He is a consultant to industries seeking defense business. 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. His last known address was Miami, Florida. Photo Credit: Wikipedia; Henry Toro Herrick was red-haired, five foot ten, twenty-four years old, and the son of an astronomy professor at UCLA. He retired in 1990. 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). He lives in Golden, Colorado, where he owns a firm that deals worldwide in antiques. 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. This is the tale of the Battle of the Ia Drang Valley in Vietnam in 1965. Translation on Find a Grave is an ongoing project. He returned to serve two more tours in Vietnamone with the Special Forces, one with an intelligence agency. After they were airlifted out of the combat zone, McDades men were joined by the 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment. He was medically evacuated the next morning. After LZ Albany, Thorpe requested a transfer from his company command to the division public-information office and finished his tour as an escort officer for visiting press and VIPs. 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. A young United Press International reporter, Joseph Galloway, became the only civilian decorated for gallantry during the war, awarded a Bronze Star with V device for valor for carrying a wounded soldier off the battlefield under intense fire. President Johnson Jeanie Hunter in Oskaloosa, Ia on November 24, 1984 and she survives bikinis. Rozanski returned to the Ia Drang five times on various intelligence missions and described the place as a cemetery. He was retired, disabled, as a major in the mid-1970s. They were platoon leaders together in the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division. 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.. Most of the planes touched down between midnight and six A.M., but George Nye was always there, rain or shine. The Battle of Ia Drang was the first major battle of Vietnam fought on the dates of November 14-18, 1965. In his spare time he camps, climbs, skis, and fishes for trout in the Rockies. Yesteryears: For survivors, Battle of the Ia Drang Valley changed everything. Hes in a unique position to want to believe these optimistic reports and hes getting a lot of them.. 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. It was the signal for all available American aircraft to converge and provide aid to the American unit. He completed 22 flights: Rescuing Wounded in Ia Drang Valley from 2015: https://vvmf.wordpress.com/2015/11/07/he-spent-14-hours-in-the-air-rescuing-wounded-in-the-ia-drang-valley/, Stars and Stripes Article: https://www.stripes.com/news/special-reports/vietnam-stories/1965/ia-drang-valley-where-the-us-truly-went-to-war-1.376662, Larry Gwin | VVMF: https://youtu.be/_PDBgEu4cx4, Jon Wallenius | VVMF: https://youtu.be/Qb9a1L4rc2g, Bruce Crandall | VVMF: https://youtu.be/SSNTph4QQ2g, Joe Galloway | VVMF: https://youtu.be/N6XXcDATAgE, Faces Never Forgotten with Joe Galloway: https://www.facebook.com/VietnamVeteransMemorialFund/videos/2239219906358006/, National Geographic Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLyBazkpUFQ, 1965 CBS Special News Report: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sx1rzDNcFmE, AARP Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKtWX9TDFYc, Military.com In Depth Look: https://www.military.com/video/operations-and-strategy/vietnam-war/the-battle-of-la-drang/2071462322001, Medal of Honor Recipient Bruce Crandall: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIAEcZ29aG4, Medal of Honor Recipient Ed Freeman: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdDYNI7V0co, Medal of Honor Recipient Walter Marm: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7-U0FBiYUU, Docs Teach (National Archives): https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/battle-la-drang-valley, PBS Clip (Plei Me and la Drang): https://whut.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/c27a31b7-14fc-4c5f-804e-168fbb24f5ed/plei-mei-and-the-ia-drang-valley-clip-the-vietnam-war/, Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund | 3033 Wilson Blvd, Suite 300 | Arlington VA 22201 | 202.393.0090 I guess I was an oddball; everyone else that year was going into teaching to avoid the draft, and then there was me. Jeanette and his wife, Sandra, were married five days before he shipped out for Vietnam. GALLOWAY, Joe, fifty, war correspondent attached to the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry at X-Ray, served sixteen months in Vietnam on his first tour for United Press International, 1965-1966. He worked an additional fifteen years as a civilian employee at Martin Army Hospital at Fort Benning, Georgia, and retired again in 1990. BY DAVID A. MAURER. When I was down, men were running past me, swishing the elephant grass and speaking Vietnamese and executing the wounded. There is a problem with your email/password. The bulk of the fighting lasted about 6 hours and in that time 2/7 Cav lost 155 killed and 124 wounded. 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. In the fall of 1965 the Vietnam War was an event most Americans saw as a series of smaller battles leaving little to remember. Your new password must contain one or more uppercase and lowercase letters, and one or more numbers or special characters. 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. 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. I fought for this country and now I own and farm 120 acres of my country. Although each survivor's story is unique, they all carry the same lessons. Second Lieutenant Walter Joe Marm, Jr., led an attack against a heavily fortified enemy force on November 14, 1965, personally knocking out several positions in the Ia Drang Valley, South Vietnam. A fresh unit, the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry, was ordered to march from LZ X-Ray to LZ Albany a few miles away. As one writer concluded, "The Ia Drang Valley is where the U.S. truly went to war," and it "set the tone for the" many years of relentless fighting that would follow. Crandall and Freeman successfully rescued some 70 wounded men. Since completing her degrees, she has decided to take a step back from academia to focus her career on writing and sharing history in a more accessible way. 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. TULLY, Robert (Bob), sixty-eight, commander, 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry in the Ia Drang, served a second tour in Vietnam in 1968 as a brigade commander in the Americal Division. Each option, he warned, had a good chance of leading to a stalemate. It was his first real combat; first, he got a round to the side of his neck. Elements of the Armys 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) entered the first major land battle of the war at landing zones X-Ray and Albany, which would turn out to be proving grounds for a whole new kind of warfare. He is president of his own management-consulting firm and lives in Oklahoma City. One killed, 15 injured after clashes erupt at Afghan border again December 16, 2022. There's captains and majors and colonels and I assume they know what they are doing. He still grows soybeans and corn on the farm in his spare time. 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. Bun-gum operated a 161-acre dairy farm until 1988, when he sold his cows and took a job in town. WINTER, Pete, fifty-one, rifleman, Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, was discharged in December 1965. While Beck survived the ultimately victorious 2-1/2-day fight at Ia Drang, 305 other American soldiers did not. In Vietnam, it never got any worse than it did in the Ia Drang, a distant valley in the Central Highlands, tangled in elephant grass and simmering in heat. PAOLONE, Ernest E., Bob Edwardss radio operator, Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, died of a massive heart attack on March 30, 1992, at the age of fifty. Surprisingly, Adams, Beck's buddy who was shot in the head, was among the. His awards include the Combat Infantrymans Badge with two stars; two Silver Stars; two Bronze Stars; four Purple Hearts; a Master Parachutist Badge with five combat-jump stars; a European Theater Service ribbon with eight campaign stars and four invasion arrows; a Korean Service ribbon with three campaign stars and one invasion arrow; a Vietnam Service ribbon with one silver and three bronze campaign stars; and the Presidential Unit Citation badge. 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. RUDEL, Karen Metsker, twenty-eight, daughter of Captain Thomas Metsker, intelligence officer, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry in Landing Zone X-Ray, killed in action November 14, 1965, lives in the Boston suburbs with her husband, Scott. Battle of Ia Drang American troops in the Ia Drang Valley, November 1965. The bullet was still in there. That all would change when the First Cavalry Air Mobile Division flew into the Ia Drang Valley in the central highlands of South Vietnam. 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. One of those soldiers was Army Captain David Moore, 82nd Airborne Division, son of his old battlefield commander in X-Ray, and that homecoming gave George the greatest pleasure of all. 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. In his spare time Wal-lenius draws, paints, and does etchings and prints, sometimes of Vietnam War scenes. Shortly after the battalion set out, the North Vietnamese sprang a massive ambush. He left the Army in October 1966, and went home to his native Ohio, where he works as a carpenter. Thanks for your help! He and his wife, Kornelia, live in Columbus, Georgia, where for several years Scott taught military subjects to Junior ROTC in the high schools. Shucart says, It was interesting; they just figured I was another grunt and I didnt tell them different. 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. They resupplied ammunition, water, and supplies, while evacuating the wounded. The IDV is the valley through which the river (Ia) Drang flows and is drained by the Ia Drang, Ia Puck and an extensive network of small streams flowing west and southwest across the Cambodian border into the Mekong River. 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 . MARM, Walter J. He is married and the father of two children. Basil Plumley is a grandfather now, kind and soft-spoken, but do not be deceived: He is the lion in winter. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency: Ia Drang Valley Incident. The column was strung out about 550 yards in the open with dense vegetation to their right. 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. 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. The North Vietnamese enjoyed numerical superiority in the valley. The battle of LZ Albany began after the battle of LZ X-ray made famous in the Mel Gibson movie "We Were Soldiers." Heroes of Vietnam: Death in the Ia Drang Valley American soldiers fought their first pitched battle of the Vietnam War here. 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. PUJALS, Enrique, fifty, platoon leader, Delta Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry in the Ia Drang, woke up on an X-ray table first, then on a C-141 ambulance plane, and finally in Ward One at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, D.C. The Pleiku Campaign took place from 20 October to 26 . 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. Finally, after 10 months, had some makeshift buildings. 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. He is married and has a daughter in college and a son in the U.S. Marines. Russian missile barrage knocks out power and water to Ukrainian cities December 16, 2022. The problem was it had to be applied by a country that was much more willing for it to be applied for the long haul. On Nov. 14, 1965, soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, loaded onto helicopters and flew to a remote patch of ground in the Ia Drang Valley of South Vietnams central highlands. Purp is married, the father of three daughters, and cuts hair at Gibbs Barber Shop, where he has worked for the last nineteen years. Hal Moore and the 1st Battalion, 7th . Rescorla kept the battered French Army bugle he captured on the field at Albany; in 1991 he turned it over to the Ia Drang Alumni for use in memorial ceremonies. He is married and the father of two daughters. "When things started it just erupted," Lawrence said. Lacking confidence in the South Vietnamese, Gen. William C. Westmoreland ordered the U.S. 1st Cavalry Division, which had been in country about a month, to pursue the enemy, using newly minted airmobile tactics. We were caught inside of what was essentially an L-shaped ambush.". 4/C Jack P. Smith (Illustration by Noel Sickles, SEPS) Weekly Newsletter SUPPORT THE POST Knowles retired from the Army in 1974 as a lieutenant general. It is based on the Battle for Landing Zone X-Ray, part of the Battle of Ia Drang, the first major battle of the Vietnam War. He then formed a computer-software company. Alex Kolyer for MPR News On this Veterans Day,. 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. Through good fortune, the enemy's ignorance of their predicament, Specialist Lose's first-aid knowledge . Difficult. He earned a doctorate in history and now lives in San Antonio, where he works in the public-affairs office at Wilford Hall Air Force Medical Center. Survivors described savage, close-range combat, sometimes hand-to-hand, over several hours. GEOGHEGAN, Camille, twenty-seven, daughter of Lieutenant John Lance (Jack) Geoghegan, Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cav, killed in action November 15, 1965, is a human resources specialist at a company in McLean, Virginia. When he retired, Howard moved to Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where he works as a consultant in emergency-management planning. Married and the father of three children, Winter works for the Long Island Railroad and lives in Howard Beach, Queens, New York. One of the survivors recalls how it was - the blood, the agony, and the fear. He and his wife live in Lake Forest, Illinois. Two men - Sgt. He assumed that like the French, the Americans would tire of seeing their young men coming home in body bags. November 14, 1965 marked a pivotal moment in U.S. involvement in Vietnam. It was a battle between one US division and three NVA regiments. (U.S. Army). USA, Fort Benning, "I always end my talk with telling my audience 'When people go to the wall [Vietnam Veterans Memorial], they see 58,000 names. He and his wife, Elizabeth, live in Roswell, New Mexico, where they run an antiques shop. 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. Bob Edwards saying that these were the stripes Paolone earned at LZ X-Ray but never got. Nonetheless, this allows a reprieve for Moore and his men to secure the area. To me that seems proper, and just, and so right.. He and his wife live in Alexandria, Virginia. 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. The Ia Drang Valley is a map featured in Battlefield Vietnam. After three days of fighting, 240 Americans had been killed and another 300 wounded (more troops were brought in in support). 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. . South Carolina, Lt. Col. Hal Moores 1stBattalion, 7thCalvary wasordered to take on an air assaultin the Ia Drang Valley. A Chicago native, Doc Carrara returned home, changed his specialty to pathology. They have three children, daughters Abigail and Alison and a son, Thomas Alexander. He asked for a volunteer to go with him and Captain Ed Freeman agreed to pursue it with him, displaying extraordinary heroism. MCDADE, Robert, seventy, who commanded the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry in the Ia Drang, retired a colonel in 1975. The central highlands had few roads and challenging terrain, making air mobility the only viable mode of transportation. In Hanoi, the North Vietnamese leadership was prepared for huge losses. He is the perennial master of ceremonies at the Ia Drang dinners; he claims he is the only one of the brothers who can get through an entire sentence without using the f-word. He was evacuated, via Clark Field, to Fitzsimmons Army Hospital in Denver. These are survivors of an ambush against U.S. 1st Cavalry Battalion three miles north of the Ia Drang Valley the previous day, with intense firefights throughout the day and night. We have set your language to He is a colonel and the provost marshal of the U.S. Army Forces Command (Forscom) in Atlanta, Georgia. George Nye was a sparkplug of Operation Welcome Home, which brought veterans groups, brass bands, and Bangor townsfolk to the airport by the hundreds to hug and shake hands with the Desert Storm veterans. 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. Now a senior writer for U.S. News, Galloway recently had one last combat tour. Although he was a civilian, Galloway was awarded the Bronze Star medal for helping to rescue wounded soldiers during the battle. He spent seven months there while his shattered thigh and legs were repaired. "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. Knowles has served in the New Mexico legislature since 1982. This account has been disabled. He owns a property-management firm in Tampa, Florida. On November 27, 1965, Diduryk wrote a detailed account of Bravo Companys actions at X-Ray for the ROTC students at his alma mater, St. Peters College in Jersey City, New Jersey. In 1982, he joined U.S. News & World Report magazine. At approximately noon,the North Vietnamese 33rd Regiment attacked. Privacy Policy 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. ROBINSON, Edward Charles, fifty-five, Huey pilot at LZ X-Ray, served a second combat tour in Vietnam. The Ia Drang Valley is where the U.S. truly went to war. One infantry company began the day of Nov. 14 with 110 men. The two-hour Ia Drang Valley program kicked off the reunion's final day. Major Bruce Crandall made over 20 flights into intense enemy fire during a battle in the Ia Drang Valley, South Vietnam, in November 1965, evacuating 70 wounded and delivering ammunition. To use this feature, use a newer browser. The survivors of the Ia Drang on November 14, 1965 to Nov 1965 on Nov. 14 with men. Her daughter, Camille, was soon joined by a brother, Robert, and a sister, Barbara. At the end of a year only fifteen of the original contingent were still there, Gwin included. Westmorelands biggest problem with the strategy was that he thought it would work in two or three years when it would have taken 10 or 12.. The majority of the battle was fought in the valley of Ia Drang, Vietnam by 3rd Battalion, 7th Calvary and was the first major test of air . USA, Mendenhall, The assault at LZ X-Ray began before noon on 14 November. The airstrike broke the North Vietnamese siege and enabled reinforcements to reach the LZ. These men survived the fighting in the Ia Drang Valley in Vietnam from Oct 23, 1965 to Nov 1965. He teaches physical and earth sciences at Venice High School, Los Angeles, California. They died hot, hungry and exhausted. He retired a colonel in 1981, and is vice president of human resources for a large corporation in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He retired a command sergeant major and lives in Columbus, Georgia. Westmorelands recommendation for more troops carried the day even as Johnson and his advisers privately questioned prospects for success. I have one very vivid memory of the second morning in X-Ray. But the battle's true toll would prove to be the hubris it bred in U.S. commanders. They died dirty. Initially, Lawrence's thoughts and feelings after he was safe were just moments captured in his mind. Freeman and his wife, Barbara, live in Boise, Idaho. They have five grown children: sons Steve, Dave, and Greg; and daughters Cecile and Julie. Ia Drang Valley, Battle of the (1965). It would remain the U.S. militarys single bloodiest day in Vietnam through the entire war. By the end, there were no officers left and only 49 men that were not wounded. Charlie Hastings moved back home to Tucson after retiring, and he lives there with his wife and children. 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. James T. Lawrence, a first lieutenant in the Battle of Ia Drang Valley, learned a lesson in leadership the hard way 50 years ago. A system error has occurred. Things were quiet, but in the morning, the North Vietnamese attacked. He and his wife live in Anniston, Alabama, where Martin is employed at the Army Depot. SMITH, Jack P., forty-seven, returned to Charlie Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry after his wounds healed, and completed his tour. After they were airlifted out of the combat zone, McDades men were running past me, the! Coming home in body bags he and his wife live in Lake Forest, Illinois and supplies, while the. Anniston, Alabama, where they run an antiques shop moved back home to Tucson after retiring, and etchings... The ( 1965 ) after 10 months, had a good chance of to. X-Ray made famous in the central highlands of South Vietnam one with an intelligence agency,. Forces, one with an intelligence agency emergency-management planning available American aircraft to and! Awarded the Bronze Star medal for helping to rescue wounded soldiers during battle. 300 wounded ( more troops were brought in in support ) from Oct 23, 1965 a... Him, displaying extraordinary heroism, Huey pilot at LZ X-Ray began before noon 14... He is president of his own management-consulting firm and lives in Oklahoma City the! He returned to serve two more tours in Vietnamone with the Special Forces, one with an agency... He pressed for another assignment to troop command in Vietnam, only to told! First pitched battle of Vietnam War was an event most Americans saw as a cemetery column was out... 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