Ia Drang, Battle of - Vietnam, November 1965: Books, Audiobooks, and DVDs

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. 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.

Based on official army records, these eyewitness accounts of seven hellacious battles serve as a brief history of the Vietnam conflict. From a fierce fight on the banks of the Ia Drang River in 1965 to a 1968 gunship mission, this illustrated report conveys the heroism and horror of warfare.

Presents over two hundred battles that changed the course of history, including the date, place, participants, and the historical significance of each conflict.

Military history and geography converge in this compelling analysis of how terrain affects the way battles are fought and ultimately changes the course of world history. SEE CHAPTER 9 - "Find, Fix and Destroy - the Ia Drang Valley)

Young Americans went to South Vietnam and fought in a fierce war they barely understood. For a year they experienced an exotic land, strove to learn how to “fight and survive” looking eagerly ahead to their return from "The Nam." Their searing experiences varied by where they were assigned and at what point in the war they served. The Vietnamese adversaries, North and South, were defending their homes, fighting with no hope of ending the war other than by winning it. In an invaluable corrective, John Prados, opens a window into the visceral reality of those on the ground in Vietnam.

THE RISE AND FALL OF AN AMERICAN ARMY provides a complete account of American ground combat forces in Vietnam- who they were, how they got to the battlefield, and what they did there. Stanton's book represents the first total battlefield history of ground forces in the Vietnam War, containing material previously incaccessible. SEE CHAPTER 4-4 "The Ia Drang Valley Campaign."

In this collection of true tales of aerial combat, you'll meet some of the greatest figures in aviation history from all nations. These are not stories about airplanes, but rather of the heroes who flew them -- of the steady hands, bold hearts, and raw nerve that it takes to survive when the sky becomes a battlefield. SEE P. 299 - "Ia Drang Valley."

SEE Chapter 3, "Techniques, Ia Drang Valley Campaign"

First published in 1973. From the preface: "The purpose of this study is to trace the evolution of airmobility in the U.S. Army. The integration of aircraft into the organic structure of the ground forces is as radical a change as the move from the horse to the truck, and the process is only beginning. Because this change is not the product of one man or one small group of men but rather a fortunate confluence of technology, tactics, and imagination, proper credit to every responsible individual is impossible. I have tried to identify some of those people who made a major contribution throughout the years. Although Vietnam was the first large combat test of airmobility, air assault operations in Southeast Asia would not have been possible without certain key decisions a decade earlier. This study attempts to trace the most important milestones which led to the eventual formation of airmobile divisions."

Lt. Gen. Harold Moore and Joseph Galloway return to Vietnam's Ia Drang Valley more than four decades after the battle they recalled in their #1 New York Times bestseller We Were Soldiers Once . . . and Young. Renewing their relationships with ten American veterans of the fabled conflict-and with former adversaries-the authors explore how the war changed them all, as well as their two countries.We Are Soldiers Still is an emotional journey back to hallowed ground, putting a human face on warfare as the authors reflect on war's devastating cost.

Advances a theory about military command and control that emphasizes the qualities of commanders and their ideas over the technical and architectural qualities of their computers and communications systems. SEE CHAPTER 7 - "No Time for Reflection: Moore at Ia Drang."

See Chapter 6 - "The Pleiku Campaign."