It was mid November 1965, when Lieutenant Colonel Hal Moore and the men of the 1st Cavalry division, 7th Cavalry Regiment (the regiment led by General George Armstrong Custer at the Little Bighorn, "Custer's Last Stand") were dropped into the la Drang Valley called the "Valley of Death". The Vietnam War was escalating and this was the first time in the history of the Army that helicopters were utilized to transport ground troops into a "hot" zone and provide aerial support to them. This particular engagement was also the first time that the U.S. Army engaged the regular army of North Vietnam. The men of the 7th Cavalry Regiment faced overwhelming odds of two regiments of the North Vietnamese Army Infantry, "determined to overrun and annihilate them" according to documents of the U.S. Army.
Major Bruce Crandall was commanding a company of the 229th Assault Helicopter Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division consisting of 16 helicopters. Embedded with the ground force of the 7th Cavalry Division was Joseph L. Galloway, a war correspondent now with McClatchy Newspapers.
Several years following the war, three star General Hal Moore collaborated with Joseph Galloway in writing the book, "We Were Soldiers Once ...And Young". A few years ago, the movie "We Were Soldiers" was adapted from the book. The movie starred Mel Gibson as Colonel Moore and Sam Elliott as his Sergeant Major. General Moore and Joseph Galloway were technical advisers for the movie. I have watched this movie several times since it has been released to video and consider it as the best depiction of the Vietnam War that has been produced. It is important as it not only portrays the horrors of war but also the human side of the war including that of the families left behind. It is well worth watching.
The reason that this particular movie and event of the Vietnam War comes to my thoughts today is because it has been over forty-one years since that initial engagement in the la Drang Valley. On Monday, one week following his 74th birthday, Major Bruce Crandall, commanding the Assault Helicopter Battalion at the la Drang Valley will receive the nation's highest military honor from President George Bush, the "Medal of Honor". Bruce Crandall now lives near Bremerton, Washington, when being interviewed he stated, "I am still here, most of these awards are posthumous, so I can't complain". Forty one years following this unpopular war, a true hero is being recognized for going "beyond the call of duty". He was young once, but I am sure that a day has not passed since, that his reflections have not returned to the la Drang Valley and those that were lost in the "Valley of Death", they were also young.
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