We Were Soldiers Once...and Young

by Moore, Harold G.

• ISBN13: 9780060975760
• ISBN10: 0060975768
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1993-11-01
• Publisher: Perennial

Summary

<P><CENTER><B>Each year, the Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps selects one book that he believes is both relevant and timeless for reading by all Marines. The Commandant's choice for 1993 is <br><I>We Were Soldiers Once . . . and Young.</I></B></CENTER></P><P>In November 1965, some 450 men of the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, under the command of Lt. Col. Hal Moore, were dropped by helicopter into a small clearing in the Ia Drang Valley. They were immediately surrounded by 2,000 North Vietnamese soldiers. Three days later, only two and a half miles away, a sister battalion was chopped to pieces. Together, these actions at the landing zones X-Ray and Albany constituted one of the most savage and significant battles of the Vietnam War. </P><P>How these men persevered--sacrificed themselves for their comrades and never gave up--makes a vivid portrait of war at its most inspiring and devastating. General Moore and Joseph Galloway, the only journalist on the ground throughout the fighting, have interviewed hundreds of men who fought there, including the North Vietnamese commanders. This devastating account rises above the specific ordeal it chronicles to present a picture of men facing the ultimate challenge, dealing with it in ways they would have found unimaginable only a few hours earlier. It reveals to us, as rarely before, man's most heroic and horrendous endeavor. </P>

Table of Contents

Prologue	xvii
GOING TO WAR
Heat of Battle	3	(6)
The Roots of Conflict	9	(26)
Boots and Saddles	35	(13)
The Land and the Enemy	48	(15)
X-RAY
Into the Valley	63	(12)
The Battle Begins	75	(14)
Closing with the Enemy	89	(18)
The Storm of Battle	107	(17)
Brave Aviators	124	(16)
Fix Bayonets!	140	(16)
Night Falls	156	(13)
A Dawn Attack	169	(16)
Friendly Fire	185	(14)
Rescuing the Lost Platoon	199	(13)
Night Fighters	212	(13)
Policing the Battlefield	225	(12)
It Ain't Over Till It's Over	237	(14)
ALBANY
A Walk in the Sun	251	(18)
Hell in a Very Small Place	269	(24)
Death in the Tall Grass	293	(21)
Escape and Evade	314	(11)
Night Without End	325	(18)
The Sergeant and the Ghost	343	(16)
AFTERMATH
Mentioned in Dispatches	359	(20)
``The Secretary of the Army regrets...''	379	(19)
Reflections and Perceptions	398	(9)
Epilogue	407	(3)
Appendix: Where Have All the Young Men Gone?	410	(21)
Acknowledgments	431	(4)
Interviews and Statements	435	(3)
Chapter Notes	438	(29)
Selected Bibliography	467	(6)
Index	473