More detail on this person: Bruce Perry Crandall (February 17, 1933 - May 31, 2026) was a United States Army officer who received the Medal of Honor for his actions as a pilot during the Battle of Ia Drang on November 14, 1965, in South Vietnam. During the battle, he flew 22 missions in a Bell Huey helicopter into enemy fire to evacuate more than 70 wounded and bring ammunition and supplies to United States forces. His actions in the battle of the Ia Drang valley were portrayed by actor Greg Kinnear in the Mel Gibson film, We Were Soldiers. By the end of the Vietnam War, he had flown more than 900 combat missions. He retired from the army as a lieutenant colonel and worked several jobs in different states before settling down with his wife in his home state of Washington. Crandall was born on February 17, 1933, in Olympia, Washington, where he was also raised. He attended public schools and became an All-American baseball player in high school. He attended the University of Washington in Seattle until being drafted into the United States Army in 1953 during the Korean War.[2][3] He married Arlene Shaffer on March 31, 1956, and they had three sons and five grandchildren. Arlene died from cancer on November 2, 2010.[4] Crandall died at his residence in Tempe, Arizona, on May 31, 2026, at the age of 93.[5] Crandall graduated from Engineer Officer Candidate School, Fort Belvoir, Virginia, in 1954. He was sent to fixed-wing and helicopter training conducted by the air force and army, then he was assigned to an Army Aviation mapping group headquartered at the Presidio of San Francisco. It was then "the largest flying military aviation unit in the world".[2] He began to pilot Cessna L-19 Bird Dogs and de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beavers in Alaska for military topographic studies. His first overseas flying assignment was to Wheelus Air Base in Tripoli, Libya. There he mapped the desert for two years, flying de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter, DHC-2 Beaver, L-19 Birddog, and OH-23 Raven aircraft as an instructor pilot and unit test pilot.[2] Crandall's next overseas tours were flying over thousands of square miles of previously unmapped mountains and jungles in Central and South America. For this mission, he was based at Howard Air Force Base, Panama, and Costa Rica. He helped to develop air-assault tactics as a platoon leader while assigned to the 11th Air Assault Division. In early 1965, he joined the Dominican Republic Expeditionary Force as a liaison to the XVIII Airborne Corps.[2] Later that year, he was assigned to South Vietnam, where the United States had entered the civil war defending South Vietnam against the Communist North Vietnamese. He commanded the 1st Cavalry Division's Company A, 229th Assault Helicopter Battalion at Camp Radcliff, An Khe, Vietnam. He led a flying unit supporting eight battalions on the ground, using the call sign "Ancient Serpent 6".[2] Battle of Ia Drang A black and white image of a man crawling across the ground with a helicopter flying in the background Crandall's UH-1 Huey dispatching infantry in the Ia Drang operation On November 14, 1965, Crandall led the first major division operation of the Vietnam War, landing elements of the 1st Battalion and 2nd Battalion of the 7th Cavalry Regiment and the 5th Cavalry Regiment into Landing Zone X-Ray in the Battle of Ia Drang.[6] During the fierce battle that followed, he was credited with evacuating some 70 wounded soldiers, along with his wing man Major Ed Freeman. Twelve of these fourteen flights (another source reports 18)[6] were made after the Medevac unit refused to land in the landing zone which was under intense fire. Crandall evacuated more than 75 casualties in his helicopters, during a flight day that started at 6 am and ended at 10:30 pm, more than 16 hours later. "It was the longest day I ever experienced in any aircraft," he said. He had to use several helicopters throughout the day because each aircraft became badly damaged.[6] Crandall and Freeman were also credited with flying in the ammunition needed for the 7th Cavalry to survive. The craft that he was flying was unarmed.[2] He was initially awarded the Distinguished Service Cross,[7] but this was upgraded to the Medal of Honor, awarded by President George W. Bush in a ceremony in the East Room of the White House on February 26, 2007.[8] Operation Masher Crandall had just finished a full day supporting the 12th Infantry Battalion on January 31, 1966, during 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 learned that a company was in heavy enemy contact and had 12 wounded soldiers who needed evacuation. The soldiers were pinned down in a tight perimeter. The unit was led by Captain Tony Nadal, his friend and fellow veteran of the Battle of la Drang.[9] Crandall refueled and flew to the area. He learned that the pick-up zone was surrounded by trees on three sides, and he was told that the Medevac had refused to land there. To minimize the chances of hitting the trees, he decided to descend vertically. The night was pitch dark with an overcast sky, making flying extremely difficult.[9] He wanted to avoid giving the enemy an illuminated target and risk back-lighting the soldiers defending the landing zone and the wounded soldiers. Instead of using search or landing lights, he instructed Nadal to point a flashlight up in the center of the touchdown area. He landed twice under intense enemy fire and successfully evacuated all 12 wounded soldiers.[9] Later service After an assignment in Colorado, Crandall attended the Armed Forces Staff College. Soon he was back in South Vietnam, this time flying UH-1 Huey gunships and supporting the 1st Battalion, 9th Cavalry Squadron, 1st Cavalry Division.[2] Crandall's helicopter was shot down during another rescue attempt in January 1968, four months into his second tour, due to air force bombs going off too close to where he was flying. He spent five months in the hospital recovering from a broken back and other injuries, then resumed his career as a student at the University of Nebraska, graduating in 1969. He became a facility engineer assigned to Bangkok, Thailand where he managed 3,800 people. He subsequently served as deputy chief of staff, deputy installation commander, and commander of the 5th Engineer Combat Battalion, all at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.[2] South America was to be his next assignment, and he and his wife Arlene attended the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California, as Spanish-language students in preparation. He was to be aviation and engineering adviser to Argentina, but the assignment did not take place as Crandall suffered a stroke which ended his flying career. After his recovery, the Crandalls found the language training useful when he was sent to Caracas, Venezuela, as the Defense Mapping Agency's director for the Inter-American Geodetic Survey.[2] In his final army assignment, he served as senior engineer adviser to the California Army National Guard. In 1977, he retired from the army as a lieutenant colonel.[2] Later life Crandall (right) and Medal of Honor recipient Leroy Petry (left) in Santa Fe, New Mexico, June 24, 2013 After retiring from the army, Crandall earned a master's degree in public administration from Golden Gate University in 1977. He then worked in public service jobs, including three years as the city manager of Dunsmuir, California. After leaving California, he and his wife Arlene Louise Shaffer moved to Mesa, Arizona, where he worked for 17 years in the Public Works Department, the last four as the public works manager.[2] His wife died on November 2, 2010, and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Crandall was promoted to colonel on April 15, 2010, more than 30 years after retiring from the army, in recognition of his accomplishments and receiving the Medal of Honor. The ceremony was held at the Army Aviation Association Convention in Fort Worth, Texas.[1] He attended the June 24, 2013 unveiling of Medal of Honor recipient Leroy Petry's statue in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He raised the "12th Man" flag for the Seattle Seahawks - Minnesota Vikings football game on November 17, 2013, as part of the Seahawks "Salute to Service".[10]
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Date posted on this site: 07/15/2026
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