Bush presents Medal of Honor to Vietnam hero
Submitted on March 1, 2007 - 5:11pm.
Kayla Webley
Scripps Howard Foundation Wire
WASHINGTON - Retired Army Lt. Col. Bruce P. Crandall smiled proudly Monday as President Bush fastened the Medal of Honor around his neck.
The Manchester, Wash., man was given the nation’s highest military honor for his bravery on a South Vietnam mission that took place 41 years ago.
“In men like Bruce Crandall, we really see the best of America,” Bush said. “For the soldiers rescued, for the men who came home, for the children they had and the lives they made, America is in debt to Bruce Crandall. It’s a debt our nation can never really fully repay, but today we recognize it as best as we’re able, and we bestow upon this good and gallant man the Medal of Honor.”
Crandall, 74, was joined at the White House East Room ceremony by his wife, Arlene, three sons and three of his grandchildren. Military comrades were also there, including other Medal of Honor recipients.
Unable to attend the ceremony was Ed W. Freeman, Crandall’s partner on the mission. Bush said the Idaho resident was stranded in Iowa by a snowstorm. Freeman was awarded the Medal of Honor in 2001.
At age 32, Crandall was stationed in Vietnam. When medevac helicopters refused to return to a landing zone called X-Ray in the Central Highlands, also called the “valley of death,” Crandall decided he would deliver supplies and help the wounded get out. Spending more than 14 hours in the air, Crandall and Freeman made 22 trips - 14 after the landing strip had been closed due to heavy fighting and 12 after the medevac helicopters refused to go back.
They rescued 70 wounded servicemen and provided a lifeline of ammunition, water and medical support for hundreds of soldiers.
Over the day, Crandall flew three different unarmed helicopters, because two were damaged so badly they could not stay in the air, Bush said.
“Yet he kept flying until every wounded man had been evacuated and every need of the battalion had been met,” Bush added.
Bush said that, to the men Crandall was coming to rescue, the image of his helicopter is one they will never forget. He quoted an officer who witnessed the battle: “Major Crandall’s actions were without question the most valorous I’ve observed of any helicopter pilot in Vietnam.”
Another said, “Without Crandall, this battalion would almost have surely been overrun.” And still another officer said, “I will always be in awe of Major Bruce Crandall.”
Bush said Crandall didn’t see his actions as anything other than a necessity. Quoting Crandall, Bush said, “There was never a consideration that we would not go into these landing zones. They were my people down there, and they trusted in me to come and get them.”
Crandall, a native of Olympia, Wash., did not speak at the ceremony. After retiring from the Army, he worked in local government in California and Arizona before moving to Manchester in 1999.
Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Wash., fresh off a plane from his trip to the Middle East, attended the ceremony. Crandall lives in his district.
“It was a real honor to be there with such a brave, heroic American,” Dicks said. “It’s long overdue, but I’m glad he was recognized for engaging in one of the most heroic rescues in the Vietnam era.”
Crandall was nominated for the award a few years ago, at the same time as Freeman. Crandall insisted his name be withdrawn because if only one of them was to win the award he wanted it to go to his “wingman,” Bush said.
“Today the story comes to its rightful conclusion: Bruce Crandall receives the honor he always deserved,” Bush said.
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