As a student, she worked in a variety of research positions, including as an archivist. He co-authored the book We Were Soldiers Once And Young with Hal Moore. 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. 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. TOWLES, Robert, forty-seven, rifleman, Delta Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry, spent five months in Valley Forge General Hospital in Pennsylvania, recovering from twenty-eight shrapnel wounds he received at LZ Albany. He was the father of four children, aged twelve through twenty. He personally shook the hands of at least fifty thousand returning soldiers. 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. Ia Drang Valley, Battle of the (1965). The battalion commander had ordered his command helicopter to land and check out a North Vietnamese soldier killed by the door gunner. The Battle of Ia Drang was fought November 14-18, 1965, during the Vietnam War (1955-1975) and was the first major engagement between the US Army and the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN). They have two grown children. The idea was that whole battalions could be dropped and complete their mission on the ground, calling in artillery barrages, helicopter support, and bombing sorties (including . KINNARD, Harry W. O., seventy-seven, former commanding general of the 1st Cavalry Division, retired from the Army as a lieutenant general in 1969. Lessons in leadership, in the importance of training, in courage, in sacrifice and in loss. 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. The bullet was still in there. He and Russell Adams are still best friends. Recalling the aftermath of the fight, he said, Back then Stars and Stripes would carry the casualty reports and I had a red pen and started checking off the names of guys I knew who were listed as KIA. Alpha Company arrived in Vietnam with 146 officers and men. ADAMS, Warren, sixty-two, first sergeant, Delta Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cav in the Ia Drang, retired in 1968 as the best-educated command sergeant major in the Army. 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. (U.S. Army). "The next morning we were told the B-52s out of Guam were going to bomb the mountains and that we were to move to LZ Albany," Jim said. The battle was the culmination of Operation Silver Bayonet I, a combined American-South Vietnamese offensive to relieve the . We Were Soldiers (2002) is considered by many to be one of the best Vietnam War films ever made. 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. A bitter conclusion to the Battle of the Ia Drang Valley came soon afterward, when Gen. Westmoreland told the 2nd Battalion survivors that they had achieved "a great victory over the Communists from the North." He retired in August 1990, and now lives in Peekskill, New York. We lived in tents. Moore continues to fight, returning home to Julia after a year. Found more than one record for entered Email, You need to confirm this account before you can sign in. The two-part battle took place between November 14 and November 18, 1965 west of Plei Me, in the Central Highlands of South Vietnam. There is a problem with your email/password. He lives in Falls, Pennsylvania. Meyer and his wife, Carol, live in Arlington, Virginia. He and his wife, Elizabeth, live in Roswell, New Mexico, where they run an antiques shop. Fifty years ago today, one of the Vietnam war's most ferocious battles broke out in the Ia Drang Valley. 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. The battle of LZ Albany began after the battle of LZ X-ray made famous in the Mel Gibson movie "We Were Soldiers." Deleting this Virtual Cemetery cannot be undone. I ripped off his shirt and there it was: a groove to the right of his spine. Fought between November 14th and 18th of 1965, around the hills surrounding the valley of Ia Drang, on the Central Highlands of South Vietnam. . SETELIN, John, forty-eight, squad leader, Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry, left Vietnam with three Purple Hearts and left the Army a sergeant. 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. I had been assuming that he would get us out of this. Sandpoint, ID 83864 This resulted in the Battle of the Ia Drang Valley, a forested area just east of the Chu Pong massif, from 23 October to 20 November. It was a battle between one US division and three NVA regiments. 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. 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. 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. I didn't do as I should have.". Moore and his battalion were evacuated the next day, Nov. 17. 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. He was in a great deal of pain, so a rifleman named Wilson and I removed his gear as best we could, and I bandaged his wound. Her daughter, Camille, was soon joined by a brother, Robert, and a sister, Barbara. 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. He is a captain and the commander of Engine Company Number One. Both were present at the Battle of Ia Drang, the first large-scale engagement of the Vietnam War. 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. He and his wife live in Alexandria, Virginia. He lives in Vicksburg, Mississippi. The training kicks in and can save you.". Please ensure you have given Find a Grave permission to access your location in your browser settings. He worked as a sales executive in the corrugated-box industry and went to school nights to earn his MBA. Today he is a city bus driver in Houston, Texas. He was chief of security at a hospital in Columbus, Georgia, until his death on April 18, 1992. 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. 1965, just after the start of the U.S. campaign that led to the Ia Drang Valley. On February 26, 2007, President George W. Bush presented Crandall with the Medal of Honor for his actions in the Ia Drang Valley. He retired in August 1977, with thirty-two years service. As the fighting around Landing Zone X-Ray subsided, McDades 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry, was ordered to move cross-country to Landing Zone Albany, where it was to be picked up by helicopter and moved to a new location. 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 and his wife live in Sag Harbor, New York, where they operate a summer season shop that deals in contemporary original art. He went home to Salinas, California, where he lives with his wife and three sons. This operation responded to the NVA attack on an American . 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. 311 memorials He and his wife live in Anniston, Alabama, where Martin is employed at the Army Depot. They are stories that not only serve to maintain our connection with history, but also educate us and force us to confront the good and the bad and learn from it. His dissertation is on the LZ Albany battle. It was the longest day I ever experienced in any aircraft, Crandall recalled. (U.S. Army). She is an active member of Sons and Daughters in Touch, an organization sponsored by the Friends of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. MEYER, Edward C. (Shy), sixty-three, 3rd Brigade executive officer in the Ia Drang, retired as Army Chief of Staff, a four-star general, in 1983 after thirty-two years service. Please reset your password. 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. On the second day, North Vietnamese forces launched a heavy attack including hand-to-hand combat. "The fear factor, when you know someone is within yards of you and is trying to kill you desperately, the fear factor can shut you down. 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. Charlies foot was pinned in the wrecked cockpit when the white phosphorus target-marking rockets under the wings cooked off. North Vietnamese forces had higher casualty rates, due to the U.S. airstrike and artillery support. He retired a colonel in 1981, and is vice president of human resources for a large corporation in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. The four day battle in the Ia Drang Valley began on the morning of November 14, 1965 when the 1st battalion of the 7th Cavalry, my sister battalion, landed in a clearing at the foot of Chu Pong Mountain. When he got back to Refugio, Texas, he called on Joe Galloways parents but mercifully concealed the true circumstances of their meeting on the battlefield in X-Ray. He retired as a lieutenant colonel in 1985; on November 26, 1987, he was killed in the crash of a private plane in Bakersfield, California. I thought to myself. Major Bruce P. Crandall's UH-1D helicopter climbs skyward after discharging a load of infantrymen on a search and destroy mission. The British-born Rescorla earned a masters degree and a law degree at universities in Oklahoma and went into corporate-security work. On March 2, 1969, thirty-two-year-old Buse Tully was killed in action. He is married and has two children. Charlie Company took the brunt of the assault. The first major American direct fire conflict took place in November of 1965 in the Ia Drang Valley. He spent thirty-two months in the hospital recovering from the wounds he suffered in LZ X-Ray. Don Cornett had a wife and a son, a mother and a father and two sisters. MILLS, Jon, fifty-four, Bruce Crandalls copilot in the Ia Drang, retired a lieutenant colonel in 1980. He was evacuated, badly wounded, on January 5, 1970, after serving four years, eight months, and ten days in Vietnam. Nearly 70 percent of the battalions soldiers were killed or wounded before airstrikes, artillery and reinforcements drove the North Vietnamese into nearby Cambodia. In the fall of 1965 the Vietnam War was an event most Americans saw as a series of smaller battles leaving little to remember. 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. 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. In four days and nights of fighting. Easy. His last known address was Miami, Florida. I couldn't grasp it.". AINSWORTH, Hank, fifty-four, who flew the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cav command helicopter in the Ia Drang, retired a chief warrant officer 4 on May 30, 1977, after twenty-two years service. 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. For the next agonizing 26 hours, that small band of Americans was trapped by a ring of hundreds of enemy fighters determined to kill them all. All Rights Reserved. He checked in with the nearest Veterans Administration hospital; they sent him home, telling him they would call him back for an operation to place a plate over the hole. (Skip), fifty-three, commander of Charlie Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cav in the Ia Drang, is still on active duty. Lawrence dropped to the ground to take cover in the tall elephant grass and began to return fire like any other rifleman. He is married and the father of two daughters. One infantry company began the day of Nov. 14 with 110 men. That spring, the Saigon government had begun collapsing under the combined. 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