Ret. Col. Bruce Crandall, an Army helicopter pilot who received the Congressional Medal of Honor for his role in the rescue of American troops in the Vietnam War during the Battle of Ia Drang in 1965, died on Sunday. He was 93.
Crandall’s death, at a retirement community in Tempe, Arizona, was announced by the Congressional Medal of Honor Society. According to The New York Times, he was the second oldest surviving recipient of the medal.
The oldest was Royce Williams, a Navy pilot who received the Medal of Honor in February, at 100, for his service during the Korean War. There are now only 63 living Medal of Honor recipients, according to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society.
On Nov. 14, 1965, Crandall was piloting one of several unarmed helicopters transporting soldiers to the Ia Drang Valley in South Vietnam for a search-and-destroy mission, the Times reported. On their fifth trip, the aircraft came under attack.
The ground commander ordered the helicopters to abort the mission. According to military records, Crandall decided without formal orders to organize a mission to return to the combat site, the newspaper reported.
Crandall was credited with evacuating 70 wounded soldiers, along with his wingman and fellow Medal of Honor recipient, Maj. Ed Freeman, according to the U.S. Army website. He flew into the battle zone 22 times to remove wounded soldiers, according to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society release.
“Major Crandall’s voluntary decision to land under the most extreme fire instilled in the other pilots the will and spirit to continue to land their own aircraft, and in the ground forces the realization that they would be resupplied and that friendly wounded would be promptly evacuated,” Crandall’s Medal of Honor citation stated. “This greatly enhanced morale and the will to fight at a critical time.”
During a rescue mission in 1966, Crandall landed his helicopter using only its flashlight beam as a guide and evacuated 12 wounded soldiers from a combat zone, according to the Times.
Crandall served a second tour of duty in Vietnam in 1967. His helicopter crashed during another rescue attempt in January 1968, and he was hospitalized for five months while recovering from a broken back, according to the newspaper.
Crandall was born on Feb. 17, 1933, in Olympia, Washington. He attended Olympia High School, where he excelled in baseball, and earned a scholarship to the University of Washington.
He would be drafted by the Army in 1953.
After the Battle of Ia Drang -- one of the earliest major battles between U.S. and North Vietnamese troops during the Vietnam War -- Crandall received the Distinguished Service Cross, the Army’s second-highest award for valor.
In a White House ceremony in 2007, President George W. Bush presented the Medal of Honor to Crandall, the Times reported.
Crandall’s actions in Vietnam would later be chronicled in the 1992 book, “We Were Soldiers Once … and Young.” The book would be adapted into the 2002 film, “We Were Soldiers,” which starred Mel Gibson. Greg Kinnear was cast in the role of Crandall, according to IMDb.com.
Crandall, while recognized for his heroism, will be best remembered for the “warmth of his wit, the depth of his humility and the fierce loyalty he gave to the people and communities he loved,” according to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society release.