...Battle Analysis: Battle of Ia Drang Valley The “Battle of Ia Drang Valley” took place 14 November through 18 November 1965. The battle was one of the first major battles of the Vietnam War. The battles location took place in South Vietnam where the Drang River flows into Cambodia. (Historynet) Since the Vietnam War had started, this territory had never been occupied because the enemy, People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN), occupied much of the area. The battle waged on for five days between the United States 1st Cavalry Division and the People’s Army of Vietnam. From a macro level, the United States got involved with the Vietnam War from the fear that communism empires were going to spread throughout South-east Asia. As for the Battle of Ia Drang Valley, American military commanders took the approach that it was solely a search and destroy mission of the enemy. (MilitaryHistory) Each side had slightly different war aims. The United States wanted to fly into a landing zone (LZ) and reconnaissance the area so they could find the People’s Army of Vietnam and destroy enemy elements in South Vietnam. The People’s Army of Vietnam and the Viet Cong wanted to hold onto their territory and stave off the American’s advance into their stronghold. (MilitaryHistory) The operational environment for the Battle of Ia Drang Valley had an overlying impact on how the rest of the Vietnam War was going to be fought. The American’s were going to fly into the Ia Drang Valley with the 1st...
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...Rogers Compare and Contrast Essay 27 June 2015 The Two books that I have chosen to write about in my compare and contrast essay are “Chickenhawk,” by Robert Mason and “We Were Soldiers Once...and Young: Ia Drang - The Battle That Changed the War in Vietnam,” by BG Harold G. Moore (Ret) and Joseph L. Galloway. These two books focus on the Vietnam War and more importantly the 1st Cavalry Divisions time in the Vietnam war. Both books are autobiographies written from a soldier’s point of view and both offer a unique look at life for different types of soldiers during the Vietnam War during the same period of time (1965) and even during the same Battles (Ia Drang Valley). Chickenhawk, by Mason, is written from the point of view of a huey “slick” pilot in the army’s first use of air assault or airmobile techniques. The book begins with Mason starting his career in the army and his transition through flight school and eventually making his way to the Vietnam War. The majority of the book focuses on his time in Vietnam and the daily life of an Army Huey pilot in the 1st Cav as well as his transfer to the “Blue Stars”, which occurs at the end of his tour. The last few chapters of the book discuss his time after Vietnam. “We Were Soldiers Once...and Young: Ia Drang - The Battle That Changed the War in Vietnam,” by Moore and Galloway is written from the point of view of Moore, an army infantry Lieutenant Colonel and Galloway a combat photographer. Moore was the battalion commander...
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...Aiming to grasp the concept of air mobility as a component of warfare, The United States Army created the 11th Air Assault Division (Test) at Fort Benning, Georgia in February 1963. The objective was to bring Infantry into battle as fast as possible using helicopters. In June 1964, Lieutenant Colonel Harold G. Moore, Jr., took command of one battalion of the 11th Air Assault Division, he trained them for over a year and by July 1965 the Pentagon gave the order to rename the 11th Air Assault Division as the1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), including Lieutenant Colonel Moore´s 1st Battalion and its sister 2nd Battalion, which were deployed to Vietnam in July 28th 1965 according to the President´s order. This book relates the story of these two Battalions and their respective battles at Landing Zones X-Ray and Albany in the Ia Drang Valley. In just four days, more than two hundred Americans and thousands of North Vietnamese died in combat. The memories of those who fought and died in the Ia Drang Valley are brought to life throughout “We Were Soldiers Once ... and Young”. Both authors, Joseph L. "Joe" Galloway and Lieutenant General (Retired) Harold G. "Hal" Moore, are distinguished in their respective fields. Joe Galloway was a war correspondent for United Press International (UPI) from 1965 to 1966. He was...
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...War is a military response to a political situation. War and the battles which comprise those wars are often recorded in history, and those wars seem to be embedded into the human condition. Plato said, "Only the dead have seen the end of war." So as long as humans are around, there will be war, and therefore, people to tell the stories of the wars and the battles that are part of our history. The broad specter of war is often recorded as sterilized and impersonal narration dealing with politics, strategies and reasoning to explain the how and the why of battles. Such accounts are often written by historians that were not present at the battle or were safely experiencing it from a safe remote command center far from the killing. "We Were Soldiers Once...And Young" is a historical biography written by retired Lieutenant General Hal Moore and UPI Reporter Joe Galloway that recalls the events of the first major battle of the Vietnam War. The battle took place in the Ia Drang Valley between November 14 and November 18, 1965 at two landing zones northwest of Plei Me in the central Highlands of South Vietnam (approximately 35 miles south-west of Pleiku). The battle derives its name from the Drang River which runs through the valley northwest of Plei Me, in which the engagement took place. "Ia" means "river" in the local Montagnard language. The battle was fought between the US 7'th Cavalry's newly established Air Mobile forces and a mixture of Viet-Cong guerilla's and highly trained...
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...Movie Review We Were Soldiers Burt Thomas Liberty University CRIS303 – B01 Movie Review We Were Soldiers We Were Soldiers is a movie written and directed by Randall White. It is based on a book, We Were Soldiers Once…and Young: Ia Drang, the Battle That Changed the War in Vietnam by Lt. Col. Hal Moore and Joe Galloway. It details the account of both men, as well as the men under Moore’s command during the battle of the Ia Drang Valley. The battle takes place early in the Viet Nam War and the movie provides a historical, as well as dramatic recount of the battle and the lives of the men who fought it. Movie Synopsis A narrator begins the movie by retelling the story of the French involvement in the early days of the Viet Nam War. There is a graphic depiction of violence as the French soldiers are killed, and the viewer is briefly introduced to Lt. Col. Nguyen Huu An. Lt. Col An would later command the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) soldiers during the battle with Moore’s soldiers. Eleven years later, the army is establishing an air cavalry division and Lt. Col. Moore is selected to command them. Mel Gibson, in the role of Lt. Col. Moore enlists the help of Maj. Bruce “Snake” Crandall, played by Greg Kinnear. Crandall’s crew of pilots is made up of a motley group of men and his pilots and equipment are considered to be some of the best in the Army at the time. The division is redesignated as the 7th Cavalry, and Moore notes the irony in its designation - this is the same...
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...Artillery Lessons Learned in Ia Drang SFC Byron Allred, SFC Tenny Niupulusu, SFC Lloyd Paige, SFC Terrance Retch SLC #13D 001-16 Fort Sill NCO Academy During the Vietnam Conflict, the Viet Cong forces were in nominal control of most of the countryside by 1965 and had established military infrastructure in the Central Highlands, to the Northeast of the Saigon region. The Vietnamese forces have been operating in this area since they fought and defeated the French approximately a decade before the Battle of Ia Drang. The Ia Drang campaign was the first major battle between the U.S. Army and the Highland Front, also known as the B3 Front, which consisted of regulars of the People’s Army of Vietnam of North Vietnam (PANV)...
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...significant war correspondent of the 20th century is Joseph L. Galloway. He spent most of his working career dealing with war, with his most notable achievements being reporting from the front lines of the battle at Landing Zone X-ray in the Ia Drang Valley during the Vietnam War, being a best selling author, and receiving the Bronze Star Medal with Valor for his courage at the aforementioned battle. Joseph L. Galloway and the Realities of War Corresponding War correspondents have been around as long as the journalism career and as long as there have been wars to report. The first war correspondent is said to be Willem van de Velde. In 1653, he took a small boat across the sea to observe a naval battle between the English and the Dutch (War correspondent). War corresponding has come a long way since those days. With every war comes more and more correspondents to cover the news, battles, and outcomes. “War correspondents help the public understand the consequences of government policy, military strategy, and battlefield tactics (Steele, B)”. Without them, the rest of the world would be left in the dark and be unaware of the events of major wars. War correspondents play a crucial yet dangerous role in society. Most war correspondents are on the front lines of battle. They are sent to the most conflict-ridden and hazardous parts of the world to report back their stories, pictures, and videos. They risk their lives to bring news from war to the rest of the world. Some are...
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...The North Vietnamese Communist leadership's ability to reassess and adapt during the Vietnam War was reflected in how well they combined guerilla and conventional operations to achieve their strategic goal of unifying Vietnam under communist rule. Throughout the conflict, the Viet Cong (VC) were employed to conduct guerilla operations while North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and VC "main force" units were used to transition to conventional operations. Guerilla operations enabled Hanoi to inflict a steady flow of casualties on US forces which increased anti-war sentiment in America. NVA and VC main force conventional operations reinforced the US Army's conventional approach to the fight which caused the Americans to alienate the people of South Vietnam. By alienating the South Vietnamese people, the Americans enhanced the VC's ability to conduct guerilla operations and control rural population centers which weakened the credibility of the Government of South Vietnam (GVN). The combined effects of guerilla and conventional operations supported the North Vietnamese strategy of a protracted conflict that was sure to weaken the resolve of the United States and eventually defeat the GVN. The relationship between conventional and guerilla operations was a key element of the Vietnamese communists’ “Dau Tranh” strategy to fight and win the Vietnam War. A brief description of the Dua Tranh (meaning struggle) strategy is appropriate since it was the basis for North Vietnam’s success. The strategy...
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...However, while war is sometimes necessary to acquire lasting peace, the immediate after-effects of war are both physically and mentally devastating to the soldiers and to their families who mourn over them. While war affects all people in an individual different sense, the biggest number of people that are touched by war are those on the front lines: the soldiers. The brutality and destruction of war can be easily shown though the movie “We Were Soldiers” in which American forces face off against the Vietnamese in Ia Drang Valley. The battle depicted in the film lasts multiple days and illustrates the deaths and maiming of hundreds of American and Vietnamese soldiers. The brutal, physical pain shown in the film and endured by the soldiers is unparalleled, as many of them almost did not come home alive at all. A small fraction of the original number of soldiers returned home alive after the battle, as the biggest sacrifices of war falls on the shoulders of those who serve. Yet while a large portion of those...
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...Medal of Honor Recipient Colonel (RET) Bruce P. Crandall Eli A. Bullard Engineer Senior Leader Course Abstract Lieutenant Colonel (RET) Bruce P. Crandall is a well-known Medal of Honor recipient. His actions while serving as a helicopter pilot during the battle of the Ia Drang Valley in Vietnam are well documented in the book, “We were Soldiers Once…and Young” written by General (RET ) Hal Moore. What is less known is that this was not his only act of heroism. He was involved in two additional high risk rescue attempts. Then Major Crandall gave many years of dedicated service to the Engineer Regiment, his first and ongoing branch affiliation in the United States Army. Bruce P. Crandall was not only a distinguished pilot, inducted into the Army Aviation Hall of Fame in 2004, but also served as a Battalion Commander, a Facility Engineer Manager, an installation Deputy Commander, and a Senior Engineer advisor to the entire California National Guard....
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...platoon after almost being slaughtered and calls in artillery and uses the cover of night to keep the Vietnamese from over-running their small defensive position. In the movie Platoon the movie really centered on the enlisted man the officers were not seen in the movie a lot like we were soldiers and the officers did not to be takecare of their men and in the movie as much as we were soldiers it mainly focused on that one platoon or the squad of soldiers, the interaction between the members of the squad, the squad leader and the platoon sergeant within just that squad I believe that one of the most important differents I have noticed is the era of the movies where made in. The movie we were soldiers was made in the era of 1965 the Battle of Ia Drang . In 1965 it was the beginning of the war for the United States of America and also begins in America and lets us see the characters with their families, their wives and children, instantly granting them greater depth and therefore...
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...platoon after almost being slaughtered and calls in artillery and uses the cover of night to keep the Vietnamese from over-running their small defensive position. In the movie Platoon the movie really centered on the enlisted man the officers were not seen in the movie a lot like we were soldiers and the officers did not to be takecare of their men and in the movie as much as we were soldiers it mainly focused on that one platoon or the squad of soldiers, the interaction between the members of the squad, the squad leader and the platoon sergeant within just that squad I believe that one of the most important differents I have noticed is the era of the movies where made in. The movie we were soldiers was made in the era of 1965 the Battle of Ia Drang . In 1965 it was the beginning of the war for the United States of America and also begins in America and lets us see the characters with their families, their wives and children, instantly granting them greater depth and therefore...
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...Battle of Huế From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search | This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2010) | Battle of Huế | Part of the Tet Offensive, Vietnam War | US Marines fighting in Hue | Date | January 30 – March 3, 1968 | Location | 16°28′30.9″N 107°34′33.6″E / 16.47525°N 107.576°E / 16.47525; 107.576Coordinates: 16°28′30.9″N 107°34′33.6″E / 16.47525°N 107.576°E / 16.47525; 107.576 Huế, South Vietnam | Result | Tactical South Vietnamese and US victory[1] | | Belligerents | South Vietnam United States | North Vietnam Viet Cong | Commanders and leaders | Ngô Quang Trưởng Foster LaHue | Trần Văn Quang | Strength | 11 ARVN battalions 2 U.S Army battalions 3 U.S Marines battalions | 10 PAVN and NLF battalions | Casualties and losses | ARVN: 452 killed 2,123 wounded U.S.: 216 killed 1,584 wounded[2] Total: 663 killed 3,707 wounded | PAVN figures: About 2,400 killed and 3,000 wounded (from 30-1 until 28-3)[3] MACV estimate: 8,113 killed[4] 98 captured[5] | 844 civilian deaths and 1,900 injuries due to accident of battle, 4,856 civilians and captured personnel executed by communists or missing according to the South Vietnamese government[6] | [show]v · d · e Military engagements of the Vietnam War | | | Laos - Sunrise – 1st Ap Bac – Go Cong –...
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...ARMY AVIATION OPERATIONS IN LOW INTENSITY CONFLICT Introduction “Foot slogging” by infantrymen has been most important and fundamental to address an insurgency; however, there are limitations to their mobility. To increase their versatility, the Portuguese introduced two contrasting means, the helicopter and the horse. While there were other, more conventional solutions to the mobility problem, such as trucks, jeeps, and light armored cars, these vehicles required at least crude roads, had other terrain limitations, and were vulnerable to land mines. The advent of the helicopter and its application in counter-insurgency began with the British in Malaya on 1 April 1950, with the formation of the Far East Casualty Air Evacuation Flight at Seletar with strength of three Westland S-51 Dragonfly helicopters. During the Malayan Emergency the British used their helicopters primarily for casualty evacuation and later for airlifting troops. Question that looms ahead for the future, no matter what the outcome in Jammu and Kashmir, and North Eastern States, is how the army aviation succeeds against fierce insurgency in strategy and capabilities. The Taliban’s resurgence, tenacious resistance against NATO forces in Afghanistan, Al Qaeda’s ability to elude United States forces, and the trouble Israel has had in trying to subdue violence in tiny Southern Lebanon (Hezbollah) and tinier Gaza (Hamas) deepen concern that even world’s finest militaries have problems against any kind...
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...At liftoff, Matt Eversmann said a Hail Mary. He was curled into a seat between two helicopter crew chiefs, the knees of his long legs up to his shoulders. Before him, jammed on both sides of the Black Hawk helicopter, was his "chalk," twelve young men in flak vests over tan desert camouflage fatigues. He knew their faces so well they were like brothers. The older guys on this crew, like Eversmann, a staff sergeant with five years in at age twenty-six, had lived and trained together for years. Some had come up together through basic training, jump school, and Ranger school. They had traveled the world, to Korea, Thailand, Central America... they knew each other better than most brothers did. They'd been drunk together, gotten into fights, slept on forest floors, jumped out of airplanes, climbed mountains, shot down foaming rivers with their hearts in their throats, baked and frozen and starved together, passed countless bored hours, teased one another endlessly about girlfriends or lack of same, driven in the middle of the night from Fort Benning to retrieve each other from some diner or strip club on Victory Drive after getting drunk and falling asleep or pissing off some barkeep. Through all those things, they had been training for a moment like this. It was the first time the lanky sergeant had been put in charge, and he was nervous about it. Pray for us sinners, now, and at the hour of our death, Amen. It was midafternoon, October 3, 1993. Eversmann's Chalk Four...
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