survivors of ia drang valley

The first U.S. ground combat troops arrived there in March. 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. The bullets missed his head by fractions of an inch, but the impact knocked him backward and he couldn't move from the waist down. After leaving the Army, Braveboy worked as a roofer. 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. Today he is vice president for group security at a major stock-brokerage house in New York City. Battle of Ia Drang, first major clash between U.S. soldiers and North Vietnamese troops during the Vietnam War. Many did a second tour and others left the service and returned home to their families. Surprisingly, Adams, Beck's buddy who was shot in the head, was among the. It was the most successful ambush against U.S. forces during the course of the entire war. 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. The Tragedy of LZ Albany: Teaching the lessons of a battle lost. 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 . 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. 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 thought to myself. However, theres one part of We Were Soldiers thats different from what really happened: the ending. This is the tale of the Battle of the Ia Drang Valley in Vietnam in 1965. That spring, the Saigon government had begun collapsing under the combined. 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. He would recover after some physical therapy and return to duty in 1966 to finish his tour. 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 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.. From the lack of training and understanding of the situation to the haphazard way they conducted their movement and their halt. We lived in tents. He still grows soybeans and corn on the farm in his spare time. The training kicks in and can save you.". Hal Moore ensured that all of the men came home, and they therefore did . Winkel and his wife live in Springfield, Virginia. 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. A miserly, ungrateful Veterans Administration ruled that Shadden was only thirty percent disabled. Initially, Lawrence's thoughts and feelings after he was safe were just moments captured in his mind. MILLS, Jon, fifty-four, Bruce Crandalls copilot in the Ia Drang, retired a lieutenant colonel in 1980. 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. 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. "The emotions are so high, the noise is tremendous, the confusion is everywhere; they had overrun us by now. 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. The Troopers of 2/7 Cav relieved their sister unit, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, on Nov. 16, following 1/7 Cav's three day battle with the People's Army of Vietnam near the base of the Chu Pong Massif. In the last operation, his shattered left knee joint was removed and the leg bones fused, leaving his left leg frozen straight and two inches shorter than his right leg. Please enter your email address and we will send you an email with a reset password code. The fighting continued all day and into the night. 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. Freeman and his wife, Barbara, live in Boise, Idaho. Somebody grabbed him under his arms and dragged him toward the trees, but dropped him in the clearing where air support was dropping napalm. TANNER, Ray, forty-nine, radio operator, Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, returned home to South Carolina in April 1966 and went to work for a utility company in Charleston. He and his wife have two teenage children. She is an active member of Sons and Daughters in Touch, an organization sponsored by the Friends of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. 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. Moore and his battalion were evacuated the next day, Nov. 17. 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. After about a three mile march, the front of the column reached the landing zone and the 2/7 Cav commander, Lt. Col. Robert McDade, called his company commanders forward to discuss how to best array their forces in preparation for extraction. New York, He and his wife, Pat, live in Avon Park, Florida. Please complete the captcha to let us know you are a real person. He studied to be a tool-and-die machinist and worked at that job for several years until the strain of long hours standing on his bad leg severely affected his hip and back. In a 1967 article for the Saturday Evening Post, former ABC reporter Jack Smith, who was a private first class in Charlie Company during the battle, wrote about Cornett's last moments. This browser does not support getting your location. Facebook Twitter 'Can't you see I'm dying?' He retired a colonel in 1981, and is vice president of human resources for a large corporation in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Very difficult. Fifty years ago today, one of the Vietnam war's most ferocious battles broke out in the Ia Drang Valley. After several routine lifts into the area,the men on the ground came under attack from the North Vietnamese Army. Each option, he warned, had a good chance of leading to a stalemate. "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. They died dirty. Due to a statute of limitations being lifted, Freeman was awarded the Medal of Honor on July 16, 2001. Douglas County, Forces, was Time magazines Man of the Year. 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. American officials declared the Battle of the la Drang Valley a victory. 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. DEAL, Dennis, fifty, platoon leader, Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cav in the Ia Drang, left the Army as a captain in 1968 and returned to his native Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. THORPE, Henry, fifty-eight, commander, Delta Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry in the Ia Drang, left the Army as a captain in September 1967, after eight years service, and went home to his native North Carolina. James Lawrence, a 77 year-old Vietnam veteran from Alabama, tells people about his best friend and the battle he died in whenever he gets the chance. MCDADE, Robert, seventy, who commanded the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry in the Ia Drang, retired a colonel in 1975. 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. Jim also talks about the failure of leadership. South Carolina, 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. He is married and has two children. He tried to crawl away and was shot again in the hip. He tells his audience this to help them understand. Moore lectures at military academies and at several colleges and universities. The North Vietnamese forces had succeeded in engaging the U.S. forces in very tight quarters. FORREST, George, fifty-four, who commanded Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Cav in the Ia Drang, retired a lieutenant colonel in 1980 after twenty-one years service. Despite their efforts, the North Vietnamese retake the position soon after. Val Kilmer Accidentally Landed Matthew Modine the Starring Role in Full Metal Jacket. By the third day of the battle, the Americans had gained the upper hand. Bun-gum operated a 161-acre dairy farm until 1988, when he sold his cows and took a job in town. KLUGE, Fred J., fifty-nine, platoon sergeant, Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry in Albany, retired in 1973, as a first sergeant, after a total of twenty-two years service. The single, bloodiest day in the Vietnam War. It was the longest day I ever experienced in any aircraft, Crandall recalled. He and his wife and young son live in Lawndale, California. MAPSON, Betty Jivens, forty-two, daughter of Sergeant Jerry Jivens, Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, killed in action at X-Ray on November 15, 1965, is married, the mother of two, and works as a secretary at the Medical Center Hospital in Columbus, Georgia. LUND, Bill, fifty, who was Myron Diduryks artillery forward observer in LZ X-Ray and LZ Albany, left Vietnam in March 1966, upon completion of his two-year reserve officer obligation. SCOTT, James A., sixty-nine, the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalrys sergeant major, served a second Vietnam tour in 1970-71 as command sergeant major, USARV Scott retired as a command sergeant major on May 1, 1973, after thirty years, ten months, and twenty days of service, wearing the Combat Infantrymans Badge with one star; six Bronze Stars; three Purple Hearts; a European Campaign ribbon with four battle stars and one invasion arrow; a Korean Service ribbon with two battle stars; a Vietnam Service ribbon with four battle stars; and the Presidential Unit Citation badge. He was the father of four children, aged twelve through twenty. They resupplied ammunition, water, and supplies, while evacuating the wounded. The group is devoted to bringing together the families and friends of men killed in Vietnam. 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. (Joe), fifty, platoon leader, Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry and the only man to receive the Medal of Honor, Americas highest decoration for valor, in the Ia Drang campaign, is a colonel and still on active duty after twenty-eight years. They have three children, daughters Abigail and Alison and a son, Thomas Alexander. Two men - Sgt. 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. It was much bigger than what we had seen before against a much more tenacious enemy, Wiest said of the battle. Young went to work for the railroad in Steelville, Missouri. 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. Scott and Basil Plumley meet most Fridays over breakfast at a local cafe for spirited discussions of the relative merits of their service, their two 7th Cavalry battalions, and other weighty issues. He died less than 100 yards from where his best friend lay wounded. Lessons in leadership, in the importance of training, in courage, in sacrifice and in loss. In the end, 79 Americans had been killed, and 121 men were wounded. WHITESIDE, Jerry E., fifty-five, fire-support coordinator in LZ X-Ray, served a second tour in Vietnam as an adviser. HAZEN, Robert D., fifty, Lieutenant Bob Tafts radio operator in Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cav, retired from the Army a master sergeant in 1988 after twenty-seven years service. 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. "Survivor's guilt is something that most people who have seen combat, seen friends die, deal with almost daily," Lawrence said. Of the 500 men, 150 were killed and only 84 were able to return to immediate duty. 3 /5. On March 2, 1969, thirty-two-year-old Buse Tully was killed in action. Translation on Find a Grave is an ongoing project. 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. In 2016, he joined a panel of Ia Drang survivors at the Maneuver Center of Excellence, Fort Benning, Ga., to share their experiences with both young and seasoned officers and noncommissioned officers. I was standing back there in the column and the column was stopped. In the fall of 1965 the Vietnam War was an event most Americans saw as a series of smaller battles leaving little to remember. CRANDALL, Bruce, fifty-nine, who commanded the helicopters in the Ia Drang Valley, returned to Vietnam for a second tour in 1967. 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. They have four children and three grandchildren. HERREN, John, fifty-eight, commander of Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cav, served a second tour in Vietnam as a staff officer at MACV/Saigon, was a battalion commander in Germany, and served in the office of the secretary of defense until his retirement in 1985 as a colonel. WALLACE, Bruce M. Jr., sixty-one, Air Force A-IE Skyraider pilot over the Ia Drang, served two more tours in Vietnam and retired a colonel in 1976. 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.. 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. Please try again later. He and his wife live in Phoenix, Arizona. With only 700 effective soldiers left of the original 2,200, the 33d Regiment needed help. 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. About 40 minutes later, North Vietnamese launched their attack, hiding in the tall elephant grass and in stands of trees. 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. 1965, just after the start of the U.S. campaign that led to the Ia Drang Valley. Her mother, who never remarried, died in 1986. His son is a staff sergeant in the 82nd Airborne Division and a veteran of both the Panama invasion and the Persian Gulf War. Both were present at the Battle of Ia Drang, the first large-scale engagement of the Vietnam War. Gen. Westmoreland, commander of the U.S. And it all began early one fall day. Although each survivor's story is unique, they all carry the same lessons. During his two tours in Vietnam, Crandall flew lead ship on 756 separate missions. She also worked as a teaching assistant in the History Department. 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. The enemy was so close he could hear them talking and he could see them right in front of him. By Staff. With a passion for historical learning and historical education, her writing interests include social history, and war history, especially researching obscure facts about the Second World War. He accepted, I won, but he only recently began paying offone bottle at a time. Plumley says, Scott is so tight with a dollar youd think he came out of West Point.. Advisory Group, Pleiku. Col. Bruce Crandall, Commander ofCompany A, 229th Assault Helicopter Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), led the first major division operation of airmobile troops into Landing Zone X-Ray. KELLING, George, fifty-four, who ran Charlie Med, the rear-area casualty receiving station during LZ X-Ray and LZ Albany, retired a lieutenant colonel in 1978. He and his wife live in Lake Forest, Illinois. Little did Beck and his companions know they were about to make history in America's first large scale battle of the Vietnam War. Today he is a city bus driver in Houston, Texas. Crandalls back was broken; he spent five months in an Army hospital recovering. He and his wife live in St. Charles, a suburb of Chicago. When I go to the wall, I see Don Cornett's name 58,000 times.'. I felt a flash of panic. 1/7 Cavalry lands at LZ X-Ray. The North Vietnamese attempt one final attack, but are soon overrun and ordered to evacuate the headquarters they took only a few days prior. 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