The battalion commander had ordered his command helicopter to land and check out a North Vietnamese soldier killed by the door gunner. He underwent four operations on his shattered hip and then was shipped home for discharge on December 21, 1965, ten days overdue on his two-year hitch and judged fifty percent disabled. The cavalry regiment returned fire, but the enemy were dug into prepared fighting positions and many of the American leaders had died or were wounded during the initial stages of the attack. 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 . He is working on a book on Alpha Companys year in Vietnam. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency: Ia Drang Valley Incident. He works at Fort Benning, Georgia, evaluating Army Reserve training. SMITH, Jack P., forty-seven, returned to Charlie Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry after his wounds healed, and completed his tour. For the last twenty-one years he has been in the tire business. He and his wife, Louise, live in San Antonio, Texas, and Brown plays a round of golf most days. Freeman won a battlefield commission in the Korean War. Don Cornett had a wife and a son, a mother and a father and two sisters. Spec. SHADDEN, James Haskell, fifty, mortarman, Delta Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry, survived half a dozen operations and one year in Army hospitals recovering from the wounds received at LZ Albany. But Westmoreland believed the battle validated the airmobile tactic of quick strikes to catch the enemy off guard, kill as many as possible and withdraw back to base. WINTER, Pete, fifty-one, rifleman, Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, was discharged in December 1965. 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.. 5 memorials LTC Roger Jay Bartholomew 2 Nov 1932 - 27 Nov 1968 Westlawn-Hillcrest Memorial Park God rest you, George. I fought for this country and now I own and farm 120 acres of my country. Then he somehow managed to crawl away, saying that he was going to organize the troops. They and their buddies fought off hundreds of North Vietnamese with the help of artillery. CANTU, Vincent, fifty-one, mortarman, Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cav, left the Ia Drang battlefield and immediately rotated home for discharge, two weeks late, in December 1965. Read More Landing Zone Xray Lead elements of the under strength 450 man 1st Bn, 7th Cavalry air assault into a small clearing in scrub jungle below the 2300 foot Chu Pong Massif. Knowles has served in the New Mexico legislature since 1982. 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. He is a freelance commercial artist in Harrisburg and occasionally turns his hand to fine-art drawings of his war experiences. This is the tale of the Battle of the Ia Drang Valley in Vietnam in 1965. No one pulled security. Some of them had blood on their faces from scratches and from other guys' wounds. From the lack of training and understanding of the situation to the haphazard way they conducted their movement and their halt. "I'm just as guilty. The battle of LZ Albany began after the battle of LZ X-ray made famous in the Mel Gibson movie "We Were Soldiers." In the spring of 1992, Frank Henry was posthumously inducted into the Army Aviation Hall of Fame. 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. He is a captain and the commander of Engine Company Number One. More than anything else in the world I would like to be back in the Green Machine, he says. WHITESIDE, Jerry E., fifty-five, fire-support coordinator in LZ X-Ray, served a second tour in Vietnam as an adviser. 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. Diduryk is buried at the Fort Benning cemetery; his widow, Delores, lives in Jacksonville, Florida. They were promoted to first lieutenants at the same time and both became executive officers on the same day, Lawrence with Delta Company and Cornett with Charlie. Each side realized it was fighting a war of attrition. The column was strung out about 550 yards in the open with dense vegetation to their right. Learn more about featured topics of the Vietnam War and Vietnam Era. The battle was later dramatized in the film We Were Soldiers. He is an executive with a major defense-contracting firm and lives in Centreville, Virginia. He told Moore to execute an airmobile assault into the Ia Drang valley north of the Chu Pong peak early the next morning and to conduct search and destroy operations through 15 November. He is married and has four children. Crandall won the first Helicopter Heroism Award of the Aviation/Space Writers Association, for two daring nighttime landings under fire to rescue twelve badly wounded troopers from Captain Tony Nadals Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cav in Operation Masher-White Wing in January 1966. Hal Moore and the 1st Battalion, 7th . The instructor of that class, Colonel John F. Jeszensky (ret. 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. On the second day, North Vietnamese forces launched a heavy attack including hand-to-hand combat. Lawrence, even in his paralyzed state, was able to give some direction to his company. Jim also talks about the failure of leadership. One infantry company began the day of Nov. 14 with 110 men. The following is a partial accounting, prepared in 1992, of where some of them are and what they have done with their lives: ADAMS, Russell, fifty-one, machine gunner, Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cav in the Ia Drang, helps run the family dairy farm on five hundred acres outside Shoemakersville, Pennsylvania. It would remain the U.S. militarys single bloodiest day in Vietnam through the entire war. After a North Vietnamese strike against the Special Forces camp at Plei Me, American forces deployed in an effort to destroy the attackers. (67 votes) Very easy. 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. Very difficult. He and his wife, Theresa, live on a farm in northern Virginia with their sons Lee, fifteen, and Joshua, twelve. President Johnson Jeanie Hunter in Oskaloosa, Ia on November 24, 1984 and she survives bikinis. The losses at Ia Drang prompted the North Vietnamese to rethink their plan to confront U.S. forces with large, conventional formations, reverting to hit-and-run attacks where U.S. air and artillery power was less effective. A Chicago native, Doc Carrara returned home, changed his specialty to pathology. The communist threat to the central highlands subsided. 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. The North Vietnamese enjoyed numerical superiority in the valley. His hands were burned in the escape from the wreckage, and it was doubted that he would ever fly again. You can always change this later in your Account settings. He wanted to ensure the memories of those who died live on, in particular that of his best friend, Lt. Don Cornett. That all would change when the First Cavalry Air Mobile Division flew into the Ia Drang Valley in the central highlands of South Vietnam. I have one very vivid memory of the second morning in X-Ray. 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 Ia Drang was an engagement of the Vietnam War. He went home to Anderson County, South Carolina, where he is a deputy sheriff. He left the Army in 1971 with the rank of captain, returned home to Puerto Rico, and earned a law degree. He went home to Salinas, California, where he lives with his wife and three sons. Your new password must contain one or more uppercase and lowercase letters, and one or more numbers or special characters. In November, troops would take on North Vietnamese regulars for the first time in the Battle of Ia Drang Valley. You can customize the cemeteries you volunteer for by selecting or deselecting below. 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. They have five grown children: sons Steve, Dave, and Greg; and daughters Cecile and Julie. She and her husband live in Annandale, Virginia. I believe it is so I can share our story.". USA, Scranton, Basil Plumley is a grandfather now, kind and soft-spoken, but do not be deceived: He is the lion in winter. I thought to myself. A Broken Arrow was declared over the radio by the Battalion Forward Air Controller, which meant that an American unit was in imminent danger of being overrun. He lives in Pleasant Valley, Connecticut, and works in real estate sales and development. That spring, the Saigon government had begun collapsing under the combined. NYE, George (China Joe), demolition-team leader, 8th Engineers, attached to the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry in Landing Zone X-Ray, died of an apparent heart attack at age fifty-one on December 8, 1991, at his home in Bangor, Maine. 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. I didn't do as I should have.". The North Vietnamese forces had succeeded in engaging the U.S. forces in very tight quarters. Of the 500 men, 150 were killed and only 84 were able to return to immediate duty. He retired a colonel in 1983. After leaving the Army, Braveboy worked as a roofer. 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. 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 retired from the battlefield only after all possible service had been rendered to the infantry battalion. He lives in Golden, Colorado, where he owns a firm that deals worldwide in antiques. There was a problem getting your location. Setelin is president of the Major General George W. Casey chapter of the 1st Cavalry Division Association and a member of the national associations board of trustees. He left active duty in 1967, but continued in the Army Reserves until his retirement in 1990 as a colonel. 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. Privacy Policy Val Kilmer Accidentally Landed Matthew Modine the Starring Role in Full Metal Jacket. 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. U.S. airpower lifted the siege and drove back the North Vietnamese. At approximately noon,the North Vietnamese 33rd Regiment attacked. This account already exists, but the email address still needs to be confirmed. HENRY, Frank, executive officer of the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry in LZ Albany, served a second tour in Vietnam as a battalion commander in the 1st Cavalry Division, later commanded a brigade of the 101st Airborne Division, and was promoted to chief of staff of the 101st Airborne in the summer of 1977. A native of Mendenhall, Mississippi, Kennedy was thirty-one years old at the time of his death. He spent that night among the dead and wounded. We were crawling around under intense machine-gun fire when Sergeant Major Plumley walked up, pulled his .45-caliber pistol, chambered a round, and said: Gentlemen, prepare to defend yourselves.You never forget a thing like that.. He was 92 years old. Knowles retired from the Army in 1974 as a lieutenant general. FREEMAN, Ed (Too Tall to Fly), sixty-five, Bruce Crandalls wingman, retired a major in 1967 after twenty-one years Army service. Merchant retired a lieutenant colonel in 1982. On November 27, 1968, Lieutenant Colonel Bartholomew was killed in action. His son is a staff sergeant in the 82nd Airborne Division and a veteran of both the Panama invasion and the Persian Gulf War. He lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and owns and operates a real estate brokerage firm. It had been a small undeclared war mainly fought by South Vietnamese troops with a few U.S. advisers in the mix, sometimes on the ground, sometimes in helicopters, said Andrew Wiest, a history professor at the University of Southern Mississippi and the founding director of its Dale Center for the Study of War and Society. This was the first major engagement between the United States Army and the North Vietnamese Army. These men survived the fighting in the Ia Drang Valley in Vietnam from Oct 23, 1965 to Nov 1965. Alpha Company arrived in Vietnam with 146 officers and men. He lives on a farm near Rainier, Washington, and has been writing down his memories of Vietnam duty for his children and grandchildren. During his two tours in Vietnam, Crandall flew lead ship on 756 separate missions. Galloway served a total of fifteen years overseas with UPI, assigned to Tokyo, Saigon, Jakarta, New Delhi, Singapore, and Moscow. Carrara says, I dont dwell on Vietnam, but now and then I hear something or smell something and flash back to those days. To use this feature, use a newer browser. The fighting continued all day and into the night with the enemy relentlessly making assault after assault. In the first major engagement of the war between regular U.S. and North Vietnamese forces, elements of the 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) fight a pitched battle with Communist main . 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." The Battle of Ia Drang was the first major battle of Vietnam fought on the dates of November 14-18, 1965. Some of the men who hadn't slept for close to 48 hours closed their eyes, others smoked or ate. (U.S. Army). 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 was chief of security at a hospital in Columbus, Georgia, until his death on April 18, 1992. Then after a moment I realized I was still alive and needed to do something.". P.O. Terms of Use | Please complete the captcha to let us know you are a real person. 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). "The main point that I try to get across when I speak to Soldiers, and this is what saved me, is the training," he said. The Battle of Ia Drang Valley, fought November 14th-18th, 1965, was the first major engagement between the United States Army and the People's Army of Vietnam (abbreviated as PAVN). Jeanette spent the better part of a year in a military hospital while his shattered leg was repaired. The real life Battle of Ia Drang took place between November 14-19, 1965. ADAMS, Russell, fifty-one, machine gunner, Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cav in the Ia Drang, helps run the family dairy farm on five hundred acres outside Shoemakersville, Pennsylvania. In his spare time Wal-lenius draws, paints, and does etchings and prints, sometimes of Vietnam War scenes. But the battle's true toll would prove to be the hubris it bred in U.S. commanders. He and his wife live in Lake Forest, Illinois. Ia Drang Valley, Battle of the (1965). The Pleiku Campaign took place from 20 October to 26 . MARUHNICH, John, sixty-two, mortar sergeant, Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry in LZ X-Ray, retired a sergeant first class in 1974 with twenty-four years service. That headquarters type turned up and he returned my old helmet, bullet hole and all. On March 2, 1969, thirty-two-year-old Buse Tully was killed in action. Since August 1990, he has been the dean of students and basketball coach at St. Mary Rynken Catholic High School in Leonardtown, Maryland, his hometown. Difficult. 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. He tried to crawl away and was shot again in the hip.
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