The Passion of a Powerful Life - #5324
Thursday, June 7, 2007
He is a real American hero - a recent recipient of the America's highest military honor, the Congressional Medal of Honor. He earned it. On November 14, 1965, Major Bruce Crandall flew a Huey helicopter assigned to lift troops into Ia Drang, which was to become known that day as the "Valley of Death" that day. His mission of delivering troops was accomplished. But soon he realized the plight of those troops - 450 American soldiers - were hugely outnumbered by 2,000 enemy troops. Major Crandall began flying into that Valley of Death to bring out the wounded and bring in ammunition. Before the day was over, he had flown for fourteen hours straight - 22 flights barraged with enemy fire. He used three different choppers; two were too damaged to continue. One officer said, "Without Major Crandall, our battalion would almost surely have been overrun." Crandall simply said, "They knew we would come if they needed it no matter what." That's heroism.