1st Lt. Donald Cornett at his base camp in Vietnam, shortly before the battle of Landing Zone Albany where he was killed in action, Nov. 17, 1965. It was fifty-five years ago on November 14, 1965, the First Cavalry Division commanded by Lt. Col. Hal Moore landed in the Ia (pronounced Eye) Drang Valley, South Vietnam. He lives in Falls, Pennsylvania. Charlie Company took the brunt of the assault. "The main point that I try to get across when I speak to Soldiers, and this is what saved me, is the training," he said. I have it here with me today. He lives with his wife and family in Steelville. He retired in August 1977, with thirty-two years service. They have a son, who is in college, and a daughter, still in high school. Omaha, A battalion of the U.S. 1st Air Cavalry Division was ambushed while marching from the jungle clearing where the Ia Drang Valley fighting started on November 14, 1965. The two-part battle took place between November 14 and November 18, 1965 west of Plei Me, in the Central Highlands of South Vietnam. JOHNS, Barbara Geoghegan, fifty, widow of Lieutenant John Lance (Jack) Geoghegan of the 2nd Platoon, Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, killed in action in X-Ray, married Lieutenant Colonel John Johns in 1969. Jemison works part-time as a security guard in Columbus, Georgia, and he says: Each night I go back to Vietnam to fight that same battle, over and over.. (U.S. Army). Weve updated the security on the site. Ia Drang Valley, Battle of the (1965). Parish now runs the Bristow, Oklahoma, toll gate on the Turner Turnpike. His personalized license plate proclaims: LZ X-Ray. They have four children and five grandchildren. Being the firstbig units there, we had to make our own camp, no showers for months, World War II C rations to eat, no toilets, just a hole dug in the ground, etc. Read More Landing Zone Xray Lead elements of the under strength 450 man 1st Bn, 7th Cavalry air assault into a small clearing in scrub jungle below the 2300 foot Chu Pong Massif. RACKSTRAW, Jim, forty-nine, recon-platoon leader, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry at X-Ray, served a second tour in Vietnam as a rifle-company commander in the 25th Infantry Division. He earned a doctorate in education and is personnel director for the Cooperative Extension Service at the University of Georgia in Athens. The conflict is divided into two engagements: the Battle at Landing Zone (LZ) X-Ray and. Some of the survivors broke into tears of relief. Lt. Col. Hal Moores 1stBattalion, 7thCalvary wasordered to take on an air assaultin the Ia Drang Valley. 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. Deleting this Virtual Cemetery cannot be undone. We were crawling around under intense machine-gun fire when Sergeant Major Plumley walked up, pulled his .45-caliber pistol, chambered a round, and said: Gentlemen, prepare to defend yourselves.You never forget a thing like that.. We have set your language to He died. GWIN, S. Lawrence (Larry), fifty-one, executive officer, Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cav in the Ia Drang, stayed with his company through July 4, 1966. Merchant retired a lieutenant colonel in 1982. You need a Find a Grave account to continue. MEYER, Edward C. (Shy), sixty-three, 3rd Brigade executive officer in the Ia Drang, retired as Army Chief of Staff, a four-star general, in 1983 after thirty-two years service. He retired from the Army as a staff sergeant in 1976, and now serves in the Alabama National Guard. The idea was to kill the enemy, not necessarily hold ground, and bleed the North Vietnamese until they tired of war. He says he did a lot of praying during the Persian Gulf War, when his son, his brother, and his old friend Galloway were all on the battlefield. President Johnson Jeanie Hunter in Oskaloosa, Ia on November 24, 1984 and she survives bikinis. Joseph Galloway was a civilian reporter at the Battle of Ia Drang. TULLY, Robert (Bob), sixty-eight, commander, 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry in the Ia Drang, served a second tour in Vietnam in 1968 as a brigade commander in the Americal Division. He completed 22 flights: Rescuing Wounded in Ia Drang Valley from 2015: https://vvmf.wordpress.com/2015/11/07/he-spent-14-hours-in-the-air-rescuing-wounded-in-the-ia-drang-valley/, Stars and Stripes Article: https://www.stripes.com/news/special-reports/vietnam-stories/1965/ia-drang-valley-where-the-us-truly-went-to-war-1.376662, Larry Gwin | VVMF: https://youtu.be/_PDBgEu4cx4, Jon Wallenius | VVMF: https://youtu.be/Qb9a1L4rc2g, Bruce Crandall | VVMF: https://youtu.be/SSNTph4QQ2g, Joe Galloway | VVMF: https://youtu.be/N6XXcDATAgE, Faces Never Forgotten with Joe Galloway: https://www.facebook.com/VietnamVeteransMemorialFund/videos/2239219906358006/, National Geographic Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLyBazkpUFQ, 1965 CBS Special News Report: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sx1rzDNcFmE, AARP Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKtWX9TDFYc, Military.com In Depth Look: https://www.military.com/video/operations-and-strategy/vietnam-war/the-battle-of-la-drang/2071462322001, Medal of Honor Recipient Bruce Crandall: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIAEcZ29aG4, Medal of Honor Recipient Ed Freeman: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdDYNI7V0co, Medal of Honor Recipient Walter Marm: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7-U0FBiYUU, Docs Teach (National Archives): https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/battle-la-drang-valley, PBS Clip (Plei Me and la Drang): https://whut.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/c27a31b7-14fc-4c5f-804e-168fbb24f5ed/plei-mei-and-the-ia-drang-valley-clip-the-vietnam-war/, Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund | 3033 Wilson Blvd, Suite 300 | Arlington VA 22201 | 202.393.0090 They died hot, hungry and exhausted. God rest you, George. SAVAGE, Ernie, forty-eight, the fourth man to inherit command of Lieutenant Henry Herricks 2nd Platoon, the Lost Platoon of Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry at LZ X-Ray, retired a sergeant first class in 1982 after twenty years active duty. He was made famous by the account of his actions during the Battle of the Ia Drang Valley in November 1965, the Americans' first major battle of the Vietnam War. He worked an additional fifteen years as a civilian employee at Martin Army Hospital at Fort Benning, Georgia, and retired again in 1990. He was discharged a sergeant, completed his college education, and is now an on-air national news correspondent for ABC Televisions Weekend News. Fifty years ago today, one of the Vietnam war's most ferocious battles broke out in the Ia Drang Valley. BARKER, Robert L., fifty-five, artillery-battery commander in LZ Falcon, served a second tour in Vietnam with the 1st Cavalry Division in 1969-1970 and later served a third combat tour. In the end, 79 Americans had been killed, and 121 men were wounded. Since completing her degrees, she has decided to take a step back from academia to focus her career on writing and sharing history in a more accessible way. 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. He and his wife live in St. Charles, a suburb of Chicago. He accepted, I won, but he only recently began paying offone bottle at a time. Plumley says, Scott is so tight with a dollar youd think he came out of West Point.. The . Vince Cantu never went back to his music. It is republished unedited in its original form. CASH, John, fifty-six, assistant operations officer in 3rd Brigade Headquarters, later commanded a rifle company in the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry for more than six months in 1966. Easy. When the last of his old friends in the 1st Cavalry and the U.S. Marines rotated home, Galloway also left, vowing never to return. He was director of training development at Fort Benning when he retired as a colonel in 1983. There's captains and majors and colonels and I assume they know what they are doing. Absent was an effective plan for winning over the civilian population caught in the crossfire, said James Willbanks, a Vietnam veteran who is the director of the Department of Military History at U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. That headquarters type turned up and he returned my old helmet, bullet hole and all. She is an active member of Sons and Daughters in Touch, an organization sponsored by the Friends of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. He and his wife, Louise, live in San Antonio, Texas, and Brown plays a round of golf most days. The Ia Drang Valley is the place the U.S. really went to warfare. Spec. For the last twenty-one years he has been in the tire business. Enlisted men may scoff at officers back in the billets but when the fighting begins, the men automatically become dependent upon them. Hear Walters story. By whatever measure, the chaotic, bloody Battle of the Ia Drang Valley set the tone for the rest of war. 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. He is president of his own management-consulting firm and lives in Oklahoma City. He was evacuated, via Clark Field, to Fitzsimmons Army Hospital in Denver. Payne and his wife, Patty, live in Hinsdale, Illinois, and have three children. 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. They have two sons, one an oil-industry consultant, the other an Air Force sergeant who served in the Persian Gulf War. Resend Activation Email. It was the first major battle of the Vietnam War, and Lawrence and . TIFFT, Richard P., Pathfinder team leader in LZ X-Ray, later served as commander of the Golden Knights, the Armys parachute team. Among the survivors of the ambush was 1st Lt. Rick Rescorla, a platoon leader who died Sept. 11, 2001, rescuing people from the World Trade Centers south tower until it crashed around him. There is a problem with your email/password. On November 18, 1965, the US forces were able to gather their dead. He and his wife live in Phoenix, Arizona. BECK, Bill, forty-nine, assistant machine gunner, Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cav in the Ia Drang, left the Army in 1966 and went home to his native Steelton, Pennsylvania. They are stories that not only serve to maintain our connection with history, but also educate us and force us to confront the good and the bad and learn from it. Today, Doc Shucart of Landing Zone Albany is the chief of neurosurgery at Tufts University Medical School. Jim also talks about the failure of leadership. Pronunciation of Ia Drang with 6 audio pronunciations. He knew he had to get out of the clearing, so he started pulling himself along the ground using only his arms, when someone grabbed him and dragged him the rest of the way into the trees. His last known address was Miami, Florida. American officials declared the Battle of the la Drang Valley a victory. UH-1 aircraft of the 229th Assault Helicopter Battalion carry wounded 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry soldiers away during the fight for LZ X-Ray in the Ia Drang Valley of Vietnam. He tried to crawl away and was shot again in the hip. 5 cemeteries found within miles of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list. The ending of We Were Soldiers comes once Hal Moore makes the decision to call in Broken Arrow, a request for all available combat aircraft to attack enemy positions. I guess I was an oddball; everyone else that year was going into teaching to avoid the draft, and then there was me. Jeanette and his wife, Sandra, were married five days before he shipped out for Vietnam. RIDDLE, Bill, fifty-two, artillery forward observer with Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, completed his Army service in the summer of 1966. His awards include the Combat Infantrymans Badge with two stars; two Silver Stars; two Bronze Stars; four Purple Hearts; a Master Parachutist Badge with five combat-jump stars; a European Theater Service ribbon with eight campaign stars and four invasion arrows; a Korean Service ribbon with three campaign stars and one invasion arrow; a Vietnam Service ribbon with one silver and three bronze campaign stars; and the Presidential Unit Citation badge. 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. Cash retired from active duty as a colonel in September of 1992 and lives in the Washington, D.C., area. The film follows the experiences of both Moore, portrayed by Mel Gibson, and his wife, Julia, played by Madeleine Stowe. Some of the men who hadn't slept for close to 48 hours closed their eyes, others smoked or ate. He is now a financial officer with the U.S. I was standing back there in the column and the column was stopped. He co-authored the book We Were Soldiers Once And Young with Hal Moore. The North Vietnamese forces had succeeded in engaging the U.S. forces in very tight quarters. 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. Contrary to popular belief, the Battle of Ia Drang started and ended after the famous landings at LZ X-Ray and LZ Albany. Search above to list available cemeteries. All Rights Reserved. The Battle of Ia Drang was the first major battle of Vietnam fought on the dates of November 14-18, 1965. The Huey was the best helicopter ever made. He is a consultant to industries seeking defense business. At the end of a year only fifteen of the original contingent were still there, Gwin included. When I go to the wall, I see Don Cornett's name 58,000 times.'. He is a master gunsmith and runs his own business repairing and selling weapons. He now manages the quartermaster laundry at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and lives in Clarksville, Tennessee. 208-263-9534. Of Mrs. Mapsons five brothers, three served in the Army, one made a career in the Air Force, and one is a lawyer. While Beck survived the ultimately victorious 2-1/2-day fight at Ia Drang, 305 other American soldiers did not. His dissertation is on the LZ Albany battle. 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. He and his wife have two college-age children. Between the Army and the Interior Department, Freeman logged a total of seventeen thousand hours flying time in helicopters and eight thousand hours in fixed wing. The bulk of the fighting was centered around two vital helicopter landing zones: LZ X-Ray and Albany. MARTIN, John C., fifty-one, rifleman in Lieutenant Sissons platoon detached from Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry for duty in X-Ray, served a second combat tour in Vietnam. 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. Although each survivor's story is unique, they all carry the same lessons. The four day battle in the Ia Drang Valley began on the morning of November 14, 1965 when the 1st battalion of the 7th Cavalry, my sister battalion, landed in a clearing at the foot of Chu Pong Mountain. He left the Army in October 1966, and went home to his native Ohio, where he works as a carpenter. Alex Kolyer for MPR News On this Veterans Day,. By Staff. Each side realized it was fighting a war of attrition. 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. South Carolina, Photo extracted from U.S. Army motion picture footage from November 1965. On the second day, North Vietnamese forces launched a heavy attack including hand-to-hand combat. When he got back to Refugio, Texas, he called on Joe Galloways parents but mercifully concealed the true circumstances of their meeting on the battlefield in X-Ray. His last project on active duty was researching and writing a history of the all-black 24th Infantry Regiment during the Korean War. Memoirs and histories written after the event capture it . However, Americans killed an estimated 1,800 North Vietnamese, through rifles, artillery, helicopters, and jets. 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