Bruce Perry Crandall (born February 17, 1933)[2] is a retired 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.

[4] He began to pilot Cessna L-19 Bird Dogs and de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beavers in Alaska for military topographic studies.

[4] Crandall's next overseas tours were flying over thousands of square miles of previously unmapped mountains and jungles in Central and South America.

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.

[4] 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.

[4] 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.

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.

[1] He attended the June 24, 2013 unveiling of Medal of Honor recipient Leroy Petry's statue in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty: Major Bruce P. Crandall distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism as a Flight Commander in the Republic of Vietnam, while serving with Company A, 229th Assault Helicopter Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile).

On 14 November 1965, his flight of sixteen helicopters was lifting troops for a search and destroy mission from Plei Me, Vietnam, to Landing Zone X-Ray in the Ia Drang Valley.

As Major Crandall flew back to Plei Me, his base of operations, he determined that the ground commander of the besieged infantry battalion desperately needed more ammunition.

Major Crandall then decided to adjust his base of operations to Artillery Firebase Falcon in order to shorten the flight distance to deliver ammunition and evacuate wounded soldiers.

While medical evacuation was not his mission, he immediately sought volunteers and with complete disregard for his own personal safety, led the two aircraft to Landing Zone X-Ray.

That day he completed a total of 22 flights, most under intense enemy fire, retiring from the battlefield only after all possible service had been rendered to the Infantry battalion.

The student senate at the University of Washington rejected a resolution in February 2006 recommending that a memorial be erected to honor fighter ace and alumnus Pappy Boyington for his service during World War II.