UH-1 Huey of which 3,254 were lost due to combat. Helicopter Crews also had high
casualties both killed and wounded and the men who flew these missions were made of steel; they had to
be and as a result a few became some of the most highly decorated airmen in our nation's history.
Who was Bruce P. Crandall? What actions did he perform to receive the Medal of Honor?
Why did it take so many years for his bravery to be recognized with the Medal of Honor?
Hello I'm Colin Heaton former soldier Marine Corps
scout sniper history professor historian and book author and we will answer these
questions and other issues on this segment of Forgotten History [Music]
In the film We Were Soldiers adapted from the book written by Lieutenant General Harold G. Moore and
Joseph L Galloway, Bruce P. Crandall was depicted by actor Greg Kinnear who flew multiple missions
into Landing Zone X-ray during the battle of the Ia Drang valley which commenced on November 14, 1965.
Crandall would play a major role. Bruce Perry Crandall was born on February 17, 1933 and raised
in Olympia, Washington state. He attended public schools and became an All-American baseball player
in high school. Later he attended the University of Washington in Seattle and was hoping to
get drafted by the New York Yankees but he was drafted instead into the U.S. Army in 1953 during
the Korean War but did not deploy there. Crandall graduated from the Engineer Officer Candidate School,
Fort Belvoir in Virginia in 1954 and assigned to the fixed wing and helicopter training program
conducted by the Army and the Air Force. He started flying the Cessna L-19 bird dog and de Havilland
Canada DHC-2 Beavers after being transferred to Alaska performing military topographical studies.
His first overseas flying assignment was to Wheelus Air Base and Tripoli, Libya where he
spent two years mapping the Sahara Desert. He then became an instructor pilot and unit test pilot.
Crandall then transferred to Howard Air Force Base Panama also flying out of Costa Rica
He flew over thousands of square miles of previously unmapped mountains and
jungles in Central and South America. He then helped to develop air assault tactics
as a platoon leader while assigned to the 11th Air Assault Division.
His next assignment was a major to South Vietnam where he commanded the 1st Calvary
Division's Company A, 229th Assault Helicopter Battalion at Camp Radcliffe An Khe, Vietnam.
He led a flying unit supporting eight battalions on the ground using the call sign Ancient Serpent 6.
This was where he earned his nickname "snake" The Vietnam War was not yet a major conflict. Most
of the engagements had been between U.S. Army Special Forces advisors and contacts with the
Viet Cong and a few NVA units but on a very small level rarely exceeding platoon-sized engagements.
This was the first major engagement of the war between regular U.S and North Vietnamese
forces when elements of the 3rd Brigade 1st Calvary Division Air Mobile positioned themselves
as an interdiction force. The Army soldiers fought a four-day pitch to battle against
the Communist North Vietnamese 33rd Regiment in the Ia Drang Valley of the Central Highlands.
This first contact between large forces in Vietnam which set the pace for the rest of the war.
The Battalion Commander Lieutenant Colonel Harold G. Moore known as Hal Moore and his 1st Battalion
7th Cavalry Regiment of 450 soldiers along with men from the 2nd Battalion 5th Cavalry
Regiment would make history being inserted by helicopters into Landing Zone X-ray. Crandall's
flight of 16 helicopters inserted Moore's troops on a search and destroy mission from an area called
Plei Me to Landing Zone X-ray a remote spot in the Ia Drang Valley near the Chu Pong Hills. On his
fifth trip into the valley the enemy had targeted the landing zone. As the 9 unarmed helicopters
dropped off troops they came under such intense enemy fire that Lieutenant Colonel Moore ordered
the other helicopters to abort the mission. At midday the North Vietnamese 33rd Regiment attacked.
The battle commenced with the NVA attack and the Americans received support from nearby on-call
artillery batteries and fixed-wing tactical airstrikes. The next morning the North Vietnamese
66th Regiment joined the attack against the U.S. unit. The fighting was bitter but the tactical
airstrikes and artillery support took their toll on the enemy and enabled the 1st Cavalry
troopers to hold on against repeated assaults. Two more companies arrived to reinforce the position
and Lieutenant Colonel Moore put them to good use securing the flanks and rotating the wounded with
fresh men. By the third day of the battle the Americans had gained to the upper hand. One of
the primary overlooked factors was the use of an on-call Medevac helicopter support unit flying
in under fire to extract the wounded; the dead would have to wait. However due to the intense
enemy fire the on-call Medevac unit would not fly in under orders not to risk their aircraft
until the perimeter was secured. There was one man and his unit who basically said "to hell with that."
One of these was UH-1 pilot Bruce P. Crandall along with his wingman Major Ed Freeman. They
heard the battle on the radio and they heard the request and then denial of medevacs.
There was no hesitation in Crandall's unit among his men. Despite not being a Medevac unit
their brothers were getting shot and dying and they were going in come hell or high water.
Crandall was listening on the communications net and he heard almost everything going on. Crandall
was not assigned to Medevac duties but he took it upon himself to jump in and ask for volunteers.
Crandall took off without orders and 12 of these flights were made after the assigned Medevac
unit again refused to land in LZ X-ray which was still under intense and continuous fire. Crandall's
Huey's were unarmed they were not gunships and his was not a gunship only two door gunners, nor
was it equipped as a Medevac helicopter and the thin aluminum gave little protection from even
small arms fire let alone heavy machine guns. As he and Freeman weaved in through the valley they
had to not only dodge bullets and rockets they also had to time their arrivals when friendly
artillery would be lifted and then avoid enemy indirect fire targeting the landing zone. During
the battle he went through a few helicopters but one Huey was so shot up he lost the engine and
had to auto rotate into a controlled crash landing with several wounded men on board.
His continued actions saved even more lives and proved the value of the helicopter as an
air ambulance. After almost every flight he had to have the blood washed off the deck plates in his
various aircraft. He learned on approach after dark that the pickup zone was surrounded by
trees on three sides and he was told that the Medevac had previously refused to land there.
To minimize the chance of hitting the trees he decided to descend vertically. The night was pitch
black but instead of using search or landing lights he flew black out and instructed Captain
Tony Nadal on the ground to point a flashlight straight up in the center of the touchdown area.
He had landed twice this way under intense enemy fire and successfully evacuated all 12 wounded
soldiers. Both helicopters were barely airworthy when he returned to base. Crandall and Freeman
alone had evacuated more than 75 casualties in his helicopters during a flight day that lasted from 6:00
a.m ending at 10 30 PM more than 16 hours later. Quoting Crandall, "It was the longest day I ever
experienced in any aircraft." He had to use several helicopters throughout the day because each
aircraft became badly damaged. Crandall himself flew 22 missions in his unarmed Hueys during
the battle in total each time into direct enemy fire to evacuate wounded and bring ammunition and
supplies to the soldiers. He flew back to extract the dead and exfiltrate the remaining soldiers but
his Vietnam duty was not finished. During the same battle the 2nd Battalion 7th Cavalry was
ambushed by North Vietnamese forces as it moved on foot to Landing Zone Albany. Of the 500 men in
the original column 150 were killed and only 84 were able to return to immediate duty. Company
C suffered 93 casualties half of them deaths. Crandall's pilots and crews responded to that
location as well to try and save more American lives and deliver supplies and ammunition. The
battle resulted in 834 North Vietnamese soldiers confirmed killed and another 1,000 communist
casualties were assumed. Crandall received the Distinguished Flying Cross and Distinguished
Service Cross for his life-saving missions but his career was far from over. Two months later
on January 31st 1966 Crandall had just finished a long day supporting the first combined American
and Army of the Republic of Vietnam operation called Operation Masher. He returned to refuel
and shut down for the night when he was informed that a company of soldiers was in heavy enemy
contact and were pinned down and threatened with being overrun. The company had reported 12
wounded soldiers who needed immediate evacuation. Then after lifting off while en route Crandall
learned that the unit was commended by his friend from the Battle of Ia Drang, Captain Tony
Nadal. Crandall and Nadal again worked together, air and ground to execute a near flawless rescue of
the wounded men. Bruce Crandall was then sent home after an action-filled tour. After an assignment in
Colorado Crandall attended the Armed Forces Staff College but not long afterwards he was back in
South Vietnam, this time flying UH-1 Huey gunships and supporting the 1st Battalion 9th Cavalry
Squadron, 1st Cavalry Division. Crandall flew ground support and attack missions but in January
1968 his helicopter was shot down four months into his second tour while performing another
rescue due to Air Force bombs going off too close to where he was flying. Medevaced himself along
with his co-pilot he spent five months in the hospital recovering from a broken back and other
shrapnel and impact injuries. His war was over but he had flown over 900 combat missions many of them
as a volunteer impromptu Medevac pilot. After Crandall recovered he enrolled as a student at
the University of Nebraska graduating in 1969 and he became a facility engineer in Bangkok Thailand
managing 3,800 people. In his final Army assignment he served as senior engineer advisor to the
California Army National Guard. In 1977 he retired from the Army as a lieutenant colonel. Bruce Crandall
was initially awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions at Ia Drang as was Freeman
but these were later upgraded to the Medals of Honor for both men which had been initially
recommended by Moore. In 2004 Crandall was inducted into the Army Aviation Hall of Fame. We hope you
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