JEANETTE, Robert J., fifty, Ghost 4-6, weapons-platoon leader, Charlie Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cav in the Ia Drang, lives in Monsey, New York, a suburb of New York City. 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. Gwin left the Army at the end of his ROTC commitment and went home to his native Boston, where he teaches and writes. He is married and the father of two children. KINNARD, Harry W. O., seventy-seven, former commanding general of the 1st Cavalry Division, retired from the Army as a lieutenant general in 1969. He was judged seventy percent disabled due to wounds suffered in LZ X-Ray. 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. Adams and his wife have a three-year-old daughter. He and his wife and young son live in Lawndale, California. The battalion commander had ordered his command helicopter to land and check out a North Vietnamese soldier killed by the door gunner. JEKEL, Alex (Pop), seventy, Huey pilot in X-Ray and Albany, retired in the late 1960s as a chief warrant officer-4. He had just turned thirty-six years old. 208-263-9534. She also worked as a teaching assistant in the History Department. The bulk of the fighting lasted about 6 hours and in that time 2/7 Cav lost 155 killed and 124 wounded. MERCHANT, Dick, fifty-four, assistant operations officer, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, served a second tour in Vietnam in 1968 as Lieutenant Colonel Matt Dillons battalion executive officer. 5 memorials LTC Roger Jay Bartholomew 2 Nov 1932 - 27 Nov 1968 Westlawn-Hillcrest Memorial Park He now manages the quartermaster laundry at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and lives in Clarksville, Tennessee. Rosemary Giles is a history content writer with Hive Media. 1/7 Cavalry lands at LZ X-Ray. 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. By the third day of the battle, the Americans had gained the upper hand. They died dirty. He is married and has two children. 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. They have two grown children and one still at home. His son is a staff sergeant in the 82nd Airborne Division and a veteran of both the Panama invasion and the Persian Gulf War. The men, women, and children of this story are Americas neighbors, living quiet lives in every corner of the nation they served. He and his wife, Ann, live in Lilburn, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta. The Ia Drang Valley is the place the U.S. really went to warfare. He works at Fort Benning, Georgia, evaluating Army Reserve training. The only question was which side could outlast the other. Very difficult. In Washington, Ia Drang convinced Johnson that he was in for a long, bloody war. Each side realized it was fighting a war of attrition. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency: Ia Drang Valley Incident. Some of them had blood on their faces from scratches and from other guys' wounds. 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. Deleting this Virtual Cemetery cannot be undone. Combat operations at Ia Drang Valley, Vietnam, November 1965. Companies C and D took the brunt of the Communist attack, and most of the men were quickly hit. He had . 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. 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 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. In 1982, he joined U.S. News & World Report magazine. 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. Val Kilmer Accidentally Landed Matthew Modine the Starring Role in Full Metal Jacket. Before the Battle of la Drang was over, 305 Americans had been killed along with an estimated 2,000 North Vietnamese troops. 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. OUELLETTE, Robert, fifty, battalion commanders radio operator in LZ X-Ray, left the Army in August 1966. Other donors to the fund are readers of the book from across America, Veterans, and supporters of the fund. 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. When I was down, men were running past me, swishing the elephant grass and speaking Vietnamese and executing the wounded. 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.. He is an executive with a major defense-contracting firm and lives in Centreville, Virginia. 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. By the end, there were no officers left and only 49 men that were not wounded. Background. She and her husband live in Annandale, Virginia. Bob Edwards saying that these were the stripes Paolone earned at LZ X-Ray but never got. Omaha, Next, he was shot in the chest; as he moved around, he was shot again in the leg. copyright 2023 Although each survivor's story is unique, they all carry the same lessons. Since then he has taught industrial arts, electronics, and mathematics, has flown for the U.S. Forest Service, and for a time was a crop duster pilot. Hear Walters story. He retired in August 1990, and now lives in Peekskill, New York. To use this feature, use a newer browser. 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.. Please try again later. 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. This account has been disabled. "Why did I deserve to live? Crandall and Freeman successfully rescued some 70 wounded men. KOMICH, Leland C., fifty-two, Huey pilot with Bravo Company 229th in X-Ray and Albany, retired a chief warrant officer-4 with more than twenty years service. Privacy Policy They had this Learning to be a Teacher program; I tried it and loved it. Charlies foot was pinned in the wrecked cockpit when the white phosphorus target-marking rockets under the wings cooked off. Your account has been locked for 30 minutes due to too many failed sign in attempts. The conflict is divided into two engagements: the Battle at Landing Zone (LZ) X-Ray and. The Air Mobile Division was a new concept. He was medically evacuated the next morning. Galen Bungum, left, and Joe F. Mackey, two of the unhurt survivors of Lt. Henry Herrick's Lost Platoon. As a student, she worked in a variety of research positions, including as an archivist. 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. "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. I have it here with me today. He lives with his wife and family in Steelville. It is based on the Battle for Landing Zone X-Ray, part of the Battle of Ia Drang, the first major battle of the Vietnam War. He spent that night among the dead and wounded. TADEMY, Dudley, 3rd Brigade fire-support coordinator in the Ia Drang, served a second tour in Vietnam with the 1st Cavalry and retired a colonel in January 1987, after thirty years service. Later, after he was evacuated the doctors thought his spine was severed, but discovered later that he had a severely bruised spine from the force of the bullets whipping his head back. 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. This was the first major engagement between the United States Army and the North Vietnamese Army. (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. PUJALS, Enrique, fifty, platoon leader, Delta Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry in the Ia Drang, woke up on an X-ray table first, then on a C-141 ambulance plane, and finally in Ward One at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, D.C. Hear three personal perspectives from men who survived. Setelin is president of the Major General George W. Casey chapter of the 1st Cavalry Division Association and a member of the national associations board of trustees. There's captains and majors and colonels and I assume they know what they are doing. The Battle of the Ia Drang Valley would be the Vietnam War's first major set-piece battle with the PAVN, the first major US heliborne assault on an NVA position, and the first engagement to employ B-52 airstrikes on enemy ground forces in battle. Moore is the last to leave, refusing to do so until every man living and dead has left. POLEY, Clinton, forty-eight, assistant machine gunner, 2nd Platoon, Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry in the Ia Drang, was discharged from Fitzsimmons Army Hospital in Denver, Colorado, early in 1966, and went home to Iowa and the family farm. 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. He retired a major in 1980, after twenty years service. In her spare time, Rosemary enjoys spending time with her partner, her cats, and her horse, or sitting down to read a good book. His friends completed the tree for him and dedicated it to Sergeant China Joe Nye. PLUMLEY, Basil, seventy-two, the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalrys sergeant major, retired from the Army as a command sergeant major on December 31, 1974, after thirty-two years, six months, and four days on active duty, and a second tour in Vietnam with the U.S. Yesteryears: For survivors, Battle of the Ia Drang Valley changed everything. Major Bruce P. Crandall's UH-1D helicopter climbs skyward after discharging a load of infantrymen on a search and destroy mission. 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. The single, bloodiest day in the Vietnam War. Moore considered the outcome a draw. 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. Linda Carole Mustion has not added any memorials to this virtual cemetery. We . 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 retired from the Army as a staff sergeant in 1976, and now serves in the Alabama National Guard. (Purp), fifty, rifleman, Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry, was evacuated to Japan. More than anything else in the world I would like to be back in the Green Machine, he says. The bulk of the fighting was centered around two vital helicopter landing zones: LZ X-Ray and Albany. 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. He is a consultant to industries seeking defense business. Charlie Company took the brunt of the assault. 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. It was the first major battle between PAVN and US Army units and one of the war's bloodiest encounters. USA, Fort Benning, Unlike Viet Cong guerrillas, the northerners were prepared to stand and fight. They are representative of the more than three million Americans who served the United States of America in its long and bitter war in Vietnam, representative of those who loved one of the more than 58,000 Americans who died in that war. Many did a second tour and others left the service and returned home to their families. By Trevor Arendall, July 9 . Please check your email and click on the link to activate your account. The battle of Ia Drang was an engagement of the Vietnam War. 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. In January 1991, General H. Norman Schwarzkopf summoned the reporter to his headquarters in Saudi Arabia and said: Im sending you to the commander out here who is most like General Hal Moore, and the division which has the most challenging and dangerous mission in my battle plan. Galloway rode with then-Major General Barry McCaffrey and the 24th Infantry Division (Mechanized) on a hair-raising tank charge through the western Iraq desert to the Euphrates River valley. He left the Army in 1971 with the rank of captain, returned home to Puerto Rico, and earned a law degree. Of the 500 men, 150 were killed and only 84 were able to return to immediate duty. Shucart says, It was interesting; they just figured I was another grunt and I didnt tell them different. After he flew the men back to base, he knew the soldiers on the ground were running short of ammunition, so he decided to fly back in. 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. 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. His widow, Emma Lee, lives in Austin, Texas. This allowed troops to be quickly brought in and out for battle. 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. "When things started it just erupted," Lawrence said. We were taking an administrative break, guys were taking off their packs and lighting cigarettes and the enemy was less than 100 yards on our right flank and deploying and we couldn't see 'em or hear 'em," he said. 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