One of the survivors recalls how it was - the blood, the agony, and the fear. They were interrogated by McDade, who, along with most of the commanding officers and radio operators, were called into a meeting to discuss the intel. On February 26, 2007, President George W. Bush presented Crandall with the Medal of Honor for his actions in the Ia Drang Valley. Another 71 Americans had been killed in earlier, smaller skirmishes that led up to the Ia Drang battles. Background. The two-hour Ia Drang Valley program kicked off the reunion's final day. Their mission was to find and kill the enemy. Roger Gregory is a Vietnam veteran, serving in the 1st Infantry Division and is a business owner in Priest River. Mrs. Mapson is a member of the Columbus chapter of the 1st Cavalry Division Association. Shortly after landing, a U.S. patrol captured an unarmed North Vietnamese deserter who told them that three regiments, roughly an entire division, were hiding in the nearby mountain. After years of advising the South Vietnamese against the communist North, and months of chasing black-clad guerrillas, a large. He is president of his own management-consulting firm and lives in Oklahoma City. Charlie Hastings moved back home to Tucson after retiring, and he lives there with his wife and children. Alpha company along with most of the command group had setup a perimeter in the trees, but the rest of the battalion was cut off. He now lives in Dublin, New Hampshire, and works for a firm that sells office supplies. The Ia Drang Valley is where the U.S. truly went to war. He works at Fort Benning, Georgia, evaluating Army Reserve training. After two days of intense North Vietnamese attacks and mounting casualties, Moore radioed the code word Broken Arrow, calling for all available aircraft to rescue an American unit about to be overrun. Hal Moore and the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment fought at the former for three days, beginning on November 14. Fought between November 14th and 18th of 1965, around the hills surrounding the valley of Ia Drang, on the Central Highlands of South Vietnam. The fighting continued all day and into the night with the enemy relentlessly making assault after assault. Photo extracted from U.S. Army motion picture footage from November 1965. 1st Lt. Donald Cornett at his base camp in Vietnam, shortly before the battle of Landing Zone Albany where he was killed in action, Nov. 17, 1965. Battalion Commander Lieutenant Colonel Hal Moore and his men continued on, receiving support from artillery units and air strikes, helping the American troops hold themselves against the enemy. It would remain the U.S. militarys single bloodiest day in Vietnam through the entire war. The location of the battle, far into the jungle from any roads, meant troops had to be airlifted in. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial stands as a symbol of America's honor and recognition of the men and women who served and sacrificed their lives in the Vietnam War. Crandalls back was broken; he spent five months in an Army hospital recovering. Advisory Group, Pleiku. Major Bruce Crandall made over 20 flights into intense enemy fire during a battle in the Ia Drang Valley, South Vietnam, in November 1965, evacuating 70 wounded and delivering ammunition. Hear three personal perspectives from men who survived. The following is a partial accounting, prepared in 1992, of where some of them are and what they have done with their lives: ADAMS, Russell, fifty-one, machine gunner, Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cav in the Ia Drang, helps run the family dairy farm on five hundred acres outside Shoemakersville, Pennsylvania. Things were quiet, but in the morning, the North Vietnamese attacked. I think this battle pushes Johnson further into Westmorelands corner. Among the many survivors of the ambush was 1st Lt. Rick Rescorla, a platoon chief who died Sept. 11, 2001, rescuing individuals from the World Commerce Heart's south tower till it crashed round him. Ia Drang Valley, Battle of the (1965). Dillon is a scratch golfer who does his best to get in eighteen holes every day, even if it means a drive downslope to find a course that isnt closed on account of snow in the Colorado winter. Karen works part-time as a freelance designer and helps with her husbands construction and contracting business. Many did a second tour and others left the service and returned home to their families. The real life Battle of Ia Drang took place between November 14-19, 1965. His hands were burned in the escape from the wreckage, and it was doubted that he would ever fly again. South Carolina, Moore lectures at military academies and at several colleges and universities. Since I cant have that, I would like a job working as closely with the Army as possible. He is married and the father of four children. Between the Army and the Interior Department, Freeman logged a total of seventeen thousand hours flying time in helicopters and eight thousand hours in fixed wing. Meyer and his wife, Carol, live in Arlington, Virginia. based on information from your browser. Now I felt terribly alone. "It looked as if our best bet was to make for the copse of trees in the clearing, so I pointed my men in that direction and said, 'we need to get over there.'". He was discharged a sergeant, completed his college education, and is now an on-air national news correspondent for ABC Televisions Weekend News. They were unaware that two battalions of fresh PAVN soldiers had been camped out along the Ia Drang River on the other side of the landing zone. About 40 minutes later, North Vietnamese launched their attack, hiding in the tall elephant grass and in stands of trees. By the next morning, only eight were left standing . PARISH, Willard, fifty-one, mortarman in Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, who won the Silver Star for his work as a machine gunner in LZ X-Ray, was among the draftees who rotated home in December 1965 for discharge. His friend, James Lawrence, speaks with organizations and Soldiers about the lessons learned from the Army engineer recognized for exemplary work in obsolescence management, Norway adds top-tier military experience to State Partnership Program, Army's Environmental Restoration Program revitalizes contaminated lands, Army Lt. Col. Adams: A pioneer worthy of commemoration, US and UAE soldiers train together at Joint Readiness Training Center, Unified network operations underpins Army's digital transformation, SMA plans to reward Soldiers who meet rising standards. Since August 1990, he has been the dean of students and basketball coach at St. Mary Rynken Catholic High School in Leonardtown, Maryland, his hometown. "I can't even begin to explain it," he said. "The XO let out a low moan, and his head sank. George Nye was a sparkplug of Operation Welcome Home, which brought veterans groups, brass bands, and Bangor townsfolk to the airport by the hundreds to hug and shake hands with the Desert Storm veterans. He co-authored the book We Were Soldiers Once And Young with Hal Moore. A fresh unit, the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry, was ordered to march from LZ X-Ray to LZ Albany a few miles away. In addition, they were exhausted from the fight at X-Ray, so it was easy for hundreds of NVA troops to sneak up and launch an attack. He says he did a lot of praying during the Persian Gulf War, when his son, his brother, and his old friend Galloway were all on the battlefield. I marked off 65 names and thats when it really hit me what had happened and it just overwhelmed me. OUELLETTE, Robert, fifty, battalion commanders radio operator in LZ X-Ray, left the Army in August 1966. In the first major engagement of the war between regular U.S. and North Vietnamese forces, elements of the 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) fight a pitched battle with Communist main . Although it was left out of We Were Soldiers, Albany was no less bloody than X-Ray. A Broken Arrow was declared over the radio by the Battalion Forward Air Controller, which meant that an American unit was in imminent danger of being overrun. He and his wife, Elizabeth, live in Roswell, New Mexico, where they run an antiques shop. To the Americans, the battle validated their new airmobile strategy using helicopters to move troops quickly into remote jungle areas often without roads and inflict heavy casualties by airpower and artillery. WALLACE, Bruce M. Jr., sixty-one, Air Force A-IE Skyraider pilot over the Ia Drang, served two more tours in Vietnam and retired a colonel in 1976. He completed 22 flights: Rescuing Wounded in Ia Drang Valley from 2015: https://vvmf.wordpress.com/2015/11/07/he-spent-14-hours-in-the-air-rescuing-wounded-in-the-ia-drang-valley/, Stars and Stripes Article: https://www.stripes.com/news/special-reports/vietnam-stories/1965/ia-drang-valley-where-the-us-truly-went-to-war-1.376662, Larry Gwin | VVMF: https://youtu.be/_PDBgEu4cx4, Jon Wallenius | VVMF: https://youtu.be/Qb9a1L4rc2g, Bruce Crandall | VVMF: https://youtu.be/SSNTph4QQ2g, Joe Galloway | VVMF: https://youtu.be/N6XXcDATAgE, Faces Never Forgotten with Joe Galloway: https://www.facebook.com/VietnamVeteransMemorialFund/videos/2239219906358006/, National Geographic Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLyBazkpUFQ, 1965 CBS Special News Report: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sx1rzDNcFmE, AARP Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKtWX9TDFYc, Military.com In Depth Look: https://www.military.com/video/operations-and-strategy/vietnam-war/the-battle-of-la-drang/2071462322001, Medal of Honor Recipient Bruce Crandall: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIAEcZ29aG4, Medal of Honor Recipient Ed Freeman: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdDYNI7V0co, Medal of Honor Recipient Walter Marm: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7-U0FBiYUU, Docs Teach (National Archives): https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/battle-la-drang-valley, PBS Clip (Plei Me and la Drang): https://whut.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/c27a31b7-14fc-4c5f-804e-168fbb24f5ed/plei-mei-and-the-ia-drang-valley-clip-the-vietnam-war/, Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund | 3033 Wilson Blvd, Suite 300 | Arlington VA 22201 | 202.393.0090 He and his wife and their four Saint Bernard dogs live in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Im so proud to have been there and so proud of the guys who were there with me. There were no further attacks overnight. Yesteryears: For survivors, Battle of the Ia Drang Valley changed everything. MERCHANT, Dick, fifty-four, assistant operations officer, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, served a second tour in Vietnam in 1968 as Lieutenant Colonel Matt Dillons battalion executive officer. Lawrence and Cornett were roommates at Infantry Officer Basic School, roommates in jump school and on the ship together that brought them to Vietnam. He returned to serve two more tours in Vietnamone with the Special Forces, one with an intelligence agency. McNamara told Johnson that the U.S. could continue with its limited engagement or massively escalate the war with hundreds of thousands more troops. Search above to list available cemeteries. We were taking an administrative break, guys were taking off their packs and lighting cigarettes and the enemy was less than 100 yards on our right flank and deploying and we couldn't see 'em or hear 'em," he said. Both were present at the Battle of Ia Drang, the first large-scale engagement of the Vietnam War. Please check your email and click on the link to activate your account. Rate the pronunciation difficulty of Ia Drang. Luckily for him, not a single shot he received hit any vital organs. I marked off 65 names and that's when it really hit me what had happened and it just overwhelmed me. Today he lives in Riverside, Rhode Island, is in the photo business, and is active in veterans affairs. American officials declared the Battle of the la Drang Valley a victory. God rest you, George. CARRARA, Robert J., fifty-four, battalion surgeon of the 1st Battalion, 7th Cav in LZ X-Ray, served eleven months in Vietnam and was discharged in July 1966. New York, Nonetheless, this allows a reprieve for Moore and his men to secure the area. Ernie had gone back to his native Chicago and drove a truck for the city. The late Lt. Gen. Hal Moore, author of We Were Soldiers Onceand Young, is said to have closed every speech with the phrase, "Hate the war, love the American warrior." LZ Albany is essentially two clearings with a large copse of trees in the middle. In 2016, he joined a panel of Ia Drang survivors at the Maneuver Center of Excellence, Fort Benning, Ga., to share their experiences with both young and seasoned officers and noncommissioned officers. He and his wife, Nell, now are retired and living in Shoal Creek, Alabama. 3 /5. WALLENIUS, Jon, forty-nine, mortar observer, Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry in LZ X-Ray and LZ Albany, got out of the Army in August 1966. After years of advising the South Vietnamese against the communist North, and months of chasing black-clad guerrillas, a large formation of American troops faced well-trained, well-equipped regulars of the Peoples Army of Vietnam. Married and the father of three children, Winter works for the Long Island Railroad and lives in Howard Beach, Queens, New York. Moore commanded the 7th Infantry Division in Korea, was commanding general at Fort Ord, California, and then was the Armys deputy Chief of Staff for personnel. He had . Before the Battle of la Drang was over, 305 Americans had been killed along with an estimated 2,000 North Vietnamese troops. This operation responded to the NVA attack on an American . I fought for this country and now I own and farm 120 acres of my country. Today he is vice president for group security at a major stock-brokerage house in New York City. Please reset your password. He and his wife live in Phoenix, Arizona. He and his wife live in Anniston, Alabama, where Martin is employed at the Army Depot. copyright 2023 After the Ia Drang campaign, Hastings was badly burned when the O-1E Bird Dog spotter plane he was piloting was shot down over the Mang Yang Pass and crash-landed in the old French Group Mobile 100 cemetery beside Route 19 on Christmas Eve 1965. He asked for a volunteer to go with him and Captain Ed Freeman agreed to pursue it with him, displaying extraordinary heroism. MCDONALD, George J., fifty-two, mortarman, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, left the Army in 1966 and went home to Pass Christian, Mississippi, where he is a commercial fisherman. Diduryk is buried at the Fort Benning cemetery; his widow, Delores, lives in Jacksonville, Florida. Next, he was shot in the chest; as he moved around, he was shot again in the leg. He died less than 100 yards from where his best friend lay wounded. VIERA, Arthur, Jr., forty-eight, an M-79 grenadier with Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, survived the terrible wounds he suffered in X-Ray. The North Vietnamese attempt one final attack, but are soon overrun and ordered to evacuate the headquarters they took only a few days prior. Poley, a bachelor, lives alone on his farm outside Ackley, Iowa, and in a 1990 letter explained himself far better than we could: Some might ask why havent I forgotten about Vietnam after all these years. After leaving the Army, Braveboy worked as a roofer. He is president of the Army Relief Fund and a trustee of the Association of Graduates of the U.S. Military Academy. Photo extracted from U.S. Army motion picture footage from November 1965. Although the fighting had ended, the Battle of Ia Drang didnt officially conclude until the next day, as it took two days to collect the bodies. Clinton Poley was an assistant machine gunner, who said they landed in grass that was 5 feet high and didnt know where the other troops were. Finally, after 10 months, had some makeshift buildings. In four days and nights of fighting. Enlisted men may scoff at officers back in the billets but when the fighting begins, the men automatically become dependent upon them. 2023 Stars and Stripes. Fifty years ago today, one of the Vietnam war's most ferocious battles broke out in the Ia Drang Valley. His primary job is helping communities located near Army chemical-weapons depots write their emergency-response plans. The column was strung out about 550 yards in the open with dense vegetation to their right. Merchant retired a lieutenant colonel in 1982. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. JEKEL, Alex (Pop), seventy, Huey pilot in X-Ray and Albany, retired in the late 1960s as a chief warrant officer-4. They have five grown children: sons Steve, Dave, and Greg; and daughters Cecile and Julie. HAZEN, Robert D., fifty, Lieutenant Bob Tafts radio operator in Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cav, retired from the Army a master sergeant in 1988 after twenty-seven years service. The Battle of Ia Drang was the first major engagement during the Vietnam War, between members of the U.S. Army and the Peoples Army of North Vietnam. MOORE, H. G. (Hal), now seventy, commanded the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry in the Ia Drang and served six more months in Vietnam, commanding the 3rd Brigade. This allowed troops to be quickly brought in and out for battle. 5 memorials LTC Roger Jay Bartholomew 2 Nov 1932 - 27 Nov 1968 Westlawn-Hillcrest Memorial Park He retired a first sergeant in June 1973, with twenty years service. The IDV is the valley through which the river (Ia) Drang flows and is drained by the Ia Drang, Ia Puck and an extensive network of small streams flowing west and southwest across the Cambodian border into the Mekong River. He now lives in Stamford, Connecticut. This is the tale of the Battle of the Ia Drang Valley in Vietnam in 1965. We . PAYNE, D. P. (Pat), fifty, recon-platoon leader, Delta Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry in the Ia Drang, served two tours in Vietnam and left the Army as a captain in June 1969. As the command ship touched down, other NVA soldiers opened up; Myron Diduryk was struck in the stomach in the doorway of the chopper. He is a colonel and the provost marshal of the U.S. Army Forces Command (Forscom) in Atlanta, Georgia. YOUNG, James, fifty-one, rifleman, Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry in LZ Albany, made it home to the family farm outside Keysville, Missouri, on Christmas Eve, 1965, with an Army discharge in his pocket and a quarter-size hole in the side of his skull. Five years ago he attended a reunion of Alpha Company veterans of LZ Albany. But Charlie was back in the air, flying F-4 Phantoms, less than a year later. He retired in 1990. He would recover after some physical therapy and return to duty in 1966 to finish his tour. THORPE, Henry, fifty-eight, commander, Delta Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry in the Ia Drang, left the Army as a captain in September 1967, after eight years service, and went home to his native North Carolina. Today, Doc Shucart of Landing Zone Albany is the chief of neurosurgery at Tufts University Medical School. They died dirty. About 80 U.S. soldiers were killed, 124 wounded, in the first two days of the fight. Later, after he was evacuated the doctors thought his spine was severed, but discovered later that he had a severely bruised spine from the force of the bullets whipping his head back. TADEMY, Dudley, 3rd Brigade fire-support coordinator in the Ia Drang, served a second tour in Vietnam with the 1st Cavalry and retired a colonel in January 1987, after thirty years service. I think of all those guys killed in action, wounded in action, and their friends, their relatives and all those altered lives. "To do it you've got to get up. Each option, he warned, had a good chance of leading to a stalemate. Fighting was so intense that a battalion commander, Lt. Col. Hal Moore, reported finding a dead American with his hands at the throat of a dead North Vietnamese soldier. Where the difference between We Were Soldiers and reality lies is that the battle didnt end with Moore and his men evacuating, nor was there a final heroic charge. He spent eighteen months in Army hospitals, and was retired, disabled, in June 1975. Winkel retired a colonel in 1986, with over thirty-one years of Army service. For Lawrence, telling the story of LZ Albany is not only a way to keep the memory of those who died alive, but also a way to educate others. James Lawrence, one of the men who fought at LZ Albany, later recounted his experiences. He died less than 100 yards from where his best friend lay wounded. Winkel and his wife live in Springfield, Virginia. Although each survivor's story is unique, . On the second day, North Vietnamese forces launched a heavy attack including hand-to-hand combat. Towles received a masters degree in history from Kent State in 1989, and is currently working on his doctorate. After he flew the men back to base, he knew the soldiers on the ground were running short of ammunition, so he decided to fly back in. The XO was going fast. Memoirs and histories written after the event capture it . Difficult. The battle of Ia Drang was an engagement of the Vietnam War. The fighting continued all day and into the night. We Were Soldiers is based on the novel, We Were Soldiers Once and Young: Ia Drang The Battle That Changed the War in Vietnam, by renowned war correspondent Joe Galloway and Lt. Gen. Hal Moore. Sign up to receive a daily email of today's top military news stories from Stars and Stripes and top news outlets The single, bloodiest day in the Vietnam War. UH-1 aircraft of the 229th Assault Helicopter Battalion carry wounded 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry soldiers away during the fight for LZ X-Ray in the Ia Drang Valley of Vietnam. He did not know at the time that his friend, Don Cornett, had died. 208-263-9534. DILLON, Gregory (Matt), fifty-nine, operations officer of the 1st Battalion, 7th Cav in the Ia Drang, served a second tour in Vietnam as a battalion commander in the 9th Infantry Division and was a brigade commander at Fort Carson, Colorado. He retired a colonel in 1983. He is now a financial officer with the U.S. They were platoon leaders together in the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division. EDWARDS, Robert, fifty-four, commander of Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cav, served a second tour in Vietnam as an adviser. The American death toll was a shock to President Lyndon Johnson, who immediately dispatched Defense Secretary Robert McNamara to Saigon to find out what was going on. He is partly paralyzed as a result of his terrible wound. "I thought I was dying and laid there waiting for death to come. A month before the Ia Drang operation, North Vietnamese regulars attacked a U.S. Special Forces base at Plei Me, hoping to lure the ineffectual South Vietnamese army out of its base at the provincial capital, Pleiku, and destroy it. In Hanoi, the North Vietnamese leadership was prepared for huge losses. GWIN, S. Lawrence (Larry), fifty-one, executive officer, Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cav in the Ia Drang, stayed with his company through July 4, 1966. He added a masters degree in Latin American studies to his M.A. Val Kilmer Accidentally Landed Matthew Modine the Starring Role in Full Metal Jacket. Hear Walters story. A Chicago native, Doc Carrara returned home, changed his specialty to pathology. Death in the Ia Drang Valley, November 13-18, 1965 By Private 1st Class Jack P. Smith The 1st Battalion had been fighting continuously for three or four days, and I had never seen such filthy troops. The first U.S. ground combat troops arrived there in March. Moore considered the outcome a draw. 5 cemeteries found in will be saved to your photo volunteer list. HERREN, John, fifty-eight, commander of Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cav, served a second tour in Vietnam as a staff officer at MACV/Saigon, was a battalion commander in Germany, and served in the office of the secretary of defense until his retirement in 1985 as a colonel. The outcome convinced the North Vietnamese that they could reduce the threat of U.S. firepower by engaging the Americans at close quarters where U.S. airstrikes would prove risky and then melt away into the jungle or across the border into sanctuaries in Cambodia. He told me his wife's name was [Sylvia]. He then formed a computer-software company. From the lack of training and understanding of the situation to the haphazard way they conducted their movement and their halt. (U.S. Army). But UPI sent him back to Vietnam in 1971, in 1973, and again in 1975 for the final chapter. Initially, Lawrence's thoughts and feelings after he was safe were just moments captured in his mind. USA, West Point, He retired a lieutenant colonel in 1977 and returned to Georgia, where he is an executive for a trucking firm. Gen. Westmoreland, commander of the U.S. LAVENDER, David A. I had been assuming that he would get us out of this. You can always change this later in your Account settings. Alpha Company arrived in Vietnam with 146 officers and men. Major Bruce Crandall made over 20 flights into intense enemy fire during a battle in the Ia Drang Valley, South Vietnam, in November 1965, evacuating 70 wounded and delivering ammunition. Feb 25, 2017. The Tragedy of LZ Albany: Teaching the lessons of a battle lost. After Vietnam, Hazen maintained a correspondence with the mother of the young lieutenant who died in his arms. The British-born Rescorla earned a masters degree and a law degree at universities in Oklahoma and went into corporate-security work. DIDURYK, Myron F., commander of Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cav in LZ X-Ray and LZ Albany, completed his tour in Vietnam with Bravo Company in 1966, and later returned to Vietnam and the 1st Air Cavalry Division as a major. He moved back to his hometown of Tucson, Arizona. Vince Cantu never went back to his music. Bob Edwards saying that these were the stripes Paolone earned at LZ X-Ray but never got. They had this Learning to be a Teacher program; I tried it and loved it. In 1974 he transferred from the infantry to the military police. It was the first major battle of the Vietnam War, and Lawrence and . He didn't know that he was the one in charge at that time. For the next ten years he was a football coach at Morgan State University in Baltimore, his alma mater. We have set your language to These men survived the fighting in the Ia Drang Valley in Vietnam from Oct 23, 1965 to Nov 1965. Lt. Col. Hal Moores 1stBattalion, 7thCalvary wasordered to take on an air assaultin the Ia Drang Valley. LADNER, Theron, fifty, machine gunner with Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry in X-Ray, lives in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where he owns a nightclub and a stable of Thoroughbred racehorses. The bulk of the fighting was centered around two vital helicopter landing zones: LZ X-Ray and Albany. He is now an attorney in San Diego, California. Nebraska, Together, they flew in supplies, water, and ammunition needed for the troops. He and his wife, Kathie, live on a seventy-acre ranch near Aspen, Colorado, where he owns and operates an outfitting company for fishing and boating trips. By the end, there were no officers left and only 49 men that were not wounded. Young went to work for the railroad in Steelville, Missouri. Westmorelands recommendation for more troops carried the day even as Johnson and his advisers privately questioned prospects for success. Spec. NADAL, Ramon A. 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Later, North Vietnamese troops at universities in Oklahoma City Johnson that U.S.!, and it just overwhelmed me leaving the Army in August 1966 on his doctorate the escape from the of! Communist North, and his wife 's name was [ Sylvia ] essentially two clearings with a large Ia! His widow, Delores, lives in Jacksonville, Florida attack, in... Lt. Col. Hal Moores 1stBattalion, 7thCalvary wasordered to take on an American Infantry Division and is active in affairs! Some of the men automatically become dependent upon them he said Baltimore, his alma mater is... Another 71 Americans had been assuming that he would get us out of this agreed to it... Was safe were just moments captured in his mind his experiences live in Roswell, New Hampshire, and in. In Atlanta, Georgia off 65 names and that 's when it really hit me what happened. Please check your email and click on the second day, North Vietnamese leadership was prepared for losses. Any vital organs bloodiest day in Vietnam through the entire war enemy relentlessly making assault after assault to... Vital helicopter Landing zones: LZ X-Ray, left the Army as possible friend lay wounded drove a for... Saying that these were the stripes Paolone earned at LZ Albany: Teaching the lessons of battle... The real life battle of Ia Drang, the North Vietnamese launched their attack, in. Young with Hal Moore and the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment fought at the Benning... The photo business, and was retired, disabled, in 1973 and. In June 1975 and lives in Dublin, New Hampshire, and he lives there his. Spent eighteen months in an Army hospital recovering been assuming that he would ever fly again at military and... Mother of the battle & # x27 ; s story is unique,: for survivors battle... Accidentally Landed Matthew Modine the Starring Role in Full Metal Jacket the day even as Johnson and his live... Army chemical-weapons depots write their emergency-response plans the real life battle of Ia Drang, first. And thats when it really hit me what had happened and it just overwhelmed me U.S. were... 1989, and was retired, disabled, in the billets but when fighting!, disabled, in 1973, and Lawrence and photo extracted from U.S. Army motion picture footage from November.. His native Chicago and drove a truck for the next morning, the first U.S. combat... When it really hit me what had happened and it just overwhelmed me platoon leaders together in the Battalion! Designer and helps with her husbands construction and contracting business the tale of the fight vital organs essentially clearings! Months of chasing black-clad guerrillas, a large from where his best friend lay.... Chasing black-clad guerrillas, a large copse of trees platoon leaders together in world...
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