Vietnam War hero is parade's grand marshal

Nov. 10—Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Col. Bruce Crandall (ret.) is the 2022 Grand Marshal for the East Valley Veterans Day Parade at 11 a.m. Nov. 11..

He received the Medal of Honor for valor in the Vietnam War as a helicopter pilot and company commander in the 1st Air Cavalry and some of his heroic actions are recounted in the movie, "We Were Soldiers.".

Born on Feb. 17, 1933, in Olympia, Washington, he grew up like many boys his age, enjoying the game of baseball, and playing it well enough to become a high school All-American.

He had dreams of being drafted by the New York Yankees, but instead, he was drafted by the Army in 1953. He went to aviation school and received his commission as an officer a year later.

For roughly the first decade of his military career, Crandall's job was mapping. He flew fixed-wing aircraft for topographical studies in Alaska, then headed to Libya, his first overseas assignment, for two years to help map the desert as an instructor and unit test pilot.

For a while, he was based out of Panama and Costa Rica, where he flew thousands of miles to chart remote mountains and jungles in Central and South America. He then helped develop air-assault tactics as a platoon commander while assigned to the 11th Air Assault Division.

In 1963, Crandall reported to Fort Benning, Georgia, to help lead a new air cavalry unit. He was the liaison for the 18th Airborne Corps in the Dominican Republic Expeditionary Force in early 1965 before he left to be a commanding officer on his first deployment to Vietnam.

Once arriving in-country, then-Maj. Crandall took charge of the 229th Assault Helicopter Battalion, the first major division operation of airmobile troops. He was well-respected by his soldiers, who gave him the nickname "Old Snake" — derived from his call sign, which was Ancient Serpent 6.

On Nov. 14, 1965, Crandall's flight of 16 helicopters took troops on a search-and-destroy mission from an area called Plei Me to Landing Zone X-Ray, a remote spot in the Ia Drang Valley.

On his fifth trip into the valley, the enemy had targeted the site. As Crandall and eight other unarmed helicopters landed to drop off troops, they came under such intense enemy fire that the ground commander ordered the other helicopters to abort the mission.

As depicted in "We Were Soldiers," Crandall waited under intense fire for wounded men to be loaded into his unarmed Huey, refusing to take off until he had filled the cargo bay with soldiers in desperate need of medical attention.

As he headed back to base, he heard radio chatter from infantrymen still on the ground, badly outnumbered by enemy soldiers and running low on critical supplies and ammunition.

After unloading the wounded back at base, he and Captain Ed Freeman, who also earned the Medal of Honor, volunteered to return with their helicopters loaded with as much water and ammunition as they could carry.

Taking enemy fire inside the actual landing zone after they off-loaded the supplies, they reloaded their helicopters with wounded men and raced back to the base hospital.

Many considered the 22 flights made by Crandall and Freeman in the first 14 hours of the three-day battle to be suicide missions.

The "Medal of Honor" third edition states that Crandall "kept coming back into the heavy enemy fire because he knew there was only a 'magic minute' to get badly wounded soldiers off the battlefield and into medical treatment.

"That day, Crandall and his wingman evacuated more than seventy wounded and delivered the ammunition and supplies that kept the Americans from being overrun."

In total, Crandall flew 900 missions during the Vietnam War.

Eventually shot down by the North Vietnamese and breaking his back in the crash, he recovered and went on to serve as a commander of engineers for the Army.

Once he recovered, he remained in the Army and earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Nebraska in 1969. He hopped around to a few more duty stations before suffering a stroke, which ended his flying career.

Even then, he continued to serve in the Army in other capacities until he retired in 1977 as a lieutenant colonel.

That same year, Crandall earned a master's degree in public administration from Golden Gate University in San Francisco. He spent a few more years in California working for the local government before he and his family moved to Mesa, where he became the city's public works director.

In honor of and recognition for his courage, valor and service, a grateful nation awarded Crandall two Distinguished Flying Crosses, a Bronze Star, and a Purple Heart, in addition to the Congressional Medal of Honor. He has been nominated for a second Medal of Honor.

"We are honored to have Colonel Bruce Crandall serve as this year's Parade Marshal," said East Valley Veterans Parade Association President Lisa Sandoval.

"He typifies the outstanding work and sacrifices made by our veterans and active military who we seek to recognize and thank through this annual parade."

Crandall is the retired director of the Mesa Public Works Department.

The U.S. Department of Defense contributed to this report.