A lot of the media seem to be glossing over the fact that he sustained concussion, which presumably didn't happen to him during his Vietnam experiences.
No they weren't, they were breaking FAA rules. It is illegal to bump a booked passenger off a flight in favour of unbooked airline staff. The flight was not overbooked.
They can do this up to the departure gate.
But when a correctly booked passenger is seated on a plane, the airline have no right to offload them. The pilot can, but did not in this case.
The reporting is misleading. This flight was not overbooked. United wanted to bump passengers off and...