Bruce McQuain from Blackfive joined us once again for Someone You Should Know, our weekly tribute to the troops. Bruce spent 28 years in the U.S. Army and he is a veteran of the Vietnam war. He brings a perspective and understanding to these stories that we could never match.
Tonight, Bruce told us about two amazing Vietnam war heroes, Ed Freeman and Bruce Crandall,
His story of heroism has already been chronicled in the book and movie — 2002’s We Were Soldiers but he said that receiving the nation’s highest military medal was something he never expected and never could have scripted.
He is the second helicopter pilot to receive the award for actions at that battle in November 1965.
Then-Capt. Ed Freeman and Crandall volunteered to fly their UH-1 Hueys into the heart of combat in the valley after military commanders deemed the area too dangerous for aircraft.
“hat was the first real test of our helicopters to resupply and rescue guys in that way,” said. “Normally we’d never fly that close to the fight, and we didn’ like to fly in the dark. But when it turned as hot as it did, we just kept going into the night.
Freeman and Crandall, then an Army major, spent more than 14 hours evacuating wounded soldiers and resupplying the fighting force with ammunition and rations.
The Someone You Should Know radio collaboration began as an extension of Matt Burden’s series at Blackfive. Bruce does an incredible job with the series every week.
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