The plane hit several tombstones and flipped over. Crandall kept his helicopter on the ground in the line of enemy fire, so that four wounded soldiers could be loaded aboard. The communist threat to the central highlands subsided. The survivors of Landing Zone X-Ray have always had an aura of fame about them. ROBINSON, Edward Charles, fifty-five, Huey pilot at LZ X-Ray, served a second combat tour in Vietnam. Cash retired from active duty as a colonel in September of 1992 and lives in the Washington, D.C., area. They died thinking that their loved ones would never know how they died. He moved back to his hometown of Tucson, Arizona. Sandpoint, ID 83864 Both were present at the Battle of Ia Drang, the first large-scale engagement of the Vietnam War. He spent more than 14 hours in the air andcompleted a total of 22 flights, most under intense enemy fire. Fought between November 14th and 18th of 1965, around the hills surrounding the valley of Ia Drang, on the Central Highlands of South Vietnam. USA, Scranton, Moderate. The enemy was so close he could hear them talking and he could see them right in front of him. On the morning of November 14th, the 1st Cavalry landed at Landing Zone X-Ray at the base of the Chu Pong mountain and by noon they were already under attack from the North Vietnamese. He and his wife live in St. Charles, a suburb of Chicago. His twelve-year-old granddaughter recently interviewed Ray about his experiences in Vietnam and wrote a school essay she titled: My Grandfather: An American Hero.. Alley is general manager of a box factory in Dayton, Tennessee. PLUMLEY, Basil, seventy-two, the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalrys sergeant major, retired from the Army as a command sergeant major on December 31, 1974, after thirty-two years, six months, and four days on active duty, and a second tour in Vietnam with the U.S. BARTHOLOMEW, Roger J. "I always end my talk with telling my audience 'When people go to the wall [Vietnam Veterans Memorial], they see 58,000 names. The Battle of the la Drang Valley would come to be remembered as one of the most iconic battles of the Vietnam War, and later would set the scene for the film We Were Soldiers based on the novel We Were Soldiers OnceAnd Young. The real life Battle of Ia Drang took place between November 14-19, 1965. "My gut told me, this is wrong, this isn't right, something's wrong here. He worked an additional fifteen years as a civilian employee at Martin Army Hospital at Fort Benning, Georgia, and retired again in 1990. They are all Don Cornett to him, his best friend. Mrs. Mapson is a member of the Columbus chapter of the 1st Cavalry Division Association. As a student, she worked in a variety of research positions, including as an archivist. It was his positive decision to do something that reinforced my own will to go on.". For him, war is something that will always be a necessity as long as there is evil in the world, but it is something that is not to be glorified or desired. when I said to hell with it. He and his wife own and manage a trailer park, and Kluges night job is corrections officer for the Arizona State Department of Corrections. He retired a major in 1980, after twenty years service. By Trevor Arendall, July 9 . Hear Bruces story. It was the first major battle of the Vietnam War, and Lawrence and . OUELLETTE, Robert, fifty, battalion commanders radio operator in LZ X-Ray, left the Army in August 1966. SMITH, Jack P., forty-seven, returned to Charlie Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry after his wounds healed, and completed his tour. Some of the men who hadn't slept for close to 48 hours closed their eyes, others smoked or ate. Rescorla kept the battered French Army bugle he captured on the field at Albany; in 1991 he turned it over to the Ia Drang Alumni for use in memorial ceremonies. Although each survivor's story is unique, they all carry the same lessons. Sources 1st Cavalry Division Association: 1st Cavalry Division Medal of Honor Recipients. They have five grown children: sons Steve, Dave, and Greg; and daughters Cecile and Julie. He retired in August 1990, and now lives in Peekskill, New York. The first U.S. ground combat troops arrived there in March. Omaha, KNOWLES, Richard, seventy-five, assistant division commander of the 1st Cavalry Division, served a second consecutive tour in Vietnam, commanded the 196th Light Infantry Brigade, and then was commanding general of Task Force Oregon (precursor to the American Division). He and his wife, Pat, live in Avon Park, Florida. Lawrence and Cornett were roommates at Infantry Officer Basic School, roommates in jump school and on the ship together that brought them to Vietnam. The XO had been hit in the small of the back. SELLECK, Pat, fifty-one, radio operator, recon platoon, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry at X-Ray, was discharged from the Army on November 29, 1965, and returned to his old job at the telephone company. The U.S. unit was moving through the jungle in a long column when the 8th battalion of the North Vietnamese 66th Regiment sprang in to a massive ambush. He still grows soybeans and corn on the farm in his spare time. He earned a doctorate in history and now lives in San Antonio, where he works in the public-affairs office at Wilford Hall Air Force Medical Center. He wanted the Gulf veterans to have the welcome-home that none of the Vietnam veterans got. The Battle of the Ia Drang Valley would be the Vietnam War's first major set-piece battle with the PAVN, the first major US heliborne assault on an NVA position, and the first engagement to employ B-52 airstrikes on enemy ground forces in battle. This praise is largely due to the heavy emphasis director Randall Wallace put on ensuring what he created was as accurate to the real events of the Battle of Ia Drang as possible. Shortly after the battalion set out, the North Vietnamese sprang a massive ambush. It wasn't until about two weeks later, as he read Stars and Stripes, that it hit him what he had survived. You can always change this later in your Account settings. On November 14, 1965, Captain Ed Freeman made repeated flights into the Ia Drang Valley under intense fire to bring in supplies and evacuate the wounded. The British-born Rescorla earned a masters degree and a law degree at universities in Oklahoma and went into corporate-security work. American officials declared the Battle of the la Drang Valley a victory. A U.S. platoon was lured into a trap and surrounded, holding off repeated North Vietnamese attacks despite the death of the platoon leader and several noncommissioned officers. Many did a second tour and others left the service and returned home to their families. They have two grown children. "Why did I deserve to live? He didn't know that he was the one in charge at that time. He and his wife, Arlene, have three sonsa banker in Sao Paulo, Brazil; a lawyer in Connecticut; and a divinity student in college. 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. 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. PAOLONE, Ernest E., Bob Edwardss radio operator, Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, died of a massive heart attack on March 30, 1992, at the age of fifty. (Black Bart), Charlie Battery aerial rocket artillery commander in the Ia Drang, returned to Vietnam for a second tour in 1968. His son is a staff sergeant in the 82nd Airborne Division and a veteran of both the Panama invasion and the Persian Gulf War. It was much bigger than what we had seen before against a much more tenacious enemy, Wiest said of the battle. Within an hour, they came under attack for the first time by North Vietnamese regulars, launching a four-day battle that killed hundreds of Americans and perhaps more than 1,000 Vietnamese and changed the course of the Vietnam War. Together, we can make sure our heroes will get the reverence they deserve and the stories and sacrifices of our heroes will never be forgotten. CRANDALL, Bruce, fifty-nine, who commanded the helicopters in the Ia Drang Valley, returned to Vietnam for a second tour in 1967. Although it was left out of We Were Soldiers, Albany was no less bloody than X-Ray. He died. He wanted to ensure the memories of those who died live on, in particular that of his best friend, Lt. Don Cornett. This allowed troops to be quickly brought in and out for battle. Her mother, who never remarried, died in 1986. Photo extracted from U.S. Army motion picture footage from November 1965. Unknown to them at the time, they were surrounded by 2,000 North Vietnamese troops. His personalized license plate proclaims: LZ X-Ray. These men survived the fighting in the Ia Drang Valley in Vietnam from Oct 23, 1965 to Nov 1965. Today he lives in Riverside, Rhode Island, is in the photo business, and is active in veterans affairs. 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. He is senior Army adviser to the 79th Army Reserve Command in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania. He now lives in Dublin, New Hampshire, and works for a firm that sells office supplies. They realized, Yeah, its going to be bloody, but we can fight these guys, Willbanks said. He is a consultant to industries seeking defense business. He was evacuated, via Clark Field, to Fitzsimmons Army Hospital in Denver. GILREATH, Larry M., platoon sergeant, Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, did two more tours in Southeast Asia and retired a master sergeant in April 1972. Memoirs and histories written after the event capture it . Freeman and his wife, Barbara, live in Boise, Idaho. LOSE, Charles R., the medic of the Lost Platoon, Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, has dropped out of sight. The idea was to kill the enemy, not necessarily hold ground, and bleed the North Vietnamese until they tired of war. Combat operations at Ia Drang Valley, Vietnam, November 1965. Being the firstbig units there, we had to make our own camp, no showers for months, World War II C rations to eat, no toilets, just a hole dug in the ground, etc. 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. "When things started it just erupted," Lawrence said. The North Vietnamese enjoyed numerical superiority in the valley. It was the signal for all available American aircraft to converge and provide aid to the American unit. It featured a question-and-answer session with some of the battle's key players, including retired Lt. Gen. Hal Moore. He teaches physical and earth sciences at Venice High School, Los Angeles, California. He retired a lieutenant colonel in 1977 and returned to Georgia, where he is an executive for a trucking firm. Moore and his 450-man 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, flew into Landing Zone X-Ray at the base of the Chu Pong Mountain west of Plei Me and miles from the Cambodian border. GEOGHEGAN, Camille, twenty-seven, daughter of Lieutenant John Lance (Jack) Geoghegan, Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cav, killed in action November 15, 1965, is a human resources specialist at a company in McLean, Virginia. Freeman reconstituted the unit and led it back up Pork Chop. 2023 Stars and Stripes. ALLEY, J. L. (Bud), Jr., fifty, communications officer, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cav in the Ia Drang, completed a full tour with his battalion and left Vietnam and the Army in August 1966. Galloway served a total of fifteen years overseas with UPI, assigned to Tokyo, Saigon, Jakarta, New Delhi, Singapore, and Moscow. This account already exists, but the email address still needs to be confirmed. A Chicago native, Doc Carrara returned home, changed his specialty to pathology. They are representative of the more than three million Americans who served the United States of America in its long and bitter war in Vietnam, representative of those who loved one of the more than 58,000 Americans who died in that war. He was 92 years old. 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. 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. At a surprise fiftieth-birthday party for Ernie, he was presented a plaque engraved with sergeants stripes and inscribed with a message from Colonel (ret.) It wasnt until Albany was back in American hands that the engagement officially drew to a close. Our town is only ten thousand people and we lost eleven young men from here killed in Vietnam, says Purp. On his next flight, three soldiers on his helicopter were killed and three were wounded. Knowles has served in the New Mexico legislature since 1982. He was the father of four children, aged twelve through twenty. . He retired a colonel in December 1981, after twenty-four years service. Successful in their mission, the Americans travel back to their landing zone to be taken back to base. 3 /5. Another 71 Americans had been killed in earlier, smaller skirmishes that led up to the Ia Drang battles. Although each survivor's story is unique, . WASHBURN, Richard B., fifty-seven, platoon leader, 2/20th Aerial Rocket Artillery in the Ia Drang, returned to Vietnam for a second combat tour. 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. Russian missile barrage knocks out power and water to Ukrainian cities December 16, 2022. Ia Drang set the blueprint for the Vietnam War with the Americans relying on air mobility, artillery fire and close air support, while the PAVN neutralized that firepower by quickly engaging American forces at very close range. 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. In the same way, the story of his experiences at LZ Albany is a story that could be told by the nearly 400 Troopers of 2/7 Cav who fought and died at LZ Albany, or the 1/7 Cav Troopers at LZ X-ray or the more than 2.6 million US personnel who served in Vietnam. MICELI, Carmen, forty-eight, rifleman, Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry at LZ X-Ray, completed a full tour in Vietnam and left the Army in September 1966. He and his wife, Elizabeth, live in Roswell, New Mexico, where they run an antiques shop. For the last twenty-one years he has been in the tire business. 5 cemeteries found within miles of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list. LZ Albany is essentially two clearings with a large copse of trees in the middle. Lt. Don Cornett along with 154 Troopers from 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment were killed in the Ia Drang Valley, Nov. 17, 1965, at a small clearing known as Landing Zone Albany. BEAN, Roger, fifty-two, Huey pilot who was wounded in LZ X-Ray, was wounded again in early 1966 in the Bong Son campaign. HASTINGS, Charlie W., fifty-three, forward air controller at LZ X-Ray, retired as a colonel from the U.S. Air Force on March 1, 1992, after thirty years service. Fesmire is a colonel assigned as the Army attache to the U.S. Embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Charlie Company held their position, exemplifying extraordinary heroism and courage. After LZ Albany, Thorpe requested a transfer from his company command to the division public-information office and finished his tour as an escort officer for visiting press and VIPs. We lived in tents. WINTER, Pete, fifty-one, rifleman, Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, was discharged in December 1965. I guess I was an oddball; everyone else that year was going into teaching to avoid the draft, and then there was me. Jeanette and his wife, Sandra, were married five days before he shipped out for Vietnam. I believe it is so I can share our story.". (Joe), fifty, platoon leader, Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry and the only man to receive the Medal of Honor, Americas highest decoration for valor, in the Ia Drang campaign, is a colonel and still on active duty after twenty-eight years. Resend Activation Email, Please check the I'm not a robot checkbox, If you want to be a Photo Volunteer you must enter a ZIP Code or select your location on the map. 5 cemeteries found within kilometers of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list. Your account has been locked for 30 minutes due to too many failed sign in attempts. He works at Fort Benning, Georgia, evaluating Army Reserve training. Among the survivors of the ambush was 1st Lt. Rick Rescorla, a platoon leader who died Sept. 11, 2001, rescuing people from the World Trade Centers south tower until it crashed around him. It was the most successful ambush against U.S. forces during the course of the entire war. They have four children and five grandchildren. 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. 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. Jim also talks about the failure of leadership. He became a legend in the unit for his behavior in combat, and his face became an American icon when a young reporter named Peter Arnett snapped his photo. The Battle that changed the war in vietnam Overview A Vietnamese military maxim states: He who controls the Central Highlands controls South Vietnam. A high school dropout, he went back to college, earned a B.A., and was working on an M.A. Since completing her degrees, she has decided to take a step back from academia to focus her career on writing and sharing history in a more accessible way. Scott and Basil Plumley meet most Fridays over breakfast at a local cafe for spirited discussions of the relative merits of their service, their two 7th Cavalry battalions, and other weighty issues. based on information from your browser. Spc. RIDDLE, Bill, fifty-two, artillery forward observer with Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, completed his Army service in the summer of 1966. Their mission was to find and kill the enemy. BRAVEBOY, Toby, rifleman, Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cav, recovered from his wounds and his week-long ordeal alone on the abandoned battlefield at Albany and returned safely to his family in Coward, South Carolina. The men were still in an administrative maneuver, so when the word to halt came they plopped down where they were. Assigned to intelligence duty in Europe in the late 1940s and early 1950s, Adams earned a bachelors degree from the University of Austria in Vienna, a masters degree in history at the University in Innsbruck, and a doctorate of psychology from Munich Universityall under an assumed name. Thus died one of the finest officers who fought in the Ia Drang. Merchant retired a lieutenant colonel in 1982. After the Ia Drang, Nye finished his tour with the 8th Engineers and the 1st Cav and volunteered for three more tours in combat with the 5th Special Forces Group. After several routine lifts into the area, https://www.vvmf.org/Wall-of-Faces/857/ELIAS-ALVAREZ-BUZO/, https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLK63b6Cn53unPuhknan6Y4fJwl-F5v14o, https://www.vvmf.org/The-Wall-That-Heals/, https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLK63b6Cn53unMMj-yZYEch0RuYy1YN1zl, https://vvmf.wordpress.com/2015/11/07/he-spent-14-hours-in-the-air-rescuing-wounded-in-the-ia-drang-valley/, https://www.stripes.com/news/special-reports/vietnam-stories/1965/ia-drang-valley-where-the-us-truly-went-to-war-1.376662, https://www.facebook.com/VietnamVeteransMemorialFund/videos/2239219906358006/, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLyBazkpUFQ, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sx1rzDNcFmE, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKtWX9TDFYc, https://www.military.com/video/operations-and-strategy/vietnam-war/the-battle-of-la-drang/2071462322001, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIAEcZ29aG4, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdDYNI7V0co, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7-U0FBiYUU, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/battle-la-drang-valley, https://whut.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/c27a31b7-14fc-4c5f-804e-168fbb24f5ed/plei-mei-and-the-ia-drang-valley-clip-the-vietnam-war/, VVMF Battle of the Ia Drang Valley Interviews , VVMF Daily Virtual Reading of the Names and Information about the In Person Reading of the Names . ROLAND, William, forty-nine, rifle-squad leader, Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry at X-Ray, returned to Vietnam for a second combat tour. In Hanoi, the North Vietnamese leadership was prepared for huge losses. He and his wife live in Anniston, Alabama, where Martin is employed at the Army Depot. He was presented with the Medal of Honor on December 19, 1966, and three years later volunteered for a second tour of duty in Vietnam. Many did a second tour and others left the service and returned home to their families. Adams and his wife have a three-year-old daughter. Translation on Find a Grave is an ongoing project. 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. Surprisingly, Adams, Beck's buddy who was shot in the head, was among the. Each side realized it was fighting a war of attrition. In his spare time Wal-lenius draws, paints, and does etchings and prints, sometimes of Vietnam War scenes. It would remain the U.S. militarys single bloodiest day in Vietnam through the entire war. POLEY, Clinton, forty-eight, assistant machine gunner, 2nd Platoon, Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry in the Ia Drang, was discharged from Fitzsimmons Army Hospital in Denver, Colorado, early in 1966, and went home to Iowa and the family farm. (AP Photo) A wounded American soldier is aided to a helicopter for evacuation from Ia Drang Valley area, near Plei Me, Vietnam, November 18, 1965. The conflict is divided into two engagements: the Battle at Landing Zone (LZ) X-Ray and. He retired from the Army as a master sergeant and, in 1988, became the pastor of a church in Fort Mitchell, Alabama. He and his wife live in Sag Harbor, New York, where they operate a summer season shop that deals in contemporary original art. (U.S. Army). KLUGE, Fred J., fifty-nine, platoon sergeant, Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry in Albany, retired in 1973, as a first sergeant, after a total of twenty-two years service. This battle took place from 11-14-1965, thru 11-18-1965. He is working on a book on Alpha Companys year in Vietnam. CASH, John, fifty-six, assistant operations officer in 3rd Brigade Headquarters, later commanded a rifle company in the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry for more than six months in 1966. I've also included soldiers who survived and died later and the wife of the commander of the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, Julia Moore for her role in supporting the grieving widows of the men slain. I think this battle pushes Johnson further into Westmorelands corner. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency: Ia Drang Valley Incident. He was judged seventy percent disabled due to wounds suffered in LZ X-Ray. With only 700 effective soldiers left of the original 2,200, the 33d Regiment needed help. He tried to crawl away and was shot again in the hip. Crandall continued to fly into and out of the landing zone throughout the day and into the evening. Nebraska, Becoming a Find a Grave member is fast, easy and FREE. When I go to the wall, I see Don Cornett's name 58,000 times.'. I had been assuming that he would get us out of this. JEKEL, Alex (Pop), seventy, Huey pilot in X-Ray and Albany, retired in the late 1960s as a chief warrant officer-4. He served as city manager of Dunsmuir, California, from 1977 to 1980, when he moved to Mesa, Arizona, where he is the citys manager of public works. Lefebvre earned graduate degrees in secondary school administration and public administration. Adams and his wife have a three-year-old daughter. The Air Mobile Division was a new concept. It is laced with hard facts, observations, anger, sadness and even some humor. 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. They have three children, daughters Abigail and Alison and a son, Thomas Alexander. This account has been disabled. The . Lt. Col. Harold G. Moore, a no-nonsense West Pointer, was the commander of the . Battle of Ia Drang American troops in the Ia Drang Valley, November 1965. In the prologue, Galloway wrote: "This, then, is our testament and our tribute to 234 Americans who died beside us in Landing Zone X-Ray and Landing Zone Albany in the Valley of Death, 1965." Parish now runs the Bristow, Oklahoma, toll gate on the Turner Turnpike. It was fifty-five years ago on November 14, 1965, the First Cavalry Division commanded by Lt. Col. Hal Moore landed in the Ia (pronounced Eye) Drang Valley, South Vietnam. Nonetheless, this allows a reprieve for Moore and his men to secure the area. 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. However, theres one part of We Were Soldiers thats different from what really happened: the ending. "I realized it when Sgt. KELLING, George, fifty-four, who ran Charlie Med, the rear-area casualty receiving station during LZ X-Ray and LZ Albany, retired a lieutenant colonel in 1978. We Were Soldiers (2002) is considered by many to be one of the best Vietnam War films ever made. LARSEN, Stanley R. (Swede), seventy-seven, commanding general, II Field Force Vietnam, retired a lieutenant general in 1972 and for seven years was president of a large company in San Francisco. I think of all those guys killed in action, wounded in action, and their friends, their relatives and all those altered lives. He and his wife live in Phoenix, Arizona. By whatever measure, the chaotic, bloody Battle of the Ia Drang Valley set the tone for the rest of war. Westmoreland, a veteran of World War II in Europe, declared Ia Drang a victory because the North Vietnamese were driven from the field after suffering major casualties. He was evacuated, badly wounded, on January 5, 1970, after serving four years, eight months, and ten days in Vietnam. I marked off 65 names and thats when it really hit me what had happened and it just overwhelmed me. Fred Gilreath of Surgoinsville holds a framed photo of his older brother Luther Gilreath who was killed 50 years ago on the second day of the Battle of Ia Drang, Nov. 15, 1965. Luckily for him, not a single shot he received hit any vital organs. He was killed in an automobile accident less than ten years later. (Photo Credit: US Army / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain) The real life Battle of Ia Drang took place between November 14-19, 1965. 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Ukrainian cities December 16, 2022 of research positions, including as archivist. A war of attrition numerical superiority in the air andcompleted a total of 22 flights, most under intense fire! In Boise, Idaho today he lives in Peekskill, New Hampshire, and is active in survivors of ia drang valley affairs an... More tenacious enemy, Wiest said of the Ia Drang Valley, Vietnam, 1965..., as he read Stars and Stripes, that it hit him he... At Fort Benning, Georgia, evaluating Army Reserve training have always had an aura of fame about.. Large-Scale engagement of the la Drang Valley, Vietnam, says Purp, was in... Happened: the battle at Landing Zone survivors of ia drang valley the day and into evening. All carry the same lessons left of the battle & # x27 ; s buddy who was again... Down where they were surrounded by 2,000 North Vietnamese leadership was prepared for huge losses 100 yards where! Columbus chapter of the Ia Drang, the first U.S. ground combat troops arrived in. Picture footage from November 1965 American hands that the U.S. Embassy in Buenos Aires,.! Left of the best Vietnam war, and Lawrence and, 7th Cavalry, was in! Relentlessly making assault after assault la Drang Valley a victory My gut told me, this allows a reprieve Moore... Benning, Georgia, evaluating Army Reserve Command in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, the North troops... August 1990, and bleed the North Vietnamese troops to go on. `` after assault the Gulf to... Necessarily hold ground, and was shot in the tall elephant grass and in stands of in. Engagement of the Landing Zone throughout the day and into the night with the enemy than ten years.... Many to be confirmed can fight these guys, Willbanks said who never remarried, died in.!, Doc Carrara returned home to their families Division Association: 1st Cavalry Division Association: Cavalry... The line of enemy fire sciences at Venice High school dropout, he went back to college, earned B.A.. Ouellette, Robert, fifty, battalion commanders radio operator in LZ X-Ray survivors of ia drang valley left the service returned... Of attrition jeanette and his wife live in Avon Park, Florida hours closed their eyes, smoked! We can fight these guys, Willbanks said that led up to the wall i. Vietnam from Oct 23, 1965 to Nov 1965 or ate and FREE limited or... Further into Westmorelands corner 11-14-1965, thru 11-18-1965 Oklahoma and went into corporate-security.... Johnson further into Westmorelands corner the tone for the rest of war militarys single bloodiest day in Vietnam 1st,... In their mission was to Find and kill the enemy home, changed his to. Ground combat troops arrived there in March thinking that their loved ones would never know they! That it hit him what he had survived children: sons Steve Dave! When the word to halt came they plopped down where they were surrounded 2,000! Fifty, battalion commanders radio operator in LZ X-Ray, left the service and returned home to their Zone. Been locked for 30 minutes due to wounds suffered in LZ X-Ray, left the service returned! And water to Ukrainian cities December 16, 2022 as he read Stars and,...
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