{"id":76534,"date":"2026-06-02T15:51:28","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T15:51:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2026\/06\/02\/medal-of-honor-recipient-bruce-crandall-whose-heroism-was-chronicled-in-we-were-soldiers-once-dies-at-93\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T17:40:34","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T17:40:34","slug":"medal-of-honor-recipient-bruce-crandall-whose-heroism-was-chronicled-in-we-were-soldiers-once-dies-at-93","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/veterans\/military-history\/2026\/06\/02\/medal-of-honor-recipient-bruce-crandall-whose-heroism-was-chronicled-in-we-were-soldiers-once-dies-at-93\/","title":{"rendered":"Medal of Honor recipient Bruce Crandall, whose heroism was chronicled in \u2018We Were Soldiers Once,\u2019 dies at 93"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ret. Col. Bruce Crandall, who led more than 900 combat missions during two tours in Vietnam and received the Medal of Honor for repeatedly flying his helicopter into intense enemy fire to evacuate dozens of wounded troops, died on May 31. He was 93. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crandall, while recognized for his heroism, will be best remembered for the \u201cwarmth of his wit, the depth of his humility and the fierce loyalty he gave to the people and communities he loved,\u201d according to a Congressional Medal of Honor Society release.<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Born in February 1933, Olympia, Washington, the All-American athlete had dreams of being drafted by the New York Yankees and earned a scholarship to the University of Washington. That dream was deferred, however, when Crandall was drafted by the U.S. Army in 1953. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crandall would subsequently receive the nation\u2019s highest honor for valor during the Nov. 14, 1965, Battle of Ia Drang \u2014 the first major clash of the Vietnam War, made famous by the book We Were Soldiers Once \u2026 and Young: Ia Drang\u2013The Battle That Changed the War in Vietnam<\/i> and the subsequent movie of the same name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Crandall’s UH-1D Iroquois helicopter climbs skyward after discharging a load of infantrymen on a search-and-destroy mission in Vietnam. (U.S. Army)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On that day, Crandall led 16 helicopters carrying soldiers into Landing Zone X-Ray in the Ia Drang Valley, but as the fighting intensified, orders came down for follow-on aircraft to abort their mission, meaning all medevac assistance had been cut off to the men of the 1\/7 Cav.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe medevac pilots were all great pilots, but they weren\u2019t allowed to land on a landing zone until it was \u2018green\u2019 for a period of five minutes,\u201d meaning it wasn\u2019t being relentlessly attacked, Crandall later recalled<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crandall recognized that the men he had shuttled into Ia Drang were trapped, in desperate need of ammunition and, for some, medical evacuation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contacted on the radio by Col. Ramon Antonio \u201cTony\u201d Nadal, Crandall recalled<\/a> that Nadal was yelling, \u201cI got to have \u2014 get my wounded out of here. I\u2019ve got 12 guys that are \u2014 and they\u2019re collected, and I have a hole where a helicopter can get in, but they won\u2019t come.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response, Crandall refueled, kicked off his door gunner and weaponry to lighten his load. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you have infantry on the ground, you can\u2019t shoot up their backside,\u201d Crandall said, calling the M60 guns \u201cworthless.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ignoring the heavy enemy fire, Crandall, alongside his friend Maj. Ed Freeman, voluntarily flew 22 missions into the valley to deliver ammunition and evacuate some 70 wounded soldiers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhile medical evacuation was not his mission,\u201d reads his Medal of Honor citation<\/a>, \u201che immediately sought volunteers and with complete disregard for his own personal safety, led the two aircraft to Landing Zone X-Ray. Despite the fact that the landing zone was still under relentless enemy fire, Major Crandall landed and proceeded to supervise the loading of seriously wounded soldiers aboard the aircraft. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMajor Crandall\u2019s voluntary decision to land under the most extreme fire instilled in the other pilots the will and spirit to continue to land their own aircraft, and in the ground forces the realization that they would be resupplied and that friendly wounded would be promptly evacuated,\u201d the citation continues. \u201cThis greatly enhanced morale and the will to fight at a critical time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crandall would ultimately fly nearly 1,000 combat missions and was further commended for rescuing 12 wounded soldiers during a dense jungle operation in January 1966, according to the Department of Defense<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Ret. Col. Bruce Crandall poses with a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter from Task Force Lobos, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, in Afghanistan on March 28, 2012. (U.S. Army)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In 1968, four months into his second tour in Vietnam flying Huey gunships in support of the 1st Cavalry Division, Crandall\u2019s helicopter crashed, breaking the pilot\u2019s back among other severe injuries that left him hospitalized for five months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The broken back didn\u2019t deter Crandall from flying, but a subsequent stroke in the early 1970s ended his flying career. He retired from the Army in 1977.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crandall, who initially received the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions at Ia Drang, was awarded the Medal of Honor on Feb. 26, 2007, by President George W. Bush. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With Crandall\u2019s passing there are now only 63 living Medal of Honor recipients. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ret. Col. Bruce Crandall received the Medal of Honor for repeatedly flying his helicopter into intense enemy fire to evacuate dozens of wounded troops.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":112630,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":91,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,91,10,12,25,19,69],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3376],"class_list":["post-76534","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-military-history","category-military-honor","category-news","category-newsletters","category-veterans","category-your-marine-corps"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"PUOPKCWGSBGFNKRSQOWM5UURGY","arc_canonical_url":"\/veterans\/military-history\/2026\/06\/02\/medal-of-honor-recipient-bruce-crandall-whose-heroism-was-chronicled-in-we-were-soldiers-once-dies-at-93\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\nMedal of Honor recipient Bruce Crandall, whose heroism was chronicled in \u2018We Were Soldiers Once,\u2019 dies at 93 - Marine Corps Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ret. Col. Bruce Crandall received the Medal of Honor for repeatedly flying his helicopter into intense enemy fire to evacuate dozens of wounded troops.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/veterans\/military-history\/2026\/06\/02\/medal-of-honor-recipient-bruce-crandall-whose-heroism-was-chronicled-in-we-were-soldiers-once-dies-at-93\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Medal of Honor recipient Bruce Crandall, whose heroism was chronicled in \u2018We Were Soldiers Once,\u2019 dies at 93\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ret. Col. Bruce Crandall received the Medal of Honor for repeatedly flying his helicopter into intense enemy fire to evacuate dozens of wounded troops.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/veterans\/military-history\/2026\/06\/02\/medal-of-honor-recipient-bruce-crandall-whose-heroism-was-chronicled-in-we-were-soldiers-once-dies-at-93\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Marine Corps Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-02T15:51:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T17:40:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Claire Barrett\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Claire Barrett\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t \"@graph\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/veterans\\\/military-history\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/02\\\/medal-of-honor-recipient-bruce-crandall-whose-heroism-was-chronicled-in-we-were-soldiers-once-dies-at-93\\\/#article\",\n\t \"isPartOf\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/veterans\\\/military-history\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/02\\\/medal-of-honor-recipient-bruce-crandall-whose-heroism-was-chronicled-in-we-were-soldiers-once-dies-at-93\\\/\"\n\t },\n\t \"author\": {\n\t \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t },\n\t \"headline\": \"Medal of Honor recipient Bruce Crandall, whose heroism was chronicled in \u2018We Were Soldiers Once,\u2019 dies at 93\",\n\t \"datePublished\": \"2026-06-02T15:51:28+00:00\",\n\t \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T17:40:34+00:00\",\n\t \"mainEntityOfPage\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/veterans\\\/military-history\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/02\\\/medal-of-honor-recipient-bruce-crandall-whose-heroism-was-chronicled-in-we-were-soldiers-once-dies-at-93\\\/\"\n\t },\n\t \"wordCount\": 729,\n\t \"commentCount\": 0,\n\t \"publisher\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/#organization\"\n\t },\n\t \"image\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/veterans\\\/military-history\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/02\\\/medal-of-honor-recipient-bruce-crandall-whose-heroism-was-chronicled-in-we-were-soldiers-once-dies-at-93\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t },\n\t \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/bio_left.jpg.jpg\",\n\t \"articleSection\": [\n\t \"Daily News Roundup\",\n\t \"Military History\",\n\t \"Military Honor\",\n\t \"News\",\n\t \"Newsletters\",\n\t \"Veterans\",\n\t \"Your Marine Corps\"\n\t ],\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"potentialAction\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"CommentAction\",\n\t \"name\": \"Comment\",\n\t \"target\": [\n\t \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/veterans\\\/military-history\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/02\\\/medal-of-honor-recipient-bruce-crandall-whose-heroism-was-chronicled-in-we-were-soldiers-once-dies-at-93\\\/#respond\"\n\t ]\n\t }\n\t ]\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/veterans\\\/military-history\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/02\\\/medal-of-honor-recipient-bruce-crandall-whose-heroism-was-chronicled-in-we-were-soldiers-once-dies-at-93\\\/\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/veterans\\\/military-history\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/02\\\/medal-of-honor-recipient-bruce-crandall-whose-heroism-was-chronicled-in-we-were-soldiers-once-dies-at-93\\\/\",\n\t \"name\": \"Medal of Honor recipient Bruce Crandall, whose heroism was chronicled in \u2018We Were Soldiers Once,\u2019 dies at 93 - Marine Corps Times\",\n\t \"isPartOf\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/#website\"\n\t },\n\t \"primaryImageOfPage\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/veterans\\\/military-history\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/02\\\/medal-of-honor-recipient-bruce-crandall-whose-heroism-was-chronicled-in-we-were-soldiers-once-dies-at-93\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t },\n\t \"image\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/veterans\\\/military-history\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/02\\\/medal-of-honor-recipient-bruce-crandall-whose-heroism-was-chronicled-in-we-were-soldiers-once-dies-at-93\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t },\n\t \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/bio_left.jpg.jpg\",\n\t \"datePublished\": \"2026-06-02T15:51:28+00:00\",\n\t \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T17:40:34+00:00\",\n\t \"description\": \"Ret. Col. Bruce Crandall received the Medal of Honor for repeatedly flying his helicopter into intense enemy fire to evacuate dozens of wounded troops.\",\n\t \"breadcrumb\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/veterans\\\/military-history\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/02\\\/medal-of-honor-recipient-bruce-crandall-whose-heroism-was-chronicled-in-we-were-soldiers-once-dies-at-93\\\/#breadcrumb\"\n\t },\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"potentialAction\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ReadAction\",\n\t \"target\": [\n\t \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/veterans\\\/military-history\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/02\\\/medal-of-honor-recipient-bruce-crandall-whose-heroism-was-chronicled-in-we-were-soldiers-once-dies-at-93\\\/\"\n\t ]\n\t }\n\t ]\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/veterans\\\/military-history\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/02\\\/medal-of-honor-recipient-bruce-crandall-whose-heroism-was-chronicled-in-we-were-soldiers-once-dies-at-93\\\/#primaryimage\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/bio_left.jpg.jpg\",\n\t \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/bio_left.jpg.jpg\"\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"BreadcrumbList\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/veterans\\\/military-history\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/02\\\/medal-of-honor-recipient-bruce-crandall-whose-heroism-was-chronicled-in-we-were-soldiers-once-dies-at-93\\\/#breadcrumb\",\n\t \"itemListElement\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t \"position\": 1,\n\t \"name\": \"Home\",\n\t \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/\",\n\t \"ad_zone\": \"home\"\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t \"position\": 2,\n\t \"name\": \"Military History\",\n\t \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/veterans\\\/military-history\\\/\",\n\t \"ad_zone\": \"military-history\"\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t \"position\": 3,\n\t \"name\": \"Medal of Honor recipient Bruce Crandall, whose heroism was chronicled in \u2018We Were Soldiers Once,\u2019 dies at 93\"\n\t }\n\t ]\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"WebSite\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/#website\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/\",\n\t \"name\": \"Marine Corps Times\",\n\t \"description\": \"Marine Corps - Independent News For Marines | Marine Corps Times\",\n\t \"publisher\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/#organization\"\n\t },\n\t \"potentialAction\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"SearchAction\",\n\t \"target\": {\n\t \"@type\": \"EntryPoint\",\n\t \"urlTemplate\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"\n\t },\n\t \"query-input\": {\n\t \"@type\": \"PropertyValueSpecification\",\n\t \"valueRequired\": true,\n\t \"valueName\": \"search_term_string\"\n\t }\n\t }\n\t ],\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\"\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"Organization\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/#organization\",\n\t \"name\": \"Marine Corps Times\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/\",\n\t \"logo\": {\n\t \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/marine-logo-white.png\",\n\t \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/marine-logo-white.png\",\n\t \"caption\": \"Marine Corps Times\"\n\t },\n\t \"image\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"\n\t }\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\",\n\t \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t \"image\": {\n\t \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t \"caption\": \"migration\"\n\t },\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/author\\\/migration\\\/\"\n\t }\n\t ]\n\t}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Medal of Honor recipient Bruce Crandall, whose heroism was chronicled in \u2018We Were Soldiers Once,\u2019 dies at 93 - Marine Corps Times","description":"Ret. Col. Bruce Crandall received the Medal of Honor for repeatedly flying his helicopter into intense enemy fire to evacuate dozens of wounded troops.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/veterans\/military-history\/2026\/06\/02\/medal-of-honor-recipient-bruce-crandall-whose-heroism-was-chronicled-in-we-were-soldiers-once-dies-at-93\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Medal of Honor recipient Bruce Crandall, whose heroism was chronicled in \u2018We Were Soldiers Once,\u2019 dies at 93","og_description":"Ret. Col. Bruce Crandall received the Medal of Honor for repeatedly flying his helicopter into intense enemy fire to evacuate dozens of wounded troops.","og_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/veterans\/military-history\/2026\/06\/02\/medal-of-honor-recipient-bruce-crandall-whose-heroism-was-chronicled-in-we-were-soldiers-once-dies-at-93\/","og_site_name":"Marine Corps Times","article_published_time":"2026-06-02T15:51:28+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-08T17:40:34+00:00","author":"Claire Barrett","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Claire Barrett","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/veterans\/military-history\/2026\/06\/02\/medal-of-honor-recipient-bruce-crandall-whose-heroism-was-chronicled-in-we-were-soldiers-once-dies-at-93\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/veterans\/military-history\/2026\/06\/02\/medal-of-honor-recipient-bruce-crandall-whose-heroism-was-chronicled-in-we-were-soldiers-once-dies-at-93\/"},"author":{"name":"migration","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1"},"headline":"Medal of Honor recipient Bruce Crandall, whose heroism was chronicled in \u2018We Were Soldiers Once,\u2019 dies at 93","datePublished":"2026-06-02T15:51:28+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T17:40:34+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/veterans\/military-history\/2026\/06\/02\/medal-of-honor-recipient-bruce-crandall-whose-heroism-was-chronicled-in-we-were-soldiers-once-dies-at-93\/"},"wordCount":729,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/veterans\/military-history\/2026\/06\/02\/medal-of-honor-recipient-bruce-crandall-whose-heroism-was-chronicled-in-we-were-soldiers-once-dies-at-93\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/bio_left.jpg.jpg","articleSection":["Daily News Roundup","Military History","Military Honor","News","Newsletters","Veterans","Your Marine Corps"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/veterans\/military-history\/2026\/06\/02\/medal-of-honor-recipient-bruce-crandall-whose-heroism-was-chronicled-in-we-were-soldiers-once-dies-at-93\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/veterans\/military-history\/2026\/06\/02\/medal-of-honor-recipient-bruce-crandall-whose-heroism-was-chronicled-in-we-were-soldiers-once-dies-at-93\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/veterans\/military-history\/2026\/06\/02\/medal-of-honor-recipient-bruce-crandall-whose-heroism-was-chronicled-in-we-were-soldiers-once-dies-at-93\/","name":"Medal of Honor recipient Bruce Crandall, whose heroism was chronicled in \u2018We Were Soldiers Once,\u2019 dies at 93 - Marine Corps Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/veterans\/military-history\/2026\/06\/02\/medal-of-honor-recipient-bruce-crandall-whose-heroism-was-chronicled-in-we-were-soldiers-once-dies-at-93\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/veterans\/military-history\/2026\/06\/02\/medal-of-honor-recipient-bruce-crandall-whose-heroism-was-chronicled-in-we-were-soldiers-once-dies-at-93\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/bio_left.jpg.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-02T15:51:28+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T17:40:34+00:00","description":"Ret. Col. Bruce Crandall received the Medal of Honor for repeatedly flying his helicopter into intense enemy fire to evacuate dozens of wounded troops.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/veterans\/military-history\/2026\/06\/02\/medal-of-honor-recipient-bruce-crandall-whose-heroism-was-chronicled-in-we-were-soldiers-once-dies-at-93\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/veterans\/military-history\/2026\/06\/02\/medal-of-honor-recipient-bruce-crandall-whose-heroism-was-chronicled-in-we-were-soldiers-once-dies-at-93\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/veterans\/military-history\/2026\/06\/02\/medal-of-honor-recipient-bruce-crandall-whose-heroism-was-chronicled-in-we-were-soldiers-once-dies-at-93\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/bio_left.jpg.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/bio_left.jpg.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/veterans\/military-history\/2026\/06\/02\/medal-of-honor-recipient-bruce-crandall-whose-heroism-was-chronicled-in-we-were-soldiers-once-dies-at-93\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/","ad_zone":"home"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Military History","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/veterans\/military-history\/","ad_zone":"military-history"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Medal of Honor recipient Bruce Crandall, whose heroism was chronicled in \u2018We Were Soldiers Once,\u2019 dies at 93"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/#website","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/","name":"Marine Corps Times","description":"Marine Corps - Independent News For Marines | Marine Corps Times","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/#organization","name":"Marine Corps Times","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/marine-logo-white.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/marine-logo-white.png","caption":"Marine Corps Times"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1","name":"migration","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"migration"},"url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/author\/migration\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/bio_left.jpg.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Marine Corps Times","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76534","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76534"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76534\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":76538,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76534\/revisions\/76538"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76534"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=76534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}