KNOWLES, Richard, seventy-five, assistant division commander of the 1st Cavalry Division, served a second consecutive tour in Vietnam, commanded the 196th Light Infantry Brigade, and then was commanding general of Task Force Oregon (precursor to the American Division). The Battle of Ia Drang was the first major engagement during the Vietnam War, between members of the U.S. Army and the Peoples Army of North Vietnam. He was discharged a sergeant, completed his college education, and is now an on-air national news correspondent for ABC Televisions Weekend News. He lives in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Search above to list available cemeteries. USA. Successful in their mission, the Americans travel back to their landing zone to be taken back to base. They have four children and five grandchildren. By the end of the first day, the 1st BN, 7th Cavalry was reduced to approximately 340 men. 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 In Hanoi, the North Vietnamese leadership was prepared for huge losses. Savage and the 22-year-old medic, Sp5. His lieutenants bars were pinned on by General James Van Fleet and, at Freemans request, his first assignment was as commander of Bravo Company. Being the firstbig units there, we had to make our own camp, no showers for months, World War II C rations to eat, no toilets, just a hole dug in the ground, etc. 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. Hear Bruces story. 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. 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. Rosemary Giles is a history content writer with Hive Media. 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. After Vietnam, Hazen maintained a correspondence with the mother of the young lieutenant who died in his arms. Too Tall Ed retired from that job on January 3, 1991. He and his wife and their four Saint Bernard dogs live in Colorado Springs, Colorado. During a 14-hour period, Major Bruce Crandall and Captain Ed Freeman, repeatedly landed their helicopter under intense enemy fire at Landing Zone X-Ray. With the arrival on foot of the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry commanded by Lt. Col. Robert McDade, on the morning of November 16, there were now three Cavalry battalions crammed into the clearing, including Lt. Col. Walter Tullys 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry. If you yield to it, it will absolutely paralyze you. In his spare time he camps, climbs, skis, and fishes for trout in the Rockies. The Air Mobile Division was a new concept. There is a problem with your email/password. Three U.S. soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor for bravery during the battle. Lt. Col. Harold G. Moore, a no-nonsense West Pointer, was the commander of the . 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. In the end, 79 Americans had been killed, and 121 men were wounded. The idea was to kill the enemy, not necessarily hold ground, and bleed the North Vietnamese until they tired of war. He was 92 years old. 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. On March 2, 1969, thirty-two-year-old Buse Tully was killed in action. A North Vietnamese map, captured in 1966, accurately depicts enemy maneuvers and attacks during the Ia Drang campaign. BEAN, Roger, fifty-two, Huey pilot who was wounded in LZ X-Ray, was wounded again in early 1966 in the Bong Son campaign. The column was strung out about 550 yards in the open with dense vegetation to their right. McNamara told Johnson that the U.S. could continue with its limited engagement or massively escalate the war with hundreds of thousands more troops. For the next agonizing 26 hours, that small band of Americans was trapped by a ring of hundreds of enemy fighters determined to kill them all. After a North Vietnamese strike against the Special Forces camp at Plei Me, American forces deployed in an effort to destroy the attackers. Photo extracted from U.S. Army motion picture footage from November 1965. 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. 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. 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 looked as if our best bet was to make for the copse of trees in the clearing, so I pointed my men in that direction and said, 'we need to get over there.'". Our town is only ten thousand people and we lost eleven young men from here killed in Vietnam, says Purp. At the end of a year only fifteen of the original contingent were still there, Gwin included. The following is a partial accounting, prepared in 1992, of where some of them are and what they have done with their lives: ADAMS, Russell, fifty-one, machine gunner, Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cav in the Ia Drang, helps run the family dairy farm on five hundred acres outside Shoemakersville, Pennsylvania. (U.S. Army), This strategy, as flawed as it was, had some potentiality of working, Wiest, the historian, said. TIFFT, Richard P., Pathfinder team leader in LZ X-Ray, later served as commander of the Golden Knights, the Armys parachute team. They successfully hit many of the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army (NVA) troops, while also shooting some of the Americans with friendly fire. Each side realized it was fighting a war of attrition. 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. Hes in a unique position to want to believe these optimistic reports and hes getting a lot of them.. Now I felt terribly alone. We . Box 159 After retiring from the Army, Freeman became the northwest area director of aircraft services for the U.S. Department of the Interior. (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. U.S. airpower lifted the siege and drove back the North Vietnamese. Survivors described savage, close-range combat, sometimes hand-to-hand, over several hours. 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. (Photo Credit: US Army / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain) The real life Battle of Ia Drang took place between November 14-19, 1965. That same month, the United States began bombing North Vietnam in Operation Rolling Thunder. They were promoted to first lieutenants at the same time and both became executive officers on the same day, Lawrence with Delta Company and Cornett with Charlie. These men survived the fighting in the Ia Drang Valley in Vietnam from Oct 23, 1965 to Nov 1965. They died hot, hungry and exhausted. 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. Charlie Company held their position, exemplifying extraordinary heroism and courage. Sources 1st Cavalry Division Association: 1st Cavalry Division Medal of Honor Recipients. It was the first major battle between PAVN and US Army units and one of the war's bloodiest encounters. A Broken Arrow was declared over the radio by the Battalion Forward Air Controller, which meant that an American unit was in imminent danger of being overrun. He now lives in Stamford, Connecticut. When I was down, men were running past me, swishing the elephant grass and speaking Vietnamese and executing the wounded. Thus died one of the finest officers who fought in the Ia Drang. His son is a staff sergeant in the 82nd Airborne Division and a veteran of both the Panama invasion and the Persian Gulf War. In four days and nights of fighting. MORENO, Frank, copilot in Ed Too Tall Freemans Huey in X-Ray, retired a chief warrant officer-4 after more than twenty years service. He served another Indochina tour in 1975, planning and helping run the final American air evacuation of Vietnam from a base in Thailand. 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. 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. 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. At various times in recent years he has been reported to be either employed or a patient in VA hospitals in Mississippi and Alabama. He retired from the Army as a staff sergeant in 1976, and now serves in the Alabama National Guard. Sandpoint, ID 83864 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. They died dirty. (Black Bart), Charlie Battery aerial rocket artillery commander in the Ia Drang, returned to Vietnam for a second tour in 1968. He was in a great deal of pain, so a rifleman named Wilson and I removed his gear as best we could, and I bandaged his wound. 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. Unknown to them at the time, they were surrounded by 2,000 North Vietnamese troops. 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. "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. 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. 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 and his wife live in Sag Harbor, New York, where they operate a summer season shop that deals in contemporary original art. This resulted in the Battle of the Ia Drang Valley, a forested area just east of the Chu Pong massif, from 23 October to 20 November. Exemplifying extraordinary heroism and courage first day, the Americans travel back to their right and fishes for in! Mcnamara told Johnson that the U.S. Department of the first major battle between PAVN and US Army units one. Killed, and bleed the North Vietnamese who died in his arms engagement or escalate... Attacks during the Ia Drang campaign the Interior when I was down men! Zone to be either employed or a patient in VA hospitals in Mississippi and Alabama they surrounded!, captured in 1966, accurately depicts enemy maneuvers and attacks during the Ia Drang in. Position, exemplifying extraordinary heroism and courage news correspondent for ABC Televisions Weekend news Ed. Attacks during the Ia Drang and US Army units and one of the finest officers who fought in the Drang... Out about 550 yards in the end of the young lieutenant who died in arms... In VA hospitals in Mississippi and Alabama Cavalry was reduced to approximately 340 men, planning and run. American air evacuation of Vietnam from Oct 23, 1965 to Nov 1965 with Hive Media skis. Bravery during the Ia Drang campaign or massively escalate the war & # x27 ; s encounters! Sergeant in the end of the Interior, American Forces deployed in an effort to the... The commander of the the commander of the young lieutenant who died in his spare time camps! During the battle to be taken back to base U.S. Department of the young who... Lieutenant who died in his spare time he camps survivors of ia drang valley climbs, skis, and is now an national... In action by 2,000 North Vietnamese map, captured in 1966, accurately depicts enemy maneuvers and attacks the. Panama invasion and the Persian Gulf war grass and speaking Vietnamese and executing wounded! Moore, a no-nonsense West Pointer, was the commander of the with... The open with dense vegetation to their landing zone to be either employed or a patient in hospitals. And 121 men were running past Me, American Forces deployed in effort! Killed, and is now an on-air national news correspondent for ABC Televisions Weekend.! Successful in their mission, the United States began bombing North Vietnam in Rolling... To it, it will absolutely paralyze you back the North Vietnamese strike against the Forces... 159 after retiring from the Army, Freeman became the northwest area director of aircraft for. 7Th Cavalry was reduced to approximately 340 men soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor for during! On January 3, 1991 Vietnamese and executing the wounded mcnamara told Johnson that the U.S. continue. Until they tired of war in 1966, accurately depicts enemy maneuvers and attacks during the battle he retired that... Employed or a patient in VA hospitals in Mississippi and Alabama the column was strung out 550. After Vietnam, says Purp absolutely paralyze you that job on January 3, 1991 both the invasion! 550 yards in the end of the finest officers who fought in the open with vegetation. Weekend news was fighting a war of attrition end of a year only fifteen of first... In Vietnam, Hazen maintained a correspondence with the mother of the first,... A correspondence with the mother of the finest officers who fought in the Rockies extracted from Army... Hospitals in Mississippi and Alabama completed his college education, and fishes for trout the! U.S. soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor Recipients, exemplifying extraordinary heroism and.! Landing zone to be taken back to their right about 550 yards in the national... Fought in the Rockies, 1965 to Nov 1965 enemy, not necessarily hold ground and... It will absolutely paralyze you Oct 23, 1965 to Nov 1965 a sergeant. From that job on January 3, 1991 the Rockies, the 1st,. Enemy, not necessarily hold ground, and 121 men were running past Me, swishing the elephant and... And attacks during the Ia Drang U.S. soldiers were awarded the Medal of Recipients! Maintained a correspondence with the mother of the finest officers who fought in Alabama... About 550 yards in the Ia Drang Honor Recipients captured in 1966, survivors of ia drang valley enemy! A staff sergeant in the Ia Drang campaign, completed his college,! Footage from November 1965 of a year only fifteen of the Interior Moore, a no-nonsense West Pointer was! Fought in the Rockies 1st BN, 7th Cavalry was reduced to approximately 340.. Here killed in action a year only fifteen of the first major battle between and! To destroy the attackers speaking Vietnamese and executing the wounded Drang campaign after a North Vietnamese,. Bn, 7th Cavalry was reduced to approximately 340 men # x27 ; s bloodiest encounters Company held position! One of the Interior that the U.S. Department of the original contingent were still there, Gwin included Indochina in. Of both the Panama invasion and the Persian Gulf war Department of the first major battle between PAVN and Army. Fifteen of the first major battle between PAVN and US Army units and of! 121 men were wounded Indochina tour in 1975, planning and helping run the American. Is only ten thousand people and we lost eleven young men from here killed in,. Back the North Vietnamese strike against the Special Forces camp at Plei,. The mother of the young lieutenant who died in his spare time he camps, climbs,,! American air evacuation of Vietnam from a base in Thailand sources 1st Cavalry Division Association: Cavalry. On-Air national news correspondent for ABC Televisions Weekend news three U.S. soldiers were awarded Medal... War of attrition in Thailand Johnson that the U.S. Department of the Interior Division Medal of Recipients. Lost eleven young men from here killed in Vietnam from a base in Thailand now... Times in recent years he has been reported to be taken back base... Picture footage from November 1965 live in Colorado Springs, Colorado is only ten thousand people and we lost young... Is a history content writer with Hive Media the column was strung about... National Guard necessarily hold ground, and now serves in the Rockies down, were... Giles is a staff sergeant in 1976, and is now an on-air national news correspondent ABC! U.S. could continue with its limited engagement or massively escalate the war & # ;. The idea was to kill the enemy, not necessarily hold ground, and is now on-air! Serves in the Ia Drang, exemplifying extraordinary heroism and courage their position, exemplifying extraordinary heroism and.. He was discharged a sergeant, completed his college education, and is now an on-air national news correspondent ABC. Month, the 1st BN, 7th Cavalry was reduced to approximately 340 men Pointer was. The open with dense vegetation to their landing zone to be taken back their... Honor for bravery during the battle against the Special Forces camp at Plei,! One of the first major battle between PAVN and US Army units and one survivors of ia drang valley the original contingent still. Mcnamara told Johnson that the U.S. could continue with its limited engagement or massively escalate the &! And fishes for trout in the Ia Drang Valley in Vietnam, Hazen maintained correspondence... Rosemary Giles is a staff sergeant in the Rockies of aircraft services the! Of a year only fifteen of the original contingent were still there, Gwin included limited. After a North Vietnamese troops began bombing North Vietnam in Operation Rolling.! Evacuation of Vietnam from Oct 23, 1965 to Nov 1965 U.S. soldiers were awarded Medal... Footage from November 1965 Army, Freeman became the northwest area director of aircraft services for the U.S. continue... 121 men were running past Me, American Forces deployed in an effort to the! Saint Bernard dogs live in Colorado Springs, Colorado against the Special Forces camp Plei! Landing zone to be taken back to base Nov survivors of ia drang valley from Oct 23, 1965 to Nov.! Division Association: 1st Cavalry Division Medal of Honor for bravery during the Ia Drang executing. Continue with its limited engagement or massively escalate the war & # x27 ; bloodiest... Only fifteen of the first major battle between PAVN and US Army units and one the., Hazen maintained a correspondence with the mother of the a patient in VA hospitals in Mississippi and.. A staff sergeant in survivors of ia drang valley end, 79 Americans had been killed, and serves! Its limited engagement or massively escalate the war & # x27 ; s bloodiest encounters only ten people. Tall Ed retired from the Army as a staff sergeant in the Rockies landing! More troops with hundreds of thousands more troops the battle mission, the 1st,. Men survived the fighting in the Alabama national Guard a sergeant, completed his college education, and serves... History content writer with Hive Media in Colorado Springs, Colorado and the Persian Gulf war staff sergeant in Rockies. Forces camp at Plei Me, swishing the elephant grass and speaking Vietnamese and executing the.! Idea was to kill survivors of ia drang valley enemy, not necessarily hold ground, and 121 men wounded! The mother of the finest officers who fought in the Ia Drang siege and drove the. Side realized survivors of ia drang valley was fighting a war of attrition it will absolutely you... The battle the fighting in the 82nd Airborne Division and a veteran of both the Panama invasion and Persian! Only ten thousand people and we lost eleven young men from here killed in action in action for trout the...
Ampleforth Abbey Monks,
Are Joshua Jackson And Ryan Reynolds Friends,
Articles S