This is the tale of the Battle of the Ia Drang Valley in Vietnam in 1965. Although survivors had been trickling in during the morning they thought the 2/7th had been annihilated in the fighting at Albany. (67 votes) Very easy. He and his wife live in Anniston, Alabama, where Martin is employed at the Army Depot. There was a problem getting your location. I believe it is so I can share our story.". But the battle's true toll would prove to be the hubris it bred in U.S. commanders. Lawrence dropped to the ground to take cover in the tall elephant grass and began to return fire like any other rifleman. He died less than 100 yards from where his best friend lay wounded. More than anything else in the world I would like to be back in the Green Machine, he says. 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. It was the first major combat action between U.S. ground forces and the North Vietnamese Army. His primary job is helping communities located near Army chemical-weapons depots write their emergency-response plans. He and his wife, Louise, live in San Antonio, Texas, and Brown plays a round of golf most days. American officials declared the Battle of the la Drang Valley a victory. He returned to serve two more tours in Vietnamone with the Special Forces, one with an intelligence agency. He left the Army in 1971 with the rank of captain, returned home to Puerto Rico, and earned a law degree. 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. . His last known address was Miami, Florida. 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. I ripped off his shirt and there it was: a groove to the right of his spine. The North Vietnamese Army starts with the most flags but to combat this the 7th Cavalry Regiment has superior airpower meaning that the USA can quickly insert and extract players into and out of flags. 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. 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. Box 159 While youre out killing 1,700 NVA, if youre doing it in a populated area, youre creating more insurgents, he said. 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. 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. He was killed in an automobile accident less than ten years later. He earned his masters degree in public administration in 1976 and retired in 1977 as a lieutenant colonel. . 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. Savage and the 22-year-old medic, Sp5. 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. MARTIN, John C., fifty-one, rifleman in Lieutenant Sissons platoon detached from Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry for duty in X-Ray, served a second combat tour in Vietnam. Hear Bruces story. North Vietnamese forces had higher casualty rates, due to the U.S. airstrike and artillery support. CRANDALL, Bruce, fifty-nine, who commanded the helicopters in the Ia Drang Valley, returned to Vietnam for a second tour in 1967. He now lives in Stamford, Connecticut. They have four children and five grandchildren. 1965 was the year America took the gloves off in Vietnam, moving from advising and assisting the South Vietnamese military to an active combat role. 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. The Battle that changed the war in vietnam Overview A Vietnamese military maxim states: He who controls the Central Highlands controls South Vietnam. STINNETT, Robert L., fifty-eight, Bravo Company, 229th Assault Helicopter Battalion in LZ X-Ray and LZ Albany, returned to Vietnam for a second combat tour. And it all began early one fall day. 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. 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 joined IBM as a salesman in Austin, Texas, and spent twenty years with them, rising to the post of Midwestern regional manager. 2,000 survivors of ia drang valley Vietnamese with the help of artillery Steelton, I never even owned BB! He won a National Magazine Award for his October 29, 1990, cover article on the Ia Drang battles. They died hot, hungry and exhausted. Easy. MILLS, Jon, fifty-four, Bruce Crandalls copilot in the Ia Drang, retired a lieutenant colonel in 1980. He retired a first sergeant in June 1973, with twenty years service. On January 31, 1966, The New York Times profiled Moore as The Man Who Can Find the Viet Cong. He pressed for another assignment to troop command in Vietnam, only to be told that he had already had his turn. If you yield to it, it will absolutely paralyze you. November 14, 1965 marked a pivotal moment in U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Today, Doc Shucart of Landing Zone Albany is the chief of neurosurgery at Tufts University Medical School. It wasn't until about two weeks later, as he read Stars and Stripes, that it hit him what he had survived. 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. No one pulled security. He did not know at the time that his friend, Don Cornett, had died. Hal Moore and the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment fought at the former for three days, beginning on November 14. One infantry company began the day of Nov. 14 with 110 men. Both later were awarded the Medal of Honor, our nations highest award for heroism in combat. That same month, the United States began bombing North Vietnam in Operation Rolling Thunder. Freeman and his wife, Barbara, live in Boise, Idaho. On February 26, 2007, President George W. Bush presented Crandall with the Medal of Honor for his actions in the Ia Drang Valley. He and his wife live in Sag Harbor, New York, where they operate a summer season shop that deals in contemporary original art. On November 14, 1965, 450 American soldiers of the 1st Air Cavalry Division were airlifted by helicopter to this valley with the intention of locating and eliminating North Vietnamese forces. 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. The remainder of the 2nd was left waiting in a communication blackout. U.S. airpower lifted the siege and drove back the North Vietnamese. The only question was which side could outlast the other. Freeman won a battlefield commission in the Korean War. He remained with the medical platoon in Vietnam until July 1966. 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. We Were Soldiers (2002) is considered by many to be one of the best Vietnam War films ever made. The Ia Drang Valley is a valley located near Pleiku in Central Highlands of Vietnam. He asked for a volunteer to go with him and Captain Ed Freeman agreed to pursue it with him, displaying extraordinary heroism. Of Mrs. Mapsons five brothers, three served in the Army, one made a career in the Air Force, and one is a lawyer. Val Kilmer Accidentally Landed Matthew Modine the Starring Role in Full Metal Jacket. By the next morning, only eight were left standing . Russian missile barrage knocks out power and water to Ukrainian cities December 16, 2022. He lives in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Jim also talks about the failure of leadership. Difficult. FESMIRE, John A. He is a colonel and the provost marshal of the U.S. Army Forces Command (Forscom) in Atlanta, Georgia. Mississippi, Outnumbered when they arrive, the men are forced to fight for their lives while eliminating the 4,000-strong North Vietnamese force. 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. Heroes of Vietnam: Death in the Ia Drang Valley American soldiers fought their first pitched battle of the Vietnam War here. He went home to Salinas, California, where he lives with his wife and three sons. (Black Bart), Charlie Battery aerial rocket artillery commander in the Ia Drang, returned to Vietnam for a second tour in 1968. SUGDINIS, Joel E., fifty-five, who had already served one tour in Vietnam as an adviser, completed his second tour with Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry. I didn't do as I should have.". Alley is general manager of a box factory in Dayton, Tennessee. (Purp), fifty, rifleman, Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry, was evacuated to Japan. He served another Indochina tour in 1975, planning and helping run the final American air evacuation of Vietnam from a base in Thailand. Weve updated the security on the site. Galen Bungum, 72, was a soldier in the Vietnam War and fought in the first major battle of the war, the battle of Ia Drang, on November 14, 1965. His friends completed the tree for him and dedicated it to Sergeant China Joe Nye. Honor, our nations highest Award for heroism in combat copilot in Green! Of his spine in San Antonio survivors of ia drang valley Texas, and earned a law degree the... 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