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The Real American Idol
OpinionJournal.com ^ | March 1, 2007 | DanielL Henninger

Posted on 03/01/2007 5:03:37 AM PST by NonValueAdded

The Real American Idol
Why the New York Times buried Maj. Bruce Crandall's Medal of Honor on page 15.

BY DANIEL HENNINGER
Thursday, March 1, 2007 12:01 a.m. EST

Amid the mad jumble that makes the news in our time, the White House on Monday held a ceremony for a Medal of Honor recipient. His name is Bruce Crandall. Mr. Crandall is 74 now, and earned his medal as a major, flying a Huey helicopter in 1965 in the Vietnam War.

The Medal of Honor is conferred only for bravery in combat. It is a military medal, and it is still generally regarded as the highest public tribute this nation can bestow. It is also very rare.

...snip...

In a less doubtful culture, Maj. Crandall's magnificent medal would have been on every front page, if only a photograph. It was on no one's front page Tuesday. The New York Times, the culture's lodestar, had a photograph on its front page of President Bush addressing governors about an insurance plan. Maj. Crandall's Medal of Honor was on page 15, in a round-up, three lines from the bottom. Other big-city dailies also ran it in their news summaries; some--the Washington Post, USA Today--ran full accounts inside.

...snip...

(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...


TOPICS: Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: crandall; moh; vietnam; weweresoldiers
[I classified this as front page news that it should have been].

Mr. Crandall, then a major, commanded a company with the 229th Assault Helicopter Battalion, carrying soldiers to a landing zone, called X-ray, in the la Drang Valley. An assault from the North Vietnamese army erupted, as described at the White House ceremony Monday. Three soldiers on Maj. Crandall's helicopter were killed. He kept it on the ground while four wounded were taken aboard. Back at base, he asked for a volunteer to return with him to X-ray. Capt. Ed Freeman came forward. Through smoke and bullets, they flew in and out 14 times, spent 14 hours in the air and used three helicopters. They evacuated 70 wounded. The battalion survived.

Yes, This was Snake from We Were Soldiers ... and Young.

The real test of "We Support The Troops" comes from actions, not words, and look how the MSM demonstrates their support.

1 posted on 03/01/2007 5:03:39 AM PST by NonValueAdded
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To: ALOHA RONNIE; Kathy in Alaska; MoJo2001; StarCMC

ping


2 posted on 03/01/2007 5:05:16 AM PST by NonValueAdded (Prevent Glo-Ball Warming ... turn out the sun when not in use)
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To: NonValueAdded; txradioguy

Power Line has some thoughts on this today.

"The Vietnam-era journalists began a tradition that today's press consistently upholds. We hear very little from most large press outlets about American heroes in Iraq and Afghanistan, men like James Coffman Jr., Danny Dietz, and Christopher Adlesperger, or about our military successes there. Instead of associating such names with these wars, Americans associate the words they hear most often from the press, like Abu Ghraib and Haditha. As in Vietnam, too, the shunning of heroes does not extend to the press's coverage of itself. Awards to journalists, both those who have spent time in Iraq and Afghanistan and those who have not, are considered worthy of lengthy news stories."

The rest is here: http://powerlineblog.com/archives/016900.php


3 posted on 03/01/2007 5:08:16 AM PST by Bahbah (.Regev, Goldwasser & Shalit, we are praying for you.)
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To: NonValueAdded; txradioguy; ALOHA RONNIE
Yes, This was Snake from We Were Soldiers ... and Young.

I saw this movie. God was truly watching over these guys. (Right, Ronnie?) And, Snake had an angel watching after him. This is what I consider heroes!

I'm a little pissed that people (a.k.a....liberal media) are labeling everyone a hero these days. Not so. A hero to me is someone who knows the danger but goes or does it, anyway.

p.s. It took them long enough to give this man a medal!!!! Geez!

4 posted on 03/01/2007 5:12:33 AM PST by beachn4fun (“Americans never quit.” ~ General Douglas Macarthur (1880 - 1964))
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To: Bahbah

Thank you for adding that link and those thoughts. Yes, the bulk of the press reflects the American culture not as it is but as they think is should be. OpinionJournal.com is a refreshing difference (despite the occasional Noonan non-sequitur).


5 posted on 03/01/2007 5:15:25 AM PST by NonValueAdded (Prevent Glo-Ball Warming ... turn out the sun when not in use)
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To: All
See also Newest Medal of Honor Recipient Inducted Into Pentagon Hall of Heroes.

Try a keyword search on MOH and while that may be a small indictment on our indexing skills as readers, note well that the bulk of the articles are from the Armed Forces Press Service or the occasional local paper story.

Note too that there are birthday stories posted for MOH recipients by FReeper gate2wire, stories that should be required reading for all.

6 posted on 03/01/2007 5:22:25 AM PST by NonValueAdded (Prevent Glo-Ball Warming ... turn out the sun when not in use)
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To: NonValueAdded

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker and Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England congratulate retired Army Lt. Col. Bruce Crandall following his induction into the Pentagon Hall of Heroes, Feb. 27. Photo by Donna Miles

7 posted on 03/01/2007 5:31:25 AM PST by NonValueAdded (Prevent Glo-Ball Warming ... turn out the sun when not in use)
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To: NonValueAdded

FYI: you can watch the ceremony at PentagonChannel.com.


8 posted on 03/01/2007 5:37:52 AM PST by StarCMC (After the attacks of 9/11, profiling Muslims is more like profiling the Klan. - Ann Coulter)
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To: NonValueAdded; All

I'll give the NY Slimes one thing...they're consistient...doesn't matter what war...they will bury the GOOD NEWS as deep as they can.


9 posted on 03/01/2007 5:41:42 AM PST by txradioguy (In Memory Of My Friend 1SG Tim Millsap A Co. 70th Engineer Bn. K.I.A. 25 Apr. 2005)
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To: txradioguy

Once, valor earned the newspapers' front pages and sex was a private affair. Now it's exactly the reverse.


10 posted on 03/01/2007 6:44:02 AM PST by AZLiberty (Tag to let -- 50 cents.)
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To: All; NonValueAdded

.


MEVER FORGET



..BRUCE CRANDALL = Medal of Honor..

http://www.ArmchairGeneral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=48215




NEVER FORGET

.


11 posted on 03/01/2007 7:16:38 AM PST by ALOHA RONNIE ("ALOHA RONNIE" Guyer/Veteran-"WE WERE SOLDIERS" Battle of IA DRANG-1965 http://www.lzxray.com)
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To: AZLiberty

That's because their hero, Slick Willie was incapable of valor, but quite willing for sex with anyone, any where, any time, whether they were willing or not.


12 posted on 03/01/2007 7:20:43 AM PST by PzLdr ("The Emperor is not as forgiving as I am" - Darth Vader)
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To: ALOHA RONNIE

Ronnie,

Did "Too Tall" also receive the DSC for his wingman role?


13 posted on 03/01/2007 7:27:35 AM PST by NonValueAdded (Prevent Glo-Ball Warming ... turn out the sun when not in use)
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To: NonValueAdded
I saw it on Brit Hume's show, Crandall is a hero. He says he flew in 22 times under fire, with the n. vietnamese sometimes only 30 yards away, bringing supplies to, initially 200 men, and taking the wounded out.

At the end of the story, Brit Hume commented, "Where do we find such men?"

14 posted on 03/01/2007 7:37:27 AM PST by thirst4truth
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To: thirst4truth

I saw the interview and story on Brit's show as well, by the time they were done, I had tears in my eyes. Crandall should have announced he might be Danielynn's father, that would have made front news and every news outlet would have wanted to interview him. Pathetic what passes for news these days.


15 posted on 03/01/2007 11:03:44 AM PST by psjones (u)
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To: All; NonValueAdded; mdcrandall

.


NEVER FORGET


Battle of IA DRANG-1965 ED "Too Tall" FREEMAN was given the Medal of Honor in 2001 upon the specific recommendation of his helicopter commander,

Major BRUCE CRANDALL,

...who while doing so knew he was probably signing a death warrant for his own such honor.

A Real American Idol:

http://www.Freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1793199/posts


NEVER FORGET

.


16 posted on 03/01/2007 8:18:14 PM PST by ALOHA RONNIE ("ALOHA RONNIE" Guyer/Veteran-"WE WERE SOLDIERS" Battle of IA DRANG-1965 http://www.lzxray.com)
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To: NonValueAdded
I don't know if any of you read the full article, but Daniel Henninger ruined this heroic headline as a miserable anti-military message which questions the ethos upon which our brave fighting soldiers live by every day. I was about to forward the article to military friends and family until I realized it was an op-ed piece and his anti-war agenda is stated before the substance of the article.

It should have been titled, "Why MAJ Crandall Shouldn't Have Received the MOH."

God Bless you MAJ Crandall. Thank you for what you did. It doesn't take a movie to earn my respect.

Respectfully,
CPT M.
BSM, ARCOM, OIF I (2003-04)
17 posted on 03/01/2007 9:46:16 PM PST by SCPatriot77
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To: SCPatriot77
Captain, was this the passage you meant? Henninger used it as a rhetorical device, not as a statement of his feelings, viz.:
An American soldier in combat demonstrates "the basic goodness of mankind"? And the highest level of human behavior? This was not thought to be true at the moment Maj. Crandall was flying those choppers in Vietnam. The Vietnam protesters, Cronkite, Fonda and her ilk, etc. Nor is it now. Code Pink, ABCCBSNBCCNN, Murtha and his ilk despite his protestations to the contraty.

To embrace the thoughts of Gen. Schoomaker and of Secretary Harvey heroism is good, the warrior ethos, no man left behind, etc. is to risk being accused of defending notions of American triumphalism and an overly strong martial spirit thought inappropriate to the realities of a multilateral world Multi-culti twaddle, Kerry and his global test, all the leftist drivel. This is a debate worth having Let's attack that nonsense and expose it as the used food it is. But we are not having it Not PC, the MSM will not eat their own. We are hiding from it. And he goes on to say that is why the MOH story was on page 15, not 1.

So Henninger was using those statements to illustrate the absurdity of the MSM, not to shoot down his own argument. JMHO
18 posted on 03/02/2007 4:26:54 AM PST by NonValueAdded (Prevent Glo-Ball Warming ... turn out the sun when not in use)
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