During a 14-hour period, Major Bruce Crandall and Captain Ed Freeman, repeatedly landed their helicopter under intense enemy fire at Landing Zone X-Ray. The battle was later dramatized in the film We Were Soldiers. Finally, after 10 months, had some makeshift buildings. He is married and has two children. Moore and his battalion were evacuated the next day, Nov. 17. The battle at the landing zone X-RAY (LZ X-RAY) in the Ia Drang River Valley occurred from 14 November to 16 November 1965. The secondary plot follows Julia, who volunteers to deliver telegrams informing families of their loved ones deaths in Vietnam. Your account has been locked for 30 minutes due to too many failed sign in attempts. George found solace in hiking the Maine woods, shooting nothing more deadly than a 35mm camera. It was much bigger than what we had seen before against a much more tenacious enemy, Wiest said of the battle. Then he somehow managed to crawl away, saying that he was going to organize the troops. To me that seems proper, and just, and so right.. For the last twenty-two years he has worked for the North Bergen, N.J., fire department. He served in both Brazil and El Salvador, was a history instructor at West Point, and served in the Center of Military History for a number of years. These additional troops pushed back the enemy, allowing the others to evacuate the wounded. ROZANSKI, Gordon P. (Rosie), fifty-four, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry S-4 in the Ia Drang, was wounded in both arms, both legs, and the stomach in the Bong Son campaign in early 1966. Today he is vice president for group security at a major stock-brokerage house in New York City. Thus died one of the finest officers who fought in the Ia Drang. 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. He is an executive with a major defense-contracting firm and lives in Centreville, Virginia. 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. He was discharged a sergeant, completed his college education, and is now an on-air national news correspondent for ABC Televisions Weekend News. This was the first major engagement between the United States Army and the North Vietnamese Army. The battle of LZ Albany began after the battle of LZ X-ray made famous in the Mel Gibson movie "We Were Soldiers." This account already exists, but the email address still needs to be confirmed. 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. Mississippi, WINKEL, Paul Patton, Jr., sixty, Orange 1 flight leader, Bravo Company, 229th Assault Helicopter Battalion in the Ia Drang, served a second combat tour in Vietnam. "I'm just as guilty. RACKSTRAW, Jim, forty-nine, recon-platoon leader, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry at X-Ray, served a second tour in Vietnam as a rifle-company commander in the 25th Infantry Division. He was medically evacuated the next morning. 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. Advisory Group, Pleiku. In the spring of 1992, Frank Henry was posthumously inducted into the Army Aviation Hall of Fame. Her research focused on military, environmental, and Canadian history with a specific focus on the Second World War. He was forty-five. The Ia Drang Scholarship Fund was founded in 1994 by LTG (Ret) Harold G. Moore and Joseph L. Galloway from earnings on their book We Were Soldiers Once-And Young. She received both her bachelor of arts degree in history, and her master of arts degree in history from Western University. At 4:00 AM this morning, Command Sergeant Major Basil L. Plumley of the U.S. Army's 1 st Battalion, 7 th Cavalry Regiment, died. 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." 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. On February 26, 2007, President George W. Bush presented Crandall with the Medal of Honor for his actions in the Ia Drang Valley. RESCORLA, Cyril R. (Rick), fifty-three, platoon leader, Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry in the Ia Drang, completed a full tour with Bravo Company in Vietnam and did another year teaching at Officer Candidate School in the States. TULLY, Walter Busill (Buse) Jr., commander, Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry in the Ia Drang, returned to Vietnam on a second tour as a major in the Americal Division. However, Americans killed an estimated 1,800 North Vietnamese, through rifles, artillery, helicopters, and jets. 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 chief of security at a hospital in Columbus, Georgia, until his death on April 18, 1992. He retired a colonel in 1982, with twenty-three years service. The North Vietnamese forces had succeeded in engaging the U.S. forces in very tight quarters. Cash served a second tour in Vietnam as an adviser to the Royal Thai Army forces. Crandalls back was broken; he spent five months in an Army hospital recovering. You can customize the cemeteries you volunteer for by selecting or deselecting below. Diduryk is buried at the Fort Benning cemetery; his widow, Delores, lives in Jacksonville, Florida. Winkel and his wife live in Springfield, Virginia. SCOTT, James A., sixty-nine, the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalrys sergeant major, served a second Vietnam tour in 1970-71 as command sergeant major, USARV Scott retired as a command sergeant major on May 1, 1973, after thirty years, ten months, and twenty days of service, wearing the Combat Infantrymans Badge with one star; six Bronze Stars; three Purple Hearts; a European Campaign ribbon with four battle stars and one invasion arrow; a Korean Service ribbon with two battle stars; a Vietnam Service ribbon with four battle stars; and the Presidential Unit Citation badge. He teaches physical and earth sciences at Venice High School, Los Angeles, California. Adams and his wife have a three-year-old daughter. Through good fortune, the enemy's ignorance of their predicament, Specialist Lose's first-aid knowledge . I couldn't grasp it.". He and his wife have two teenage children. 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 now manages the quartermaster laundry at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and lives in Clarksville, Tennessee. Each side realized it was fighting a war of attrition. This account has been disabled. Gwin left the Army at the end of his ROTC commitment and went home to his native Boston, where he teaches and writes. Little did Beck and his companions know they were about to make history in America's first large scale battle of the Vietnam War. They died dirty. The 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment went toward LZ Columbus, while the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment traveled to LZ Albany, capturing two NVA soldiers on the way. He and his wife live in Lake Forest, Illinois. He is partly paralyzed as a result of his terrible wound. JOHNS, Barbara Geoghegan, fifty, widow of Lieutenant John Lance (Jack) Geoghegan of the 2nd Platoon, Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, killed in action in X-Ray, married Lieutenant Colonel John Johns in 1969. Alley is general manager of a box factory in Dayton, Tennessee. God rest you, George. I think this battle pushes Johnson further into Westmorelands corner. One of the most significant battles of the Vietnam War, the 14-16 November 1965 battle in the Ia Drang Valley in South Vietnam's central highlands between the U.S. Army's 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) and the 33rd and 66th Regiments of the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) marked a watershed change in the military strategies of both sides. I was standing back there in the column and the column was stopped. Today, Doc Shucart of Landing Zone Albany is the chief of neurosurgery at Tufts University Medical School. The Huey was the best helicopter ever made. Knowles has served in the New Mexico legislature since 1982. His injured right hip deteriorated, and on the Thursday before Thanksgiving, 1986, he found himself back on an operating tablethe same place he had been on the Thursday before Thanksgiving, 1965. He returned to serve two more tours in Vietnamone with the Special Forces, one with an intelligence agency. The men, women, and children of this story are Americas neighbors, living quiet lives in every corner of the nation they served. He retired in August 1977, with thirty-two years service. Heroes of Vietnam: Death in the Ia Drang Valley American soldiers fought their first pitched battle of the Vietnam War here. It was the most successful ambush against U.S. forces during the course of the entire war. Please enter your email address and we will send you an email with a reset password code. In January 1991, General H. Norman Schwarzkopf summoned the reporter to his headquarters in Saudi Arabia and said: Im sending you to the commander out here who is most like General Hal Moore, and the division which has the most challenging and dangerous mission in my battle plan. Galloway rode with then-Major General Barry McCaffrey and the 24th Infantry Division (Mechanized) on a hair-raising tank charge through the western Iraq desert to the Euphrates River valley. Hear Bruces story. If you have questions, please contact [emailprotected]. They and their buddies fought off hundreds of North Vietnamese with the help of artillery. The airstrike broke the North Vietnamese siege and enabled reinforcements to reach the LZ. Initially, Lawrence's thoughts and feelings after he was safe were just moments captured in his mind. He wanted to ensure the memories of those who died live on, in particular that of his best friend, Lt. Don Cornett. I thought to myself. Im so proud to have been there and so proud of the guys who were there with me. 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. Purp is married, the father of three daughters, and cuts hair at Gibbs Barber Shop, where he has worked for the last nineteen years. JEANETTE, Robert J., fifty, Ghost 4-6, weapons-platoon leader, Charlie Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cav in the Ia Drang, lives in Monsey, New York, a suburb of New York City. For information, the 1st Air Cavalry arrived in the fall of 1965, about the same time I did as a member of the 1stInfantry Division. His widow, Emma Lee, lives in Austin, Texas. 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. Both were present at the Battle of Ia Drang, the first large-scale engagement of the Vietnam War. His old company commander, John Herren, and all the survivors of the Lost Platoon believe that Charles Lose should have been awarded the Medal of Honor that they recommended for him. 5 cemeteries found within kilometers of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list. Theres certainly politics involved in it, but I do think these guys, as mythological as it turned out to be, were true Cold War believers. 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. He spent eighteen months in Army hospitals, and was retired, disabled, in June 1975. He served another Indochina tour in 1975, planning and helping run the final American air evacuation of Vietnam from a base in Thailand. This battle took place from 11-14-1965, thru 11-18-1965. WHITESIDE, Jerry E., fifty-five, fire-support coordinator in LZ X-Ray, served a second tour in Vietnam as an adviser. Fesmire is a colonel assigned as the Army attache to the U.S. Embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It took multiple hours for the men to load their weapons and fallen soldiers into helicopters, but by 3 P.M., all of the survivors or fallen American soldiers who were to leave the Ia Drang Valley, left. Contrary to popular belief, the Battle of Ia Drang started and ended after the famous landings at LZ X-Ray and LZ Albany. He worked as a sales executive in the corrugated-box industry and went to school nights to earn his MBA. LZ Albany is essentially two clearings with a large copse of trees in the middle. In a 1967 article for the Saturday Evening Post, former ABC reporter Jack Smith, who was a private first class in Charlie Company during the battle, wrote about Cornett's last moments. He lives on a farm near Rainier, Washington, and has been writing down his memories of Vietnam duty for his children and grandchildren. The conflict is divided into two engagements: the Battle at Landing Zone (LZ) X-Ray and. Hes in a unique position to want to believe these optimistic reports and hes getting a lot of them.. "I always end my talk with telling my audience 'When people go to the wall [Vietnam Veterans Memorial], they see 58,000 names. American officials declared the Battle of the la Drang Valley a victory. Hal Moore ensured that all of the men came home, and they therefore did . Joseph Galloway was a civilian reporter at the Battle of Ia Drang. 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. He returned to active duty in July 1966, and served a second tour in Vietnam as an adviser in Long Binh district. He retired from the Army as a staff sergeant in 1976, and now serves in the Alabama National Guard. He lives in Vicksburg, Mississippi. SHUCART, William, M.D., surgeon, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry in the Ia Drang, had nearly completed his tour in Vietnam in the summer of 1966, when he suffered a broken back in the crash of a Chinook helicopter. The instructor of that class, Colonel John F. Jeszensky (ret. The North Vietnamese enjoyed numerical superiority in the valley. BROWN, Thomas W. (Tim), seventy-three, the 3rd Brigade commander in the Ia Drang, retired a brigadier general in 1973, after thirty-plus years of service and a second tour in Vietnam, with two Silver Stars and two Bronze Stars from his three wars. Florence County, Enlisted men may scoff at officers back in the billets but when the fighting begins, the men automatically become dependent upon them. Please enter your email and password to sign in. In 1946, Ho Chi Minh had warned the French, who were trying to restore control over their former protectorate, that you can kill 10 of my men for every one I kill of yours, yet even at those odds, you will lose and I will win.. On November 18, 1965, the US forces were able to gather their dead. 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. CRANDALL, Bruce, fifty-nine, who commanded the helicopters in the Ia Drang Valley, returned to Vietnam for a second tour in 1967. The Ia Drang Valley is the place the U.S. really went to warfare. He left active duty in 1967, but continued in the Army Reserves until his retirement in 1990 as a colonel. The Ia Drang Valley is where the U.S. truly went to war. 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