At Long Last February 26, 2007
Posted by BrewFan in Heroes.trackback
A hero got the nation’s highest honor today, 41 years later. If you’d like an idea of this man’s bravery, watch the movie “We Were Soldiers Once” (or read the book by Hal Moore). You’ll be glad you did.
One of my favorite lines of all time came from that movie:
Young private walking across a yard: “Good Day Sargeant Major” (while saluting)
Sargeant Major walking the other way: “What are you, a fuckin’ meteorologist?”
Should be one of those classics up there with “I’ll be back”, and “Go ahead. Make my day.”
Wow. Ancient Snake got the MOH?
He was a stud. Complete hero.
Thank you for posting that. What a man he is.
Good post Brew. Thanks. I wonder why it takes so long for the medal to be awarded. Is there only one awarded each year?
compos, MOH awards for helicopter jocks were kind of held up by command during the war – the line of thinking from the brass down was “the guys on the ground pounding it out in combat should get the recognition, not the chopper jocks”.
I wrote a post about a former UH-1 pilot being awarded this honor at Ft. Hood last year on my blog (I’ll dig it up), but that’s where I found out that after all these years, some very brave men who deserved this honor were finally being recognized.
Crandall was one of the greats. Hal Moore said if it hadn’t been for his flying extra missions into a hot combat zone when others didn’t, resupplying and getting wounded men out, they would have lost many more soldiers and quite possibly have lost the battle of the Ia Drang Valley. It’s an incredibly inspiring story. I’m very glad to see his courage so recognized. Hell of a man.
Here’s another measure of this man:
A few years ago, Bruce learned he was being considered for our nation’s highest military distinction. When he found out that Captain
Freeman had also been nominated, Bruce insisted that his own name be withdrawn. If only one of them were to receive the Medal of Honor, he wanted it to be his wingman. So when I presented the Medal to Captain Freeman in 2001, Bruce was here in the White House. Captain Freeman wished he were here today, but he got snowed in, in Iowa. His spirit is with us. Today the story comes to its rightful conclusion: Bruce Crandall receives the honor he always deserved.