American Valor Quarterly Issue 2 - Spring 2008 | Page 30

pointed star around his neck, 40-some years late—but better late
than never. A recipient of the Medal of Honor, the third of our
comrades from the Ia Drang battles to receive that signal honor.
I don’t know of a battle where they handed out more, though
there may have been a battle where they handed out as many.
Bruce, your mic.
Lt. Col. Bruce Crandall: Thank you. I want to first observe
that I learned a long time ago from John McCain after I insulted
him on the mic, and he got the mic afterward, to try to be the last
one on the mic. In case one of these guys tried to go after me, I’d
have a little more time to get even!
As you noticed, I do have the Medal
of Honor, but I wouldn’t put it on
with this group. They all deserve it,
and I felt that for years. And I love
them all. I think I would be much
wealthier today if they hadn’t been
stealing my cigars all those times! I lost
all my flight pay to cigars just to Tony!

Joseph L. Galloway

We had a saying at that time; I come
out of the assault helicopter company,
and the saying of Army aviation is
“Above the Best.” And it didn’t mean
that we were better than those on the
ground, but it meant that we were
above the best people in the world
who were on the ground. We
supported our infantry, and we loved
them. We took all of the harassment
that they gave us, the nonsense about
us flying back to the base camp,
sleeping under sheets, fooling around
with nurses, and having massages—
that was all true, but still! We tried to
cover it up!

For the next year, I jokingly said that people at this table were
trying to get me killed for the whole damn year! I didn’t know
who the enemy was exactly! But I lifted these guys for a year, and
felt like I was given a wonderful opportunity to do so. We trained
with them, and that’s one of the things that made us so effective.
One of my aircraft that was supporting us on that day disappeared
on the 28th of December, and we never found them. So I had
four MIAs, and that’s really tough to have. A KIA I could do
something about; I could write the letter saying how sorry I was.
But how do you write a letter saying that I can’t find your husband
to a woman that you’ve known for several years, and you know
their kids? That’s the tough part. It is
hard to sit yourself down to write the
letter, when you finally realize that the
guy is not going to be found. So MIAs
should not be forgotten.
One more thing that I would like to
say, is if you saw George Forrest come
running down through your area,
you’d probably let him go too! He is
as fast as he says he is, and he’s quite a
bit bigger than maybe he should be!
No, everybody at this table is a friend
I would walk through hell with, and I
suspect that we’d be welcomed there
by some of our friends!
Question from the audience: You
mentioned Sgt. Maj. Plumley. Where
is he now, and can you talk a little
about his background?

Joseph Galloway: Delighted to.
Sergeant Major—now retiredJoseph Galloway served three tours in Vietnam for
Command Sergeant Major, one of the
United Press International. He would be awarded the
first people to hold that exalted rank
Bronze Star with Valor for rescuing wounded American
in the U.S. Army—retired after 33
soldiers while under enemy fire during the battle at LZ
years service in Columbus, Georgia.
X-Ray, the only civilian to receive that award from the
Army during the Vietnam War.
Did 15 more years working for the
On the fourth trip into X-Ray, we
Army at Martin Army Hospital on Ft.
received some ground fire, then on
the fifth lift all hell broke loose. Out of my 16 aircraft, eight of Benning. Retired again, and he’s 87, I think, this year. He is crustier
them got to the ground on the fifth lift and four of them had to than Sam Elliot could even portray in the movie. Not a man to
be grounded when we got back to the base and Plei Me. My trifle with. A man of few words. Listen carefully when he says
radio operator was shot through the throat—he was a young something, even today. He lives with his wife in Columbus, and
radio operator from the infantry who never got off the aircraft. still occasionally travels around and makes a talk or two. If he
People were hit before they were able to get off. So it turned to comes anywhere near you, he’s worth listening to.
hell. And for the next few hours, until about 10:30 at night, we
were going in and out of that landing zone. One of the things He joined the Army in 1941 and became a paratrooper. I asked
that I remember most about it is that Hal Moore would be on him, “Why did you become a paratrooper, Sergeant Major?” He
the radio, and I would be talking to him, and he’d be so damn came out of West Virginia, out of the hills and hollows, and he
calm that I wondered if he knew what was going on. Because said, “I joined the Army to keep from starvin’ to death, Joe.” He
people were trying to kill me, and it didn’t seem to be a big joined the paratroopers because it was worth $60 more a month
in pay. He made, and survived, all four combat jumps of the
concern to him!
82nd Airborne in World War II—Sicily, Salerno, Normandy, and

American Valor Quarterly - Spring 2008 - 30