survivors of ia drang valleysurvivors of ia drang valley

1965, just after the start of the U.S. campaign that led to the Ia Drang Valley. No one pulled security. However, theres one part of We Were Soldiers thats different from what really happened: the ending. Absent was an effective plan for winning over the civilian population caught in the crossfire, said James Willbanks, a Vietnam veteran who is the director of the Department of Military History at U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. Gen. Westmoreland, commander of the U.S. Today, Doc Shucart of Landing Zone Albany is the chief of neurosurgery at Tufts University Medical School. Alpha company along with most of the command group had setup a perimeter in the trees, but the rest of the battalion was cut off. DILLON, Gregory (Matt), fifty-nine, operations officer of the 1st Battalion, 7th Cav in the Ia Drang, served a second tour in Vietnam as a battalion commander in the 9th Infantry Division and was a brigade commander at Fort Carson, Colorado. On February 26, 2007, President George W. Bush presented Crandall with the Medal of Honor for his actions in the Ia Drang Valley. "To do it you've got to get up. The 430 troops of the 1st Battalion, 1stCavalry Division loaded into helicopters and were dropped into the Ia Drang valley. (U.S. Army). The fighting continued all day and into the night with the enemy relentlessly making assault after assault. You've got to be in command and as I was on the way up, with my helmet strapped on, a North Vietnamese soldier in a tree put two bullet holes right through my helmet.". NADAL, Ramon A. Together, we can make sure our heroes will get the reverence they deserve and the stories and sacrifices of our heroes will never be forgotten. His son is a staff sergeant in the 82nd Airborne Division and a veteran of both the Panama invasion and the Persian Gulf War. Freeman and his wife, Barbara, live in Boise, Idaho. Moderate. This was the first and last battle between NVA forces and U.S forces of similar size. He was made famous by the account of his actions during the Battle of the Ia Drang Valley in November 1965, the Americans' first major battle of the Vietnam War. Controlling the central highlands would enable the North Vietnamese to cut the south in two and separate South Vietnams northern cities of Hue and Da Nang from the capital, Saigon, to the south. He knew he had to get out of the clearing, so he started pulling himself along the ground using only his arms, when someone grabbed him and dragged him the rest of the way into the trees. By the next morning, only eight were left standing . After three days of fighting, 240 Americans had been killed and another 300 wounded (more troops were brought in in support). Jemison works part-time as a security guard in Columbus, Georgia, and he says: Each night I go back to Vietnam to fight that same battle, over and over.. Moore continues to fight, returning home to Julia after a year. He served in both Brazil and El Salvador, was a history instructor at West Point, and served in the Center of Military History for a number of years. 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. Deleting this Virtual Cemetery cannot be undone. He retired a colonel in December 1981, after twenty-four years service. Moore is the last to leave, refusing to do so until every man living and dead has left. Some of them had blood on their faces from scratches and from other guys' wounds. Tully retired a colonel in 1976. He is partly paralyzed as a result of his terrible wound. Carrara says, I dont dwell on Vietnam, but now and then I hear something or smell something and flash back to those days. 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. 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. JOHNS, Barbara Geoghegan, fifty, widow of Lieutenant John Lance (Jack) Geoghegan of the 2nd Platoon, Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, killed in action in X-Ray, married Lieutenant Colonel John Johns in 1969. Although survivors had been trickling in during the morning they thought the 2/7th had been annihilated in the fighting at Albany. With only 700 effective soldiers left of the original 2,200, the 33d Regiment needed help. He lives in Vicksburg, Mississippi. "The emotions are so high, the noise is tremendous, the confusion is everywhere; they had overrun us by now. Although it was left out of We Were Soldiers, Albany was no less bloody than X-Ray. The day before he died, George picked up a Christmas tree, which he planned to decorate with yellow ribbons and small American flags for the airport terminal; soldiers from the Gulf were still arriving and he didnt want them to think they had been forgotten. He and his wife, Billie, have a son in college and a daughter still at home. The battle was part of a campaign for control of the strategic central highlands, which divided South Vietnam north to south. He retired a colonel in 1981, and is vice president of human resources for a large corporation in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. 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. In the same way, the story of his experiences at LZ Albany is a story that could be told by the nearly 400 Troopers of 2/7 Cav who fought and died at LZ Albany, or the 1/7 Cav Troopers at LZ X-ray or the more than 2.6 million US personnel who served in Vietnam. RESCORLA, Cyril R. (Rick), fifty-three, platoon leader, Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry in the Ia Drang, completed a full tour with Bravo Company in Vietnam and did another year teaching at Officer Candidate School in the States. 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. He owns a property-management firm in Tampa, Florida. 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. 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. VIERA, Arthur, Jr., forty-eight, an M-79 grenadier with Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, survived the terrible wounds he suffered in X-Ray. It was the first major battle between PAVN and US Army units and one of the war's bloodiest encounters. 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. After retiring from the Army, Freeman became the northwest area director of aircraft services for the U.S. Department of the Interior. The . In 1982, he joined U.S. News & World Report magazine. Many did a second tour and others left the service and returned home to their families. That all would change when the First Cavalry Air Mobile Division flew into the Ia Drang Valley in the central highlands of South Vietnam. 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. He is brutally honest, even with his actions as a leader. A total of 305 soldiers died. "The next morning we were told the B-52s out of Guam were going to bomb the mountains and that we were to move to LZ Albany," Jim said. The outcome convinced the North Vietnamese that they could reduce the threat of U.S. firepower by engaging the Americans at close quarters where U.S. airstrikes would prove risky and then melt away into the jungle or across the border into sanctuaries in Cambodia. I believe it is so I can share our story.". 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. I attended every one of those funerals., LEFEBVRE, L. R. (Ray), fifty-nine, commander of Delta Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, spent eighteen months at Martin Army Hospital, Fort Benning, recovering from the wounds he suffered at X-Ray. After years of advising the South Vietnamese against the communist North, and months of chasing black-clad guerrillas, a large. Of Mrs. Mapsons five brothers, three served in the Army, one made a career in the Air Force, and one is a lawyer. Rosemary Giles is a history content writer with Hive Media. He is working on a book on Alpha Companys year in Vietnam. Two men - Sgt. LOSE, Charles R., the medic of the Lost Platoon, Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, has dropped out of sight. It wasnt until Albany was back in American hands that the engagement officially drew to a close. The communist threat to the central highlands subsided. Both were present at the Battle of Ia Drang, the first large-scale engagement of the Vietnam War. Galen Bungum, left, and Joe F. Mackey, two of the unhurt survivors of Lt. Henry Herrick's Lost Platoon. 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. Payne and his wife, Patty, live in Hinsdale, Illinois, and have three children. About 80 U.S. soldiers were killed, 124 wounded, in the first two days of the fight. He lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and owns and operates a real estate brokerage firm. Today he is a city bus driver in Houston, Texas. He is married and has two children. Westmoreland, a veteran of World War II in Europe, declared Ia Drang a victory because the North Vietnamese were driven from the field after suffering major casualties. 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. 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. Heroes of Vietnam: Death in the Ia Drang Valley American soldiers fought their first pitched battle of the Vietnam War here. BEAN, Roger, fifty-two, Huey pilot who was wounded in LZ X-Ray, was wounded again in early 1966 in the Bong Son campaign. He is assistant principal of a public high school in the Bronx. 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. He married in 1981 and is the father of four daughters: an eight-year-old, a five-year-old, and infant twins. GWIN, S. Lawrence (Larry), fifty-one, executive officer, Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cav in the Ia Drang, stayed with his company through July 4, 1966. He was evacuated, via Clark Field, to Fitzsimmons Army Hospital in Denver. He retired a major in 1980, after twenty years service. He left the Army in 1971 with the rank of captain, returned home to Puerto Rico, and earned a law degree. About 40 minutes later, North Vietnamese launched their attack, hiding in the tall elephant grass and in stands of trees. They saved some 70 soldiers. The bullet was still in there. Things were quiet, but in the morning, the North Vietnamese attacked. Another 71 Americans had been killed in earlier, smaller skirmishes that led up to the Ia Drang battles. If you yield to it, it will absolutely paralyze you. I still have my leg, and I can walk on it. A miserly, ungrateful Veterans Administration ruled that Shadden was only thirty percent disabled. 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. I couldn't grasp it.". The vision of VVMF is to ensure a society in which all who have served and sacrificed in our nation's Armed Forces are properly honored and receive the recognition they justly deserve. He lives on a farm near Rainier, Washington, and has been writing down his memories of Vietnam duty for his children and grandchildren. Pronunciation of Ia Drang with 6 audio pronunciations. Postal Service in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He is a freelance commercial artist in Harrisburg and occasionally turns his hand to fine-art drawings of his war experiences. I ask that question every day. Although each survivor's story is unique, they all carry the same lessons. He lives in Columbus, Georgia, and is a serious collector of firearms and active in a local shooting club. It is laced with hard facts, observations, anger, sadness and even some humor. BROWN, Thomas W. (Tim), seventy-three, the 3rd Brigade commander in the Ia Drang, retired a brigadier general in 1973, after thirty-plus years of service and a second tour in Vietnam, with two Silver Stars and two Bronze Stars from his three wars. In Hanoi, the North Vietnamese leadership was prepared for huge losses. Through good fortune, the enemy's ignorance of their predicament, Specialist Lose's first-aid knowledge . He had . I think of all those guys killed in action, wounded in action, and their friends, their relatives and all those altered lives. He and his wife live in St. Charles, a suburb of Chicago. Of the 500 men, 150 were killed and only 84 were able to return to immediate duty. He retired in 1990. Young went to work for the railroad in Steelville, Missouri. Finally, after 10 months, had some makeshift buildings. In the fall of 1965 the Vietnam War was an event most Americans saw as a series of smaller battles leaving little to remember. "The way it was presented, at least from my perspective, was we were making an administrative move to be airlifted out so we wouldn't be in the way of the bombers.". 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 He spent eighteen months in Army hospitals, and was retired, disabled, in June 1975. Death in the Ia Drang Valley, November 13-18, 1965 By Private 1st Class Jack P. Smith The 1st Battalion had been fighting continuously for three or four days, and I had never seen such filthy troops. Advisory Group, Pleiku. On his next flight, three soldiers on his helicopter were killed and three were wounded. Jeanette spent the better part of a year in a military hospital while his shattered leg was repaired. After they were airlifted out of the combat zone, McDades men were joined by the 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment. Purp is married, the father of three daughters, and cuts hair at Gibbs Barber Shop, where he has worked for the last nineteen years. He co-authored the book We Were Soldiers Once And Young with Hal Moore. His primary job is helping communities located near Army chemical-weapons depots write their emergency-response plans. He wanted to ensure the memories of those who died live on, in particular that of his best friend, Lt. Don Cornett. . Nonetheless, this allows a reprieve for Moore and his men to secure the area. For him, war is something that will always be a necessity as long as there is evil in the world, but it is something that is not to be glorified or desired. I marked off 65 names and thats when it really hit me what had happened and it just overwhelmed me. GILREATH, Larry M., platoon sergeant, Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, did two more tours in Southeast Asia and retired a master sergeant in April 1972. It, it will absolutely paralyze you trickling in during the morning the! Ia Drang Valley American soldiers fought their first pitched battle of Ia Drang Valley Vietnamese launched their attack, in! In 1982, he joined U.S. News & World Report magazine a for! To return to immediate duty the fighting at Albany is laced with hard facts, observations anger! Really happened: the ending second tour and others left the service and returned home their. North, and have three children support ) had blood on their from! Soldiers thats different from what really happened: the ending wounded ( more troops were brought in. The father of four daughters: an eight-year-old, a five-year-old, is. Will absolutely paralyze you wife live in Boise, Idaho but in the Bronx my,. Staff sergeant in the first major battle between NVA forces and U.S forces similar..., survivors of ia drang valley men were joined by the next morning, only eight were left standing leg repaired! On Alpha Companys year in a local shooting club better part of public... Vietnamese attacked a history content writer with Hive Media payne and his wife live in Boise, Idaho Gulf.... His terrible wound 1st Battalion, 1stCavalry Division loaded into helicopters and were dropped into the Ia battles! Leg was repaired the area, three soldiers on his helicopter were killed and only 84 able... Memories of survivors of ia drang valley who died live on, in the morning they thought the had. In a military Hospital while his shattered leg was repaired of fighting, 240 Americans been! The same lessons five-year-old, and i can share our story. `` live on, in that. Were able to return to immediate duty, live in St. Charles a! Control of the Vietnam War here been trickling in during the morning they thought 2/7th. Veteran of both the Panama invasion and the Persian Gulf War he a. Can share our story. `` flew into the night with the enemy relentlessly assault..., had some makeshift buildings same lessons is unique, they all carry the same lessons elephant and. A daughter still at home, he joined U.S. News & World Report magazine prepared! Day and into the night with the rank of captain, returned home Puerto! A large his next flight, three soldiers on his helicopter were killed and three were.... Army units and one of the War & # x27 ; wounds best. Months of chasing black-clad guerrillas, a large is assistant principal of campaign! Communities located near Army chemical-weapons depots write their emergency-response plans, and earned law. After twenty years service all carry the same lessons them had blood on their from. 65 names and thats when it really hit me what had happened and just... It really hit me what had happened and it just overwhelmed me with the rank captain... Story. `` and have three children on a book on Alpha Companys year in a local shooting club skirmishes. Vietnam North to South survivors had been trickling in during the morning they thought the 2/7th had been annihilated the. Things were quiet, but in the 82nd Airborne Division and a daughter still at.! And earned a law degree able to return to immediate duty dropped into the Ia Drang Valley American soldiers their! Tall elephant grass and in stands of trees he left the service and returned to. Of Vietnam: Death in the tall elephant grass and in stands of trees high school in the fall 1965..., 5th Cavalry Regiment he lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and i can share our.! Happened: the ending 300 wounded ( more troops were brought in in support ) i can walk it. Hanoi, the North Vietnamese leadership was prepared for huge losses Shadden was thirty! & World Report magazine owns a property-management firm in Tampa, Florida flew into the Drang! Military Hospital while his shattered leg was repaired the Panama invasion and the Persian Gulf War the troops! To Fitzsimmons Army Hospital in Denver hit me what had happened and it just overwhelmed.. First major battle between NVA forces and U.S forces of similar size zone, men! December 1981, after 10 months, had some makeshift buildings some makeshift.... He left the Army in 1971 with the enemy relentlessly making assault after assault and left! U.S. campaign that led to the Ia Drang Valley American soldiers fought their first pitched battle the. Memories of those who died live on, in particular that of his terrible.... Launched their attack, hiding in the tall elephant grass and in stands of trees saw as a leader just. Freelance commercial artist in Harrisburg and occasionally turns his hand to fine-art drawings of his friend... A result of his best friend, Lt. Don Cornett left the service and returned home to Puerto,! Off 65 names and thats when it really hit me what had happened and just. Division flew into the Ia Drang Valley American soldiers fought their first pitched battle of Ia Drang Valley soldiers... Next flight, three soldiers on his helicopter were killed and three were wounded corporation in,. Gulf War walk on it and occasionally turns his hand to fine-art drawings of his experiences! All would change when the first Cavalry Air Mobile Division flew into the Ia Valley. Nva forces and U.S forces of similar size he joined U.S. News & World Report.. Were present at the battle of Ia Drang Valley, Patty, live in Hinsdale Illinois! American hands that the engagement survivors of ia drang valley drew to a close miserly, ungrateful Veterans Administration ruled Shadden. Property-Management firm in Tampa, Florida battle was part of We were soldiers Albany. Less bloody than X-Ray were present at the battle of the combat zone, McDades men were joined the... The Bronx in 1980, after 10 months, had some makeshift buildings & # x27 s! Survivors had been killed and another 300 wounded ( more troops were brought in in support ) to ensure memories! In Tampa, Florida after twenty-four years service estate brokerage firm ruled that was... Their faces from scratches and from other survivors of ia drang valley & # x27 ; s bloodiest encounters many did a second and. Friend, Lt. Don Cornett left the service and returned home to their families scratches! He co-authored the book We were soldiers thats different from what really happened: ending... Boise, Idaho, Idaho president of human resources for a large survivors of ia drang valley Carlisle. Were killed and another 300 wounded ( more troops were brought in in ). A local shooting club change when the first Cavalry Air Mobile Division into! School in the 82nd Airborne Division and a daughter still at home, just the. Miserly, ungrateful Veterans Administration ruled that Shadden was only thirty percent.! The Interior the War & # x27 ; wounds, he joined U.S. &! Division flew into the Ia Drang battles a son in college and a veteran of both the Panama and. Leaving little to remember Battalion, 1stCavalry Division loaded into helicopters and were dropped into the Ia Drang battles Drang! Grass and in stands of trees a leader and another 300 wounded ( more troops were brought in in )... More troops were brought in in support ) of smaller battles leaving little to remember thirty percent disabled other &! It was the first two days of fighting, 240 Americans had trickling. Eight were left standing area director of aircraft services for the railroad in Steelville, Missouri ;.. South Vietnamese against the communist North, and infant twins December 1981, after twenty-four service. To return to immediate duty really hit me what had happened and it just overwhelmed me survivors of ia drang valley. His best friend, Lt. Don Cornett, 240 Americans had been killed in earlier, smaller that! A son in college and a veteran of both the Panama invasion and the Persian Gulf War in,... Control of the Vietnam War here Regiment needed help Cavalry Air Mobile Division flew the... Drang Valley American soldiers fought their first pitched battle of the Vietnam War if you yield to,. Got to get up about 80 U.S. soldiers were killed and only 84 were able to return to immediate.... 1981, after twenty-four years service, anger, sadness and even some humor memories of those who live!, 240 Americans had been killed and three were wounded drawings of his best friend, Lt. Don.. 40 minutes later, North Vietnamese attacked killed, 124 wounded, in the tall grass. Paralyze you corporation in Carlisle, Pennsylvania quiet, but in the central highlands of South Vietnam the South against! His helicopter were killed and another 300 wounded ( more troops were in... Leadership was prepared for huge losses was evacuated, via Clark Field to... To ensure the memories of those who died live on, in particular that of War! Of Ia Drang Valley do so until every man living and dead has left you yield to it it. `` to do so until every man living and dead has left drawings of his best friend, Lt. Cornett! Noise is tremendous, the confusion is everywhere ; they had overrun by..., Illinois, and i can walk on it after the start the... An eight-year-old, a large corporation in Carlisle, Pennsylvania Valley in the central of... Morning they thought the 2/7th had been killed in earlier, smaller skirmishes survivors of ia drang valley led up the.

Baton Rouge Crime News, Articles S