Skip to main content
Like
Create new Glog
previous
next
Email share
366 views | 0 likes | 0 reposts
We Were Soldiers Once...
And Young...
The Battle Of Ia Drang
'We Were Soldiers Once... And Young', written by retired Lt. Gen. Harold G. Moore and Joeseph Galloway, is an account of the Battle of Ia Drang during the Vietnam war. It tells of the story of a hard-fought, brutal battle from the perspective of the soldiers that were there. The author of this book was in command of the 1st Battalion of the 7th Calvalry, which played a vital role in reconnaisance and combat during the battle.
-A higher level of historical accuracy could not have been achieved in this book, since it uses either the author's own experiences, or stories of men and their lives in battle which are often excerpts from soldier's diaries, to tell the story of the battle through a human perspective. -Beginning with their landing, and first reconnaisance mission to scope out landing zones for US helicopters, the book documents 1st Battalion's role in the battle through the soldiers' eyes.
Since it was one of the first major battles of the Vietnam War, the focus of the conflict was around landing zones for US helicopters. US troops tried to fight off the enemy to secure, clear, and defend landing zones. One these were cleared, more troops could land and assist with the combat. The battle took place between November 14 & 18, 1965. 307 Americans were killed, and over 500 wounded.
-This battle was one of the first in the Vietnam War, so this was where US soldiers learned how to fight in this new environment. The outcome of this battle, which held mixed victories for either side, would set the standard for the rest of the war. -This book is written in the American soldiers' perspective. So, missing here are the Vietnamese perspective and the American civilian's perspective. the Vietnamese were fighting for their own cause, and not every American citizen was happy about the US involvement in the war.
This book was the basis for the 2002 movie 'We Were Soldiers'.
