COLONEL BRUCE CRANDALL (1933–2026)
Born on February 17, 1933, in Olympia, Washington, Crandall was a standout high school baseball player before being drafted into the Army in 1953. He trained as a fixed-wing and helicopter pilot, later commanding an assault helicopter company with the 1st Cavalry Division.
On November 14, 1965, during the Battle of Ia Drang — the first major clash between American and North Vietnamese forces — Crandall flew his unarmed UH-1 helicopter into Landing Zone X-Ray under relentless enemy fire. Though medevac wasn't his mission, he volunteered to lead a small flight of aircraft in to resupply the besieged troops and evacuate the wounded, completing 22 harrowing runs and helping save dozens of lives. His actions, alongside those of his wingman Ed Freeman, inspired the book and film We Were Soldiers.
Crandall flew nearly 1,000 combat missions across two tours in Vietnam and was seriously injured in a helicopter crash in 1968. He retired from the Army in 1977 as a colonel. In 2007, more than four decades after Ia Drang, President George W. Bush awarded him the Medal of Honor.
Bruce Crandall passed away on May 31, 2026, at the age of 93, remembered as much for his humility and warmth as for his extraordinary courage under fire.
JOSEPH GALLOWAY (1941–2021)
Born in Refugio, Texas, Galloway began his career at Texas and Kansas newspapers before joining United Press International, which sent him to cover Vietnam in 1965.
On November 14 of that year, he caught a helicopter into Landing Zone X-Ray to cover the opening battle between American and North Vietnamese forces — the Battle of Ia Drang. What he found was no ordinary story to report from a distance: amid the chaos, Galloway carried wounded men to safety, ran ammunition and water to soldiers under fire, and ultimately picked up a rifle to defend himself and the men around him.
There he forged a lasting friendship with Lt. Col. Hal Moore, the battalion commander, and the two later co-wrote We Were Soldiers Once… And Young (1992), one of the most acclaimed accounts of the Vietnam War and later adapted into the 2002 film We Were Soldiers, in which Galloway was portrayed by Barry Pepper.
In 1998, more than three decades after the battle, the Army awarded Galloway the Bronze Star Medal with "V" device for valor — making him the only civilian journalist decorated for combat action during the Vietnam War. He went on to a long career covering conflicts around the world and continued honoring the veterans of Ia Drang for the rest of his life.
Joe Galloway died on August 18, 2021, at the age of 79, remembered as a reporter who never stood apart from the story — he lived it alongside the soldiers he wrote about.
LT. GENERAL HAL MOORE (1922–2017)
A 1945 West Point graduate, Moore rose through the ranks as a paratrooper and Airborne officer before taking command of the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment in 1965.
That November, Moore led his battalion into the Ia Drang Valley, the first major engagement between U.S. and North Vietnamese regular forces. Outnumbered and surrounded at Landing Zone X-Ray, he held his position through days of brutal combat, earning the respect of his men and the enemy alike for his composure and his refusal to leave any soldier behind — living or dead.
Moore later co-authored We Were Soldiers Once...and Young with journalist Joseph Galloway, an unflinching account of Ia Drang that became a landmark of war literature and the basis for the 2002 film We Were Soldiers. He retired in 1977 as a Lieutenant General, remembered as a soldier's soldier — a commander who led from the front and never forgot the weight of command.
