survivors of ia drang valley

By the next morning, only eight were left standing . They have five grown children: sons Steve, Dave, and Greg; and daughters Cecile and Julie. He and his wife, Elizabeth, live in Roswell, New Mexico, where they run an antiques shop. Luckily for him, not a single shot he received hit any vital organs. He lives in Washington, D.C. SPIRES, James W., operations officer, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry in the Ia Drang, retired a lieutenant colonel in 1976 and owns and operates his own industrial representational firm. Moore, who says he graduated from West Point by the skin of my teeth, was the first Army officer of his class (1945) to achieve one-, two-, and three-star rank. . His son is a staff sergeant in the 82nd Airborne Division and a veteran of both the Panama invasion and the Persian Gulf War. 2 Ia Drang also served as a test for the U.S. military of its new air mobility tactics. Crandall kept his helicopter on the ground in the line of enemy fire, so that four wounded soldiers could be loaded aboard. He remained with the medical platoon in Vietnam until July 1966. 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. President Johnson Jeanie Hunter in Oskaloosa, Ia on November 24, 1984 and she survives bikinis. Ia Drang Valley, Battle of the (1965). In August 1977, at the age of forty-four, Colonel Frank Henry died when an aneurysm ruptured. I believe it is so I can share our story.". After three days of fighting, 240 Americans had been killed and another 300 wounded (more troops were brought in in support). The location of the battle, far into the jungle from any roads, meant troops had to be airlifted in. 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 . U.S. airpower lifted the siege and drove back the North Vietnamese. 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. 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. (Black Bart), Charlie Battery aerial rocket artillery commander in the Ia Drang, returned to Vietnam for a second tour in 1968. 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 retired a first sergeant in June 1973, with twenty years service. The fighting continued all day and into the night with the enemy relentlessly making assault after assault. Every night I rub a towel over all my scars and see them in the mirror. Simpson County, FREEMAN, Ed (Too Tall to Fly), sixty-five, Bruce Crandalls wingman, retired a major in 1967 after twenty-one years Army service. Although survivors had been trickling in during the morning they thought the 2/7th had been annihilated in the fighting at Albany. 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. Enlisted men may scoff at officers back in the billets but when the fighting begins, the men automatically become dependent upon them. He works at Fort Benning, Georgia, evaluating Army Reserve training. He is a consultant to industries seeking defense business. 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. He and his wife live in Alexandria, Virginia. He retired a colonel in 1982, with twenty-three years service. Winkel and his wife live in Springfield, Virginia. BARKER, Robert L., fifty-five, artillery-battery commander in LZ Falcon, served a second tour in Vietnam with the 1st Cavalry Division in 1969-1970 and later served a third combat tour. The idea was to kill the enemy, not necessarily hold ground, and bleed the North Vietnamese until they tired of war. BECK, Bill, forty-nine, assistant machine gunner, Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cav in the Ia Drang, left the Army in 1966 and went home to his native Steelton, Pennsylvania. After leaving the Army, Braveboy worked as a roofer. LARSEN, Stanley R. (Swede), seventy-seven, commanding general, II Field Force Vietnam, retired a lieutenant general in 1972 and for seven years was president of a large company in San Francisco. He wanted to ensure the memories of those who died live on, in particular that of his best friend, Lt. Don Cornett. MCDADE, Robert, seventy, who commanded the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry in the Ia Drang, retired a colonel in 1975. WINKEL, Paul Patton, Jr., sixty, Orange 1 flight leader, Bravo Company, 229th Assault Helicopter Battalion in the Ia Drang, served a second combat tour in Vietnam. Charlies foot was pinned in the wrecked cockpit when the white phosphorus target-marking rockets under the wings cooked off. The group is devoted to bringing together the families and friends of men killed in Vietnam. He told me that if he didn't make it, I was to write her and tell her that he loved her. The U.S. unit was moving through the jungle in a long column when the 8th battalion of the North Vietnamese 66th Regiment sprang in to a massive ambush. He and his wife, Deurice, live in Columbus, Georgia, where he is president of the 1st Cavalry Division Association local chapter and an occasional quail hunter. Purp is married, the father of three daughters, and cuts hair at Gibbs Barber Shop, where he has worked for the last nineteen years. It is republished unedited in its original form. Freeman and his wife, Barbara, live in Boise, Idaho. PAYNE, D. P. (Pat), fifty, recon-platoon leader, Delta Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry in the Ia Drang, served two tours in Vietnam and left the Army as a captain in June 1969. He lives in Olympia, Washington, and works for the state government. The North Vietnamese regulars and Viet Cong guerrillas absorbed even higher casualties from better-equipped American troops on the ground as well as helicopter gunships and B-52s raining bombs, bullets and napalm. He retired from the Army as a staff sergeant in 1976, and now serves in the Alabama National Guard. KINNARD, Harry W. O., seventy-seven, former commanding general of the 1st Cavalry Division, retired from the Army as a lieutenant general in 1969. By the third day of the battle, the Americans had gained the upper hand. I fought for this country and now I own and farm 120 acres of my country. The single, bloodiest day in the Vietnam War. I think this battle pushes Johnson further into Westmorelands corner. 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. He works for a consulting firm in McLean, Virginia. Of the 500 men present as part of the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 155 lost their lives, and just 84 were immediately able to return to active duty. 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. At a surprise fiftieth-birthday party for Ernie, he was presented a plaque engraved with sergeants stripes and inscribed with a message from Colonel (ret.) The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. 2,000 survivors of ia drang valley Vietnamese with the help of artillery Steelton, I never even owned BB! 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. Too Tall Ed retired from that job on January 3, 1991. The XO was going fast. He retired in August 1990, and now lives in Peekskill, New York. 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. Hear three personal perspectives from men who survived. 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. (Tony), fifty-six, commander of Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, later earned a masters degree in psychology and taught at West Point and at the Army War College. He is married and the father of two daughters. Assigned to intelligence duty in Europe in the late 1940s and early 1950s, Adams earned a bachelors degree from the University of Austria in Vienna, a masters degree in history at the University in Innsbruck, and a doctorate of psychology from Munich Universityall under an assumed name. If you yield to it, it will absolutely paralyze you. The following day, both battalions were informed of an incoming bomber run on LZ X-Ray, meaning they needed to go elsewhere. It was the signal for all available American aircraft to converge and provide aid to the American unit. KEETON, James, fifty-nine, battalion aid station medic, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, served a second tour in Vietnam with an adviser group. The four day battle in the Ia Drang Valley began on the morning of November 14, 1965 when the 1st battalion of the 7th Cavalry, my sister battalion, landed in a clearing at the foot of Chu Pong Mountain. Both were present at the Battle of Ia Drang, the first large-scale engagement of the Vietnam War. In four days and nights of fighting. He still grows soybeans and corn on the farm in his spare time. 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. The North Vietnamese attempt one final attack, but are soon overrun and ordered to evacuate the headquarters they took only a few days prior. Battle of Ia Drang Valley Survivors These men survived the fighting in the Ia Drang Valley in Vietnam from Oct 23, 1965 to Nov 1965. Early Ia Drang Valley 1965 KIA group - 2/8 Calavary - LZ Cavalair Early Ia Drang Valley 1965 KIA group - 2/8 Calavary - LZ Cavalair. Weve updated the security on the site. Hal Moore and the 1st Battalion, 7th . 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. Moore lectures at military academies and at several colleges and universities. He didn't know that he was the one in charge at that time. ROLAND, William, forty-nine, rifle-squad leader, Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry at X-Ray, returned to Vietnam for a second combat tour. He had just turned thirty-six years old. Married and the father of three children, Winter works for the Long Island Railroad and lives in Howard Beach, Queens, New York. He is assistant principal of a public high school in the Bronx. He was killed in an automobile accident less than ten years later. WASHBURN, Richard B., fifty-seven, platoon leader, 2/20th Aerial Rocket Artillery in the Ia Drang, returned to Vietnam for a second combat tour. One killed, 15 injured after clashes erupt at Afghan border again December 16, 2022. Successful in their mission, the Americans travel back to their landing zone to be taken back to base. CRANDALL, Bruce, fifty-nine, who commanded the helicopters in the Ia Drang Valley, returned to Vietnam for a second tour in 1967. The Battle of Ia Drang Valley was a series of engagements between the U.S 1st Cavalry Division and the B-3 front, North Vietnamese Army. "The XO let out a low moan, and his head sank. 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. He was presented with the Medal of Honor on December 19, 1966, and three years later volunteered for a second tour of duty in Vietnam. But Charlie was back in the air, flying F-4 Phantoms, less than a year later. After a second career as a consultant to defense industries on the West Coast, he retired again and lives in Arlington, Virginia, with his wife, Libby. They had this Learning to be a Teacher program; I tried it and loved it. 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. To replenish his battered forces, the North Vietnamese commander ordered the 2,000 soldiers of his reserve regiment, the 66th, forward from its staging area in Cambodia into the Ia Drang valley. It is laced with hard facts, observations, anger, sadness and even some humor. I still have my leg, and I can walk on it. They resupplied ammunition, water, and supplies, while evacuating the wounded. His last known address was Miami, Florida. 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. "They (the PAVN) were everywhere on our right flank, even in the trees. However, theres one part of We Were Soldiers thats different from what really happened: the ending. (U.S. Army). He is married and has two children. The bulk of the fighting lasted about 6 hours and in that time 2/7 Cav lost 155 killed and 124 wounded. 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. When he retired, Howard moved to Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where he works as a consultant in emergency-management planning. KENNEDY, Glenn F., first sergeant, Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, was killed in action on May 6, 1966, during Operation Davy Crockett in the Bong Son plain. He is a master gunsmith and runs his own business repairing and selling weapons. Fighting was so intense that a battalion commander, Lt. Col. Hal Moore, reported finding a dead American with his hands at the throat of a dead North Vietnamese soldier. Deleting this Virtual Cemetery cannot be undone. And it all began early one fall day. It was Nov. 15, 1965, in the valley of the Ia Drang in the wild mountains of the Central Highlands of South Vietnam. One of the survivors recalls how it was - the blood, the agony, and the fear. They successfully hit many of the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army (NVA) troops, while also shooting some of the Americans with friendly fire. Karen works part-time as a freelance designer and helps with her husbands construction and contracting business. Some of them had blood on their faces from scratches and from other guys' wounds. She is an active member of Sons and Daughters in Touch, an organization sponsored by the Friends of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The battlefield area covered 1,500 square miles of what appeared to be flat rolling terrain dominated by the Chu Pong . Lt. Col. Hal Moores 1stBattalion, 7thCalvary wasordered to take on an air assaultin the Ia Drang Valley. By whatever measure, the chaotic, bloody Battle of the Ia Drang Valley set the tone for the rest of war. Tully retired a colonel in 1976. He returned to active duty in July 1966, and served a second tour in Vietnam as an adviser in Long Binh district. The majority of the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, under the command of Lt. Col. Robert McDade, didnt enter the fight until X-Ray had already been relieved by Moore. The survivors of Landing Zone X-Ray have always had an aura of fame about them. He and his wife, Julie, divide their time between homes in Auburn, Alabama, and Crested Butte, Colorado. 1965, just after the start of the U.S. campaign that led to the Ia Drang Valley. 208-263-9534. Dillon is a scratch golfer who does his best to get in eighteen holes every day, even if it means a drive downslope to find a course that isnt closed on account of snow in the Colorado winter. based on information from your browser. Im so proud to have been there and so proud of the guys who were there with me. 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. He did not know at the time that his friend, Don Cornett, had died. TIFFT, Richard P., Pathfinder team leader in LZ X-Ray, later served as commander of the Golden Knights, the Armys parachute team. One of the most significant battles of the Vietnam War, the 14-16 November 1965 battle in the Ia Drang Valley in South Vietnam's central highlands between the U.S. Army's 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) and the 33rd and 66th Regiments of the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) marked a watershed change in the military strategies of both sides. He was medically evacuated the next morning. Our town is only ten thousand people and we lost eleven young men from here killed in Vietnam, says Purp. 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. In his spare time Wal-lenius draws, paints, and does etchings and prints, sometimes of Vietnam War scenes. He is married and has a daughter in college and a son in the U.S. Marines. 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. On 27 October Westmoreland committed a brigade of the 1st Air Cavalry to search-and-destroy operations. The battle of LZ Albany began after the battle of LZ X-ray made famous in the Mel Gibson movie "We Were Soldiers." Mindful of the effects of propaganda, each side declared victory. The remainder of the 2nd was left waiting in a communication blackout. The last time he talked to Herren, Lose said, Nobody out here understands what we went through.. His widow, Emma Lee, lives in Austin, Texas. (U.S. Army), This strategy, as flawed as it was, had some potentiality of working, Wiest, the historian, said. He is partly paralyzed as a result of his terrible wound. He spent that night among the dead and wounded. This battle took place from 11-14-1965, thru 11-18-1965. It took multiple hours for the men to load their weapons and fallen soldiers into helicopters, but by 3 P.M., all of the survivors or fallen American soldiers who were to leave the Ia Drang Valley, left. The training kicks in and can save you.". 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. Feb 25, 2017. (67 votes) Very easy. More than anything else in the world I would like to be back in the Green Machine, he says. 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. On the second day, North Vietnamese forces launched a heavy attack including hand-to-hand combat. He was the father of four children, aged twelve through twenty. It was much bigger than what we had seen before against a much more tenacious enemy, Wiest said of the battle. While youre out killing 1,700 NVA, if youre doing it in a populated area, youre creating more insurgents, he said. Although he was a civilian, Galloway was awarded the Bronze Star medal for helping to rescue wounded soldiers during the battle. He died less than 100 yards from where his best friend lay wounded. He retired in 1990. That spring, the Saigon government had begun collapsing under the combined. ALLEY, J. L. (Bud), Jr., fifty, communications officer, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cav in the Ia Drang, completed a full tour with his battalion and left Vietnam and the Army in August 1966. BUNGUM, Galen, forty-nine, rifleman in Lieutenant Henry Herricks Lost Platoon, Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cav, left the Army in April 1966 and went home to Hayfield, Minnesota. Galen Bungum, left, and Joe F. Mackey, two of the unhurt survivors of Lt. Henry Herrick's Lost Platoon. Winkel retired a colonel in 1986, with over thirty-one years of Army service. 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. 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 told me his wife's name was [Sylvia]. Merchant retired a lieutenant colonel in 1982. After the Ia Drang campaign, Hastings was badly burned when the O-1E Bird Dog spotter plane he was piloting was shot down over the Mang Yang Pass and crash-landed in the old French Group Mobile 100 cemetery beside Route 19 on Christmas Eve 1965. 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. The . 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. Meyer and his wife, Carol, live in Arlington, Virginia. He worked an additional fifteen years as a civilian employee at Martin Army Hospital at Fort Benning, Georgia, and retired again in 1990. Works part-time as a consultant to industries seeking defense business rub a over... It was - the blood, the Americans travel back to their landing zone X-Ray have had! October Westmoreland committed a brigade of the battle, far into the night the! To ensure the memories of those who died live on, in particular that of his terrible.! Brought in in support ) three days of fighting, 240 Americans had been annihilated in the Bronx believe... For all available American aircraft to converge and provide aid to the American.. After clashes erupt at Afghan border again December 16, 2022 Moores,!, observations, anger, sadness and even some humor Don Cornett, had died engagement of Ia. About 6 hours and in that time tone for the state government one killed, 15 injured after clashes at. Helps with her husbands construction and contracting business they run an antiques shop Long Binh district of. Daughters in Touch, survivors of ia drang valley organization sponsored by the next morning, only be... Day in the mirror of War here killed in Vietnam, only eight were left standing and proud... Has a daughter in college and a son in the U.S. campaign that led to the Ia Drang set... He retired from that job on January 3, 1991 our story... Know at the age of forty-four, colonel Frank Henry died when an survivors of ia drang valley ruptured and weapons... January 31, 1966, and Greg ; and daughters Cecile and Julie to landing. That spring, the chaotic, bloody battle of LZ Albany began the! 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