Pilot to get Medal of Honor for Vietnam actions

[thedrifter]

Pilot to get Medal of Honor for Vietnam actions


By Leo Shane III, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Saturday, February 10, 2007

WASHINGTON — A Vietnam veteran who flew his unarmed helicopter into heavy combat to drop supplies and evacuate wounded troops will be honored with the Medal of Honor later this month, White House officials announced Friday.

Bruce Crandall, an Army helicopter pilot, will receive the nation’s highest military honor for wartime valor from President Bush during a Feb. 26 ceremony. The award is for his actions in November 1965, when the then-major served with the Company A 229th Assault Helicopter Battalion.

According to military records, Crandall and then-Capt. Ed Freeman volunteered to fly UH-1 Hueys into battle in the Ia Drang Valley after military commanders deemed the area too dangerous for aircraft.

The men spent more than 14 hours evacuating wounded soldiers and resupplying the fighting force with ammunition and rations. Army officials credited them with saving more than 70 soldiers through their actions.

Crandall retired from the Army in 1977 as a lieutenant colonel. He lives in Manchester, Wash.

Crandall was a major force in getting a Medal of Honor awarded to Freeman for that day; Freeman received his medal in 2001.

Both men were portrayed in the 2002 movie “We Were Soldiers.” Crandall was played by Greg Kinnear.

This will be the eighth Medal of Honor awarded by President Bush. Last month, Marine Cpl. Jason Dunham was posthumously awarded the honor for his actions in Iraq.

Crandall also will be honored in an Army ceremony at the Pentagon on Feb. 27.

In addition to the new medal, Crandall already holds the Distinguished Service Cross, the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart and 24 other air medals.

[yellowwing]

A Vietnam veteran who flew his unarmed helicopter into heavy combat to drop supplies and evacuate wounded troops...
Damn~We laugh at blokes that bring a knife to a gun fight. This chap just brought a wheel barrow to carry his titanium balls. Good for him!

[yellowwing]

President Presents Medal of Honor to Captain Ed W. Freeman
Remarks by the President at Presentation of the Medal of Honor to Captain Ed W. Freeman
The East Room

THE PRESIDENT: Please be seated. Good morning, and welcome to the White House. Today, for the first time, I will present the Medal of Honor. It's a unique privilege to present the nation's highest military distinction to Ed Freeman, of Boise, Idaho. This moment is well-deserved and it's been long in coming.

Our White House military unit is accustomed to a lot of great events, but I can assure you they started this day with a great sense of anticipation. After all, they know how rare this kind of gathering is and what it means -- to be in the presence of one who has won the Medal of Honor is a privilege; to be in the room with a group of over 50 is a moment none of us will ever forget. We're in the presence of more than 50 of the bravest men who have ever worn the uniform. And I want to welcome you all to the White House. (Applause.)

It's an honor, as well, to welcome Barbara -- a name I kind of like -- (laughter) -- Ed's wife, along with his family members and members of his unit from Vietnam. As well, I want to welcome the Vice President, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the Chief of the Joint Chiefs, as well as members of the Joint Chiefs. I want to welcome Senator McCain. I want to welcome Senator Craig, Congressman Otter and Congressman Simpson from the delegation of Idaho. I want to welcome you all.

It was in this house in this office upstairs that Abraham Lincoln signed into law the bills establishing the Medal of Honor. By a custom that began with Theodore Roosevelt, the Medal of Honor is to be presented by the President. That duty came to Harry S. Truman more than 70 times. He often said that he'd rather wear the medal than to be the Commander in Chief. Some of you might have heard him say that. (Laughter.) Perhaps you were also here on May 2, 1963, when John F. Kennedy welcomed 240 recipients of the Medal of Honor.

By all rights, another President from Texas should have had the honor of conferring this medal. It was in the second year of Lyndon Johnson's presidency that Army Captain Ed Freeman did something that the men of the 7th Calvary have never forgotten. Years pass, even decades, but the memory of what happened on November 14, 1965 has always stayed with them.

For his actions that day, Captain Freeman was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. But the men who were there, including the commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Bruce Crandall, felt a still a higher honor was called for. Through the unremitting efforts of Lieutenant Colonel Crandall and many others, and the persuasive weight from Senator John McCain, the story now comes to its rightful conclusion.

That story began with the battalion surrounded by the enemy, in one of Vietnam's fiercest battles. The survivors remember the desperate fear of almost certain death. They remember gunfire that one witness described as the most intense he had ever seen. And they remember the sight of an unarmed helicopter coming to their aid.

The man at the controls flew through the gunfire not once, not 10 times, but at least 21 times. That single helicopter brought the water, ammunition and supplies that saved many lives on the ground. And the same pilot flew more than 70 wounded soldiers to safety.

In a moment we will hear the full citation, in all its heroic detail. General Eisenhower once observed that when you hear a Medal of Honor citation, you practically assume that the man in question didn't make it out alive. In fact, about one in six never did. And the other five, men just like you all here, probably didn't expect to.

Citations are also written in the most simple of language, needing no embellishment, or techniques of rhetoric. They record places and names and events that describe themselves. The medal itself bears only one word, and needs only one: valor.

As a boy of 13, Ed Freeman saw thousands of men on maneuvers pass by his home in Mississippi. He decided then and there that he would be a soldier. A lifetime later, the Congress has now decided that he's even more than a soldier, because he did more than his duty. He served his country and his comrades to the fullest, rising above and beyond anything the Army or the nation could have ever asked.

It's been some years now since he left the service and was last saluted. But from this day, wherever he goes, by military tradition, Ed Freeman will merit a salute from any enlisted personnel or officer of rank.

Commander Seavers, I now ask you to read this citation of the newest member of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society. And it will be my honor to give him his first salute.

(The citation is read.)

(The Medal of Honor is presented to Captain Ed W. Freeman.) (Applause.)

THE PRESIDENT: We'll see you for a reception. Thank you all for coming

[thedrifter]

Vietnam Hero to be Awarded Medal of Honor

Saturday, Feb 10, 2007 - 06:47 PM

WASHINGTON, Feb. 10, 2007 – More than 40 years after demonstrating the heroism immortalized in the bestselling book and movie, "We Were Soldiers Once ... and Young," retired Army Lt. Col. Bruce P. Crandall will receive the Medal of Honor, the White House announced yesterday.

Crandall will receive the nation's highest military award for actions during the Battle of Ia Drang Valley in Vietnam in November 1965. The battle, at Landing Zone X-Ray near the Ia Drang River, was the first major ground battle of the war.

During the incident, Crandall, then a major and commander of Company A, 229th Assault Helicopter Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), dodged intense enemy fire as he repeatedly flew to a landing zone to rescue and resupply besieged 1st Cavalry Division ground troops.

The narrative for Crandall's Medal of Honor credits him with displaying leadership by example and fearless courage as he "voluntarily flew his unarmed helicopter through a gauntlet of enemy fire on flight after flight, delivering desperately needed ammunition, water and medical supplies into one of the most hotly contested landing zones of the war."

Crandall led a flight of 16 helicopters in support of the 1st Cavalry Division's 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, which was out of water, running dangerously low on ammunition and engaging about two regiments of North Vietnamese army infantry "determined to overrun and annihilate them," the narrative reads.

When the enemy fire got so intense that the infantry commander closed the landing zone, Crandall volunteered for the mission. He and his wingman, Maj. Ed Freeman, are credited with saving more than 70 wounded soldiers by transporting them to safety.

Freeman received the Medal of Honor for his efforts in July 2001.

Several books about the battle recognize Crandall and Freeman's contributions. Among the most well-known is the bestselling "We Were Soldiers Once ... and Young," coauthored by Lt. Gen. Harold Moore, commanding officer of infantry units in X-Ray, and Joseph Galloway, a combat reporter who was in the landing zone during the battle.

A major motion picture based on the book featured actor Greg Kinnear as Crandall.

Later during his Vietnam tour, Crandall demonstrated another act of heroism. While under enemy fire, using a flashlight to guide his UH-1 Huey helicopter, he dropped through dense jungle to rescue 12 wounded soldiers. For that action, he was awarded the first AVCO-Aviation/Space Writers Association Helicopter Heroism Award. This award is sponsored by the Aviation/Space Writers Association and AVCC Corporation, and is awarded to an individual for heroism efforts involving the use of helicopter..

During a second tour in Vietnam, in 1968, Crandall was downed during another rescue attempt and spent five months in the hospital. He resumed his military career, retiring as a lieutenant colonel in 1977.

Crandall was inducted into the Army Aviation Hall of Fame at Fort Rucker, Ala., in 2004. He also was the seventh Army inductee into the "Gathering of Eagles," a U.S. Air Force organization that honors contributors to aviation.

Bush will present Crandall the Medal of Honor during a Feb. 26 White House ceremony.

After receiving the Medal of Honor, Crandall will join 111 other living recipients of the award, 60 of them awarded for actions in Vietnam, according to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society.

The Medal of Honor, the highest U.S. military decoration, is awarded "for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life, above and beyond the call of duty, in actual combat against an armed enemy force." Since it was first awarded during the Civil War, the medal has been awarded 3,461 times.

The Medal of Honor was last presented to the family of 22-year-old Marine Cpl. Jason L. Dunham, who died using his body to shield fellow Marines in Iraq from a hand grenade April 15, 2004. President Bush awarded Dunham's Medal of Honor posthumously during a Jan. 11 ceremony at the White House.

Ellie