"WE WERE SOILDERS ONCE...AND YOUNG"
I finished reading this book and it left me with a greater appreciation of those who fought in the Vietnam War.
I had never read such an accurate and detailed account of a battle. The human aspect of it really brings you close to the soilders and their mindset during this epic battle. I am very impressed by the acutal accounts of those who were there fighting, commanding and saving lives.
I'm most impressed with Lt. C. Hal Moore. He is an incredible person who loves his men. His men seem to have an equal affection for him as they did everything he asked of them. After reading the book I felt i could go to battle under this man.
I researched Hal Moore a bit more and found some very interesting things bout him, including that some of the morals that guide him on the battlefield also guide his life.... One is "What am i doing that i'm not supposed to be doing, and what am i not doing that i'm supposed to be doing".
This book is a must read for anyone interested in books with Vietnam War facts. The central battle in the book is the "Battle of Ia Drang Valley at LZ X-Ray" Against overwhelming odds Hal Moore's 450 strong 1st Battallion, 7th Cavalry troops face "a tough and determined enemy" in the 3,000 strong Viet Cong from North Vietnam. This was the first engagement between the two countries (US and Vietnam) in the Central Highlands of Vietnam along the Cambodian border. Three days of fighting and 79 KIA's later the VC were defeated.
The book then shifts to the battle at LZ Albany where the US forces were ambushed and suffered a terrible "carnage" but ultimately held on with the help of reinforcements.
Great heart wrenching book.
Interesting quotes:
"The country that sent us off to was was not there to wecome us home. It no longer existed. We answered the call of one President was now dead; we followed the orders on another who would be hounded from office, and haunted, by the war he mismanaged so badly." p4
"No one of us left Vietnam the same young man he was when he arrived." p5
"This is also the story of the suffering of families whose lives were forever shattered by the death of a father, a son, a husband, a brother in that valley." p5
