He retired a lieutenant colonel in 1977, and lives with his wife in Arlington, Texas. By Trevor Arendall, July 9 . Surprisingly, Adams, Beck's buddy who was shot in the head, was among the. The only question was which side could outlast the other. Poley, a bachelor, lives alone on his farm outside Ackley, Iowa, and in a 1990 letter explained himself far better than we could: Some might ask why havent I forgotten about Vietnam after all these years. The majority of the battle was fought in the valley of Ia Drang, Vietnam by 3rd Battalion, 7th Calvary and was the first major test of air . We have set your language to The fighting continued for three hours. Adams and his wife have a three-year-old daughter. He and his wife, Arlene, have three sonsa banker in Sao Paulo, Brazil; a lawyer in Connecticut; and a divinity student in college. Army Specialist Four (SP4) Bill Beck was an assistant machine gunner assigned to the 1 st Battalion, 7 th Cavalry Regiment (1/7 Cav), 1 st Cavalry Division on November 14, 1965, when the unit airlifted into Landing Zone (LZ) X-Ray in the Ia Drang Valley in Vietnam. The day before he died, George picked up a Christmas tree, which he planned to decorate with yellow ribbons and small American flags for the airport terminal; soldiers from the Gulf were still arriving and he didnt want them to think they had been forgotten. In the fall of 1965 the Vietnam War was an event most Americans saw as a series of smaller battles leaving little to remember. Im so proud to have been there and so proud of the guys who were there with me. 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). There were no further attacks overnight. They never did. SCOTT, James A., sixty-nine, the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalrys sergeant major, served a second Vietnam tour in 1970-71 as command sergeant major, USARV Scott retired as a command sergeant major on May 1, 1973, after thirty years, ten months, and twenty days of service, wearing the Combat Infantrymans Badge with one star; six Bronze Stars; three Purple Hearts; a European Campaign ribbon with four battle stars and one invasion arrow; a Korean Service ribbon with two battle stars; a Vietnam Service ribbon with four battle stars; and the Presidential Unit Citation badge. 5 cemeteries found within miles of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list. 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. As the command ship touched down, other NVA soldiers opened up; Myron Diduryk was struck in the stomach in the doorway of the chopper. He was paralyzed. LADNER, Theron, fifty, machine gunner with Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry in X-Ray, lives in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where he owns a nightclub and a stable of Thoroughbred racehorses. 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. He and his wife live in Anniston, Alabama, where Martin is employed at the Army Depot. The battle was the culmination of Operation Silver Bayonet I, a combined American-South Vietnamese offensive to relieve the . The Battle of Ia Drang Still Matters - War Is Boring. In Hanoi, the North Vietnamese leadership was prepared for huge losses. However, Americans killed an estimated 1,800 North Vietnamese, through rifles, artillery, helicopters, and jets. To me that seems proper, and just, and so right.. He asked for a volunteer to go with him and Captain Ed Freeman agreed to pursue it with him, displaying extraordinary heroism. Ia Drang set the blueprint for the Vietnam War with the Americans relying on air mobility, artillery fire and close air support, while the PAVN neutralized that firepower by quickly engaging American forces at very close range. "To do it you've got to get up. She and her husband live in Annandale, Virginia. Too Tall Ed retired from that job on January 3, 1991. Temperatures reached 100 degrees, and by the afternoon there was a firestorm battle for survival. 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. Basil Plumley is a grandfather now, kind and soft-spoken, but do not be deceived: He is the lion in winter. The assault at LZ X-Ray began before noon on 14 November. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial stands as a symbol of America's honor and recognition of the men and women who served and sacrificed their lives in the Vietnam War. Battalion Commander Lieutenant Colonel Hal Moore and his men continued on, receiving support from artillery units and air strikes, helping the American troops hold themselves against the enemy. They died dirty. He was judged seventy percent disabled due to wounds suffered in LZ X-Ray. Nebraska, In November, troops would take on North Vietnamese regulars for the first time in the Battle of Ia Drang Valley. Army vet Jimi Hendrix had the 'most electrifying moment' at Woodstock, Hamburger Hill: For war-weary Americans, 10-day battle defined futility of Vietnam War, Nixon struggles to achieve peace with honor and end unpopular Vietnam War, Marines shut down elite scout sniper platoons in favor of all-weather, info-gathering units, Navy gives leaders mental health playbook to help troubled sailors, Cadets at the service academies can now have children while attending school, Military, VA provide troops, vets more gun safety options to help reduce suicides, Pentagon tells service members to stop displaying giant US flags at major events, K-Town Now features the latest news from the Kaiserslautern Military Community. The Ia Drang Valley is a valley located near Pleiku in Central Highlands of Vietnam. It had been a small undeclared war mainly fought by South Vietnamese troops with a few U.S. advisers in the mix, sometimes on the ground, sometimes in helicopters, said Andrew Wiest, a history professor at the University of Southern Mississippi and the founding director of its Dale Center for the Study of War and Society. 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. In March 1991 he found a new purpose in life: meeting the chartered airliners touching down at Bangor International Airport, the first American landfall, bringing American soldiers home from the Persian Gulf. ROLAND, William, forty-nine, rifle-squad leader, Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry at X-Ray, returned to Vietnam for a second combat tour. For information, the 1st Air Cavalry arrived in the fall of 1965, about the same time I did as a member of the 1stInfantry Division. I had been assuming that he would get us out of this. 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. He joined IBM as a salesman in Austin, Texas, and spent twenty years with them, rising to the post of Midwestern regional manager. 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 . They have three children, daughters Abigail and Alison and a son, Thomas Alexander. The problem was it had to be applied by a country that was much more willing for it to be applied for the long haul. Moore, who says he graduated from West Point by the skin of my teeth, was the first Army officer of his class (1945) to achieve one-, two-, and three-star rank. It featured a question-and-answer session with some of the battle's key players, including retired Lt. Gen. Hal Moore. He was medically evacuated the next morning. Galen Bungum, 72, was a soldier in the Vietnam War and fought in the first major battle of the war, the battle of Ia Drang, on November 14, 1965. The battle was later dramatized in the film We Were Soldiers. The first major American direct fire conflict took place in November of 1965 in the Ia Drang Valley. Throughout the day, he changed helicopters after some were so badly damaged to stay in the air. P.O. He didn't know that he was the one in charge at that time. Difficult. based on information from your browser. Meyer and his wife, Carol, live in Arlington, Virginia. HOWARD, John, fifty-four, medical-services officer, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cav in the Ia Drang, retired a lieutenant colonel in 1983, after twenty-five years service. He was 92 years old. The Battle of Ia Drang was the first major battle of Vietnam fought on the dates of November 14-18, 1965. Among the many survivors of the ambush was 1st Lt. Rick Rescorla, a platoon chief who died Sept. 11, 2001, rescuing individuals from the World Commerce Heart's south tower till it crashed round him. They have two grown children. But I remember thinking that I'm just a lieutenant. He then formed a computer-software company. Recalling the aftermath of the fight, he said, Back then Stars and Stripes would carry the casualty reports and I had a red pen and started checking off the names of guys I knew who were listed as KIA. They saved some 70 soldiers. On February 26, 2007, President George W. Bush presented Crandall with the Medal of Honor for his actions in the Ia Drang Valley. 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. They were interrogated by McDade, who, along with most of the commanding officers and radio operators, were called into a meeting to discuss the intel. After LZ Albany, Thorpe requested a transfer from his company command to the division public-information office and finished his tour as an escort officer for visiting press and VIPs. He retired from the Army as a master sergeant and, in 1988, became the pastor of a church in Fort Mitchell, Alabama. The plane hit several tombstones and flipped over. Sources 1st Cavalry Division Association: 1st Cavalry Division Medal of Honor Recipients. Mindful of the effects of propaganda, each side declared victory. He lives in Golden, Colorado, where he owns a firm that deals worldwide in antiques. 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. He retired a colonel in 1981, and is vice president of human resources for a large corporation in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Nearly 70 percent of the battalions soldiers were killed or wounded before airstrikes, artillery and reinforcements drove the North Vietnamese into nearby Cambodia. The U.S. unit was moving through the jungle in a long column when the 8th battalion of the North Vietnamese 66th Regiment sprang in to a massive ambush. The men, women, and children of this story are Americas neighbors, living quiet lives in every corner of the nation they served. In the first major engagement of the war between regular U.S. and North Vietnamese forces, elements of the 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) fight a pitched battle with Communist main . The idea was to kill the enemy, not necessarily hold ground, and bleed the North Vietnamese until they tired of war. Lt. Don Cornett along with 154 Troopers from 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment were killed in the Ia Drang Valley, Nov. 17, 1965, at a small clearing known as Landing Zone Albany. Contrary to popular belief, the Battle of Ia Drang started and ended after the famous landings at LZ X-Ray and LZ Albany. He and his wife, Kornelia, live in Columbus, Georgia, where for several years Scott taught military subjects to Junior ROTC in the high schools. After three days of fighting, 240 Americans had been killed and another 300 wounded (more troops were brought in in support). HERREN, John, fifty-eight, commander of Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cav, served a second tour in Vietnam as a staff officer at MACV/Saigon, was a battalion commander in Germany, and served in the office of the secretary of defense until his retirement in 1985 as a colonel. They and their buddies fought off hundreds of North Vietnamese with the help of artillery. He now lives in Stamford, Connecticut. They successfully hit many of the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army (NVA) troops, while also shooting some of the Americans with friendly fire. Westmorelands recommendation for more troops carried the day even as Johnson and his advisers privately questioned prospects for success. He was director of training development at Fort Benning when he retired as a colonel in 1983. Crandall won the first Helicopter Heroism Award of the Aviation/Space Writers Association, for two daring nighttime landings under fire to rescue twelve badly wounded troopers from Captain Tony Nadals Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cav in Operation Masher-White Wing in January 1966. 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. CANTU, Vincent, fifty-one, mortarman, Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cav, left the Ia Drang battlefield and immediately rotated home for discharge, two weeks late, in December 1965. Elements of the Armys 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) entered the first major land battle of the war at landing zones X-Ray and Albany, which would turn out to be proving grounds for a whole new kind of warfare. He holds two masters degrees, is employed in the defense industry, and lives in Alexandria, Virginia. (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. PARKER, Neal G., a Naval Academy graduate who transferred to the U.S. Army and was a Huey pilot in Bravo Company 229th in the Ia Drang, retired a colonel after thirty years service. Then he somehow managed to crawl away, saying that he was going to organize the troops. They resupplied ammunition, water, and supplies, while evacuating the wounded. U.S. intelligence knew that North Vietnamese regulars probably a single regiment were in the area. Spc. Nonetheless, this allows a reprieve for Moore and his men to secure the area. He lives on a farm near Rainier, Washington, and has been writing down his memories of Vietnam duty for his children and grandchildren. By Staff. WALLACE, Bruce M. Jr., sixty-one, Air Force A-IE Skyraider pilot over the Ia Drang, served two more tours in Vietnam and retired a colonel in 1976. THORPE, Henry, fifty-eight, commander, Delta Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry in the Ia Drang, left the Army as a captain in September 1967, after eight years service, and went home to his native North Carolina. They have four children and five grandchildren. He moved back to his hometown of Tucson, Arizona. Clinton Poley was an assistant machine gunner, who said they landed in grass that was 5 feet high and didnt know where the other troops were. DEAL, Dennis, fifty, platoon leader, Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cav in the Ia Drang, left the Army as a captain in 1968 and returned to his native Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He works for a consulting firm in McLean, Virginia. One infantry company began the day of Nov. 14 with 110 men. LAVENDER, David A. His old company commander, John Herren, and all the survivors of the Lost Platoon believe that Charles Lose should have been awarded the Medal of Honor that they recommended for him. 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. He assumed that like the French, the Americans would tire of seeing their young men coming home in body bags. It wasn't until about two weeks later, as he read Stars and Stripes, that it hit him what he had survived. Postal Service in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. ROBINSON, Edward Charles, fifty-five, Huey pilot at LZ X-Ray, served a second combat tour in Vietnam. But UPI sent him back to Vietnam in 1971, in 1973, and again in 1975 for the final chapter. He is married and has a daughter in college and a son in the U.S. Marines. He was the father of four children, aged twelve through twenty. In his spare time he camps, climbs, skis, and fishes for trout in the Rockies. 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. He went home to Salinas, California, where he lives with his wife and three sons. Lefebvre earned graduate degrees in secondary school administration and public administration. The airstrike broke the North Vietnamese siege and enabled reinforcements to reach the LZ. Search above to list available cemeteries. Two men - Sgt. "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.'". Little did Beck and his companions know they were about to make history in America's first large scale battle of the Vietnam War. It is laced with hard facts, observations, anger, sadness and even some humor. A month before the Ia Drang operation, North Vietnamese regulars attacked a U.S. Special Forces base at Plei Me, hoping to lure the ineffectual South Vietnamese army out of its base at the provincial capital, Pleiku, and destroy it. In August 1977, at the age of forty-four, Colonel Frank Henry died when an aneurysm ruptured. He owns a property-management firm in Tampa, Florida. He retired a major in 1980, after twenty years service. Shucart says, It was interesting; they just figured I was another grunt and I didnt tell them different. During his two tours in Vietnam, Crandall flew lead ship on 756 separate missions. In a 1967 article for the Saturday Evening Post, former ABC reporter Jack Smith, who was a private first class in Charlie Company during the battle, wrote about Cornett's last moments. Major Bruce Crandalls UH-1D helicopter climbs skyward after discharging a load of infantrymen on a search and destroy mission in Ia Drang. Translation on Find a Grave is an ongoing project. On his chest he wore the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, and five Purple Hearts. They had this Learning to be a Teacher program; I tried it and loved it. He single-handedly raised five young children and earned a doctorate, retiring a lieutenant colonel after twenty years service. 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