We Were Soldiers Once . . . and Young: Ia Drang—The Battle That Changed the War in Vietnam

In November 1965, approximately 450 men of the First Battalion, Seventh Cavalry, commanded by Lt. Col. Harold Moore, were deployed into a clearing in the Ia Drang Valley and quickly found themselves surrounded by 2,000 North Vietnamese soldiers. Three days later, a sister battalion was heavily attacked two and a half miles away. These engagements at landing zones X-Ray and Albany were among the most significant battles of the Vietnam War and marked the first major direct confrontations between the US Army and the People's Army of Vietnam. Lt. Gen. Moore and Joseph L. Galloway, the only journalist present throughout the fighting, conducted interviews with hundreds of participants, including North Vietnamese commanders. Their account documents how American soldiers persevered through the battle, supporting one another and refusing to surrender. The narrative portrays soldiers confronting extreme circumstances and responding in ways they had not anticipated, revealing both the heroic and devastating dimensions of warfare.