New York Times Bestseller: A “powerful and epic story . . . the best account of infantry combat I have ever read” (Col. David Hackworth, author of About Face). In November 1965, some 450 men of the First Battalion, Seventh Cavalry, under the command of Lt. Col. Harold Moore, were dropped into a small clearing in the Ia Drang Valley. They were immediately surrounded by 2,000 North Vietnamese … surrounded by 2,000 North Vietnamese soldiers. Three days later, only two and a half miles away, a sister battalion was brutally slaughtered. Together, these actions at the landing zones X-Ray and Albany constituted one of the most savage and significant battles of the Vietnam War. They were the first major engagements between the US Army and the People’s Army of Vietnam.
How these Americans persevered—sacrificing themselves for their comrades and never giving up—creates a vivid portrait of war at its most devastating and inspiring. Lt. Gen. Moore and Joseph L. Galloway—the only journalist on the ground throughout the fighting—interviewed hundreds of men who fought in the battle, including the North Vietnamese commanders. Their poignant account rises above the ordeal it chronicles to depict men facing the ultimate challenge, dealing with it in ways they would have once found unimaginable. It reveals to us, as rarely before, man’s most heroic and horrendous endeavor.
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I experienced some of the stuff this guy writes about (helicopter pilot in the Cav) and this is the most accurate rendition I have read. Minimal exaggeration compared to other books, although there are some areas where he goes a bit overboard. Saying that all his pilots were instrument and dual rated was not my experience. I was the only person …
Hal Moore was a young Army officer who became a hero in Vietnam. His troops won the first battle with the North Vietnamese (The Battle of La Drang in 1965). He served in Korea and in Vietnam ending his career as a Lt. General in 1977.
The book, We Were Soldiers Once…Young, is based on his life in the military and the work his wife did for …
Go stand in front of “The Wall” and think about this book.
All battle details. Not enough story. So sad when real soldiers deaths are detailed.
I am a Vietnam veteran and a student of that era history. Great book that tells a unbelievable story of the first major fight between the US and NVA forces.
great book, I was actually there, Nov 14th, 1965
One of the best books I ever read. Full of excitement and maybe to much action, but a true event must be told the way it was. It was very inspirational in the way out troops fought against insurmountable odds. Changed the way the war was fought in vietnam.
Historical view of a shaping Battle for the Vietnam War
I am a Vietnam veteran. This book is sad and thought provoking about the cost in young lives.
A detailed review of the stupidity of our government conducting a war with no real purpose; putting our armed forces into harm’s way with nothing to win. It is a history that every voting U.S. adult .should read.
Excellent history lesson providing insight into the limitations that the administration placed on our fighting men.
Great Heroic recollection of one of the great battles in Viet Nam.
I was in Vietnam 69 to 70 in the 101st Airborne and it was the same at Hamburger
Hill and Fire support base Ripcord.
Historical. Diary-like. An easy read.
Excellent conveyance of helicopter warfare in the onset of the Vietnam war.
I”m a student of Military History and this story, as told by those who were there, puts you on the battlefield in the Ia Drang Valley of Vietnam. War, more than any other action, reveals the true nature of man.
A classic. Well written, informative, terrifying and sad as well as inspiring. Politicians should be required to read this book before ever committing troops to another war on foreign soil.
A great book about the war in Vietnam and tells the stories of young men who sacrificed everything. Also a good book for leadership examples. Its a long book but, goes fast as the stories are fast paced and horrific. Easily one of the goriest war books out there. Its hard to believe these things happened.
A very good book. War is hell and it shows you that. The movie was good as well.
This book gives an insider’s view of the battle of Ia Drang Valley in 1965. The amount of research performed prior to the writing is extensive and thorough. See the movie first so you have visual references when you begin reading.