“There was never a consideration that we would not go into those landing zones. They were my people down there, and they trusted in me to come and get them.” Source: A quote from Retired Army Col. Bruce P. Crandall, 93, who repeatedly flew his unarmed helicopter through heavy fire into the Ia Drang Valley in Vietnam to bring out wounded soldiers, died at his Tempe, Ariz., home on May 31. The Congressional Medal of Honor Society announced his death. Crandall received the nation’s highest award for valor for what he did on Nov. 14, 1965, when American and North Vietnamese regular forces met in their first major battle.