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Summary: A Terrific Tale of Vietnam
Review: Had war planners in Washington D.C. experienced what Lieutenant Colonel Harold Moore saw in his first weeks of combat in 1965 the tragedy of America's involvement in the Vietnam War might well have been avoided. In the fall of 1965 Moore's 1st Battalion of the 7th Cavalry Regiment engaged North Vietnamese soldiers at Ia Drang.The Battle for Ia Drang showed for the first time the steep cost American soldiers would pay in their engagements with the vietnamese communists and set into play a frustrating pattern that would persist until the end of the war- American units would inflict heavy casualties upon the communist forces, but the enemy would simply slip away into the underbrush, leaving behind nothing but dead Americans and an empty jungle. "We Were Soldiers Once . . . And Young" is Moore and reporter Joseph Galloway's account of the 1st Cavalry Division's initial deployment to Vietnam and America's first combat actions with the North Vietnamese Army. The lessons Moore learned at Ia Drang showed just how difficult victory in Southeast Asia would be for American forces. The lessons learned by Moore and his troops would have served American decision-makers well. "We Were Soldiers Once . . . And Young" is both a terrifically exciting narrative about the Battle of Ia Drang, and a cautionary tale about the clash between strategic planning and the tactical realities of warfare. Unrealistic assumptions can lead to tragic results. Good work.
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Summary: Well-written, devastating and heartbreaking
Review: Although I grew up in the 60s and 70s, Vietnam didn't touch me personally. I'd watch the honor roll nightly on t.v., taps playing in the background, feeling vaguely numb as the names of dead soldiers scrolled across the screen. Read this book if you want to feel and smell the battlefield and get to know the men who served. This is a poignant, well-written account that provides a lot of historical information without being dry and difficult to follow. It is an incredibly personal account without being sentimental. The author occasionally and very subtley gives insight into his own view on the war and the politics that kept it going, but focuses on his soldiers and their struggle to survive the deprivation and slaughter of a meandering war without end. You will get to know the soldiers by name. You'll learn about the lives they left and, if they were lucky, the lives they went home to. You will not be spared the carnage of the battlefield, but this is no Rambo-esque mythology of the glories of war. It is a sad paen to the slaughter of so many young men. I had preconceptions about the kind of book a Lt. General might write. Harold Moore and Joseph Galloway shattered them. This book will haunt you.
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Summary: American Thermopylae
Review: Oh, what an extraordinary book. This book satisfies on so many levels. First, it provides an accurate historical account of the most important battle of the Vietnam War -- the first one. From this examination, the reader can understand why the U.S. reached strategic failure in Vietnam. Until its publication, there has never been an accurate accounting of this savage, enigmatic battle, only partial analysis and limited oral histories. This book presents the battle from the battalion commander view and integrates it into the goals of the war. Second, the book presents, in unsparingly frank terms, the sacrifices and courage exuded by average American boys in combat with an ardent foe in a foreign land. After reading this book, I dare anyone, ANYONE, to question the scope and magnitude of the sacrifices made by those who served in Vietnam. The depictions of combat and its accompanying loss will stay with the reader for a very long time. Lastly, for all military buffs, it's a great read and allows you to engage in some healthy hero-worship. In honor of those who served and died on this tragic battlefield and all those of Vietnam, a paraphrase of the inscription at Thermopylae is in order: "Go tell the Americans, stranger passing by, Here, obedient to their laws we lie."
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Summary: We Were Soldiers Once...and Young
Review: Great book. I have a new found respect for those boys..
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Summary: GREAT BOOK VERY MOVING
Review: The most intense book I've ever read on 'Nam.Honestly gave me nightmares about what these men went through.These guys gave their all for each other and to simply survive during the most Hellish days you could imagine.A book that will definatly give you a more profound respect for all Vets and the freedoms they gave us all.
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Summary: Truthfully gruesome
Review: This book gives reality to what I knew was happening, both in 1965 and later. I cried for the young men who fought and died and for the brutality of war. This is a subjective review. In 1967 a retired infantryman, a veteran of WWII and Korea, told his 18 year old son, "Don't volunteer. Our politicians won't fight to win this war, and the South VietNamese can't win it. You would just be fodder." Even though I grew up in the military and intended to volunteer after college, I believed and honored my father's advice. He knew to give it because men and boys such as those described in this book had already paid the ultimate price. As I watched from stateside for the next several years, I knew that many others (including high school buddies of mine) were still paying that price. I still honor my father's wisdom, but also honor the men and boys who followed their country's "leaders" at such a price.
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Summary: The author brings the reader to the valley.
Review: In 1965 I was with the 5th Division on Colorado after returning from Korea. I was to be assigned to an engineer battalion as fate had it, the army's way, I had been promoted to E4 out of my MOS and they reassigned to HQ & Band Support Command, working for the division transportation officer, I was really a cat operator, sitting behind a desk. My first task in the summer of 1965 was to take away the equipment of several companies, and two battalions and get them ready to ship. I did not know where, or why. They went around the base saluting officers with " Garry Owen" I had no clue what these guys were forming up to be. I later came up on orders for Viet Nam but had only 6 months left on my hitch and re-upping was not a high priority. I have always felt "fate" played a hand in keeping me alive, I know not for what, and I missed something very bad in Viet Nam. I read this book, which is the story or the Air Cavs arrival in Viet Nam, the same troops I had help ship out months earlier. The book ripped my heart out, it was as if I was there and knew everyone of the guys mentioned in the book, I didnt really, but we all knew people just like them. Not a day goes by that I dont thank God that I am still alive, and I think of those who died in Viet Nam, and in particular this particular battle. Very common men (boys) with a mountain of courage. This is a story that has to be told, and often, lest we forget. I went to the memorial and it brought me to tears, it still does, as does the memories of those who died in this encounter. Some for the right reasons, others due to the stupidity of military command. To those who survived this battle, my hat is off to you, I doubt many could have survived the test.
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Summary: Excellent and to my first hand knowledge very accurate
Review: Attached to 1st of the 7th Cavalry's "B" Company from HHQ, I was in Ia Drang Valley with Gen. Moore and can verify much of what occurred with "B" Company. The story told by the authors is true, even more happened, which was not included. Gen. Harold Moore and Joe Galloway did a remarkable job of reciting the facts as they actually happened. If you want to get a good close-up look into what actual combat in a foreign land was, this book gives you facts. It depicts many heroic acts and some character flaws in humans. One black M-60 machine-gunner I saw whom, without hesitation, gun blazing, pressed forward in the heat of battle. Omitted from the book was the actual odor of hundreds, dead and dying, in the extreme heat of Ia Drang Valley; a smell unlike I had ever experienced and the picture of bodies wrapped in ponchos stacked like cord wood at Pleiku. By the Grace of God and many prayers I survived... and yet, this does not mean those who died did not have God's Grace. This book cannot answer the "why" question but it will help you better understand the real consequences of war. Is war worth the supreme sacrifice and ultimate casualties? The book could provoke you to think that if we must engage in combat how can we accomplish our goals and minimize the casualties and are those goals worth the cost? Many Americans who saw only quiet tense young soldiers (yet somehow mysteriously different) return home can now understand the great trauma that some went through in Viet Nam (as with other wars). How do you tell a man that had taken several rounds in the chest, pleading "Please Doc don't let me die", that it's okay. "If war could make a man than life should be better... but war can mold the soul that makes the man... W.K." This book is well worth reading for the emotionally stable. If you have a sensitive nature consider buying the book for someone else.
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Summary: The truth is out, about what really happened in Vietnam.
Review: This is an out standing book. It told the real truth about Vietnam. I have read many books on the subject of Vietnam and this by far surpasses them all. With the combined knoleage of Harold G. Moore and Joseph L. Galloway they have gaphically depicted what happened. I highly sujest reading this book ir you like a good war story! .
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Summary: thank god for this book
Review: General Moore and Joe Galloway, thank you for this book. It has helped my husband and myself find some of the soldiers he served with. My husband was able to find then Capt George Forrest in Maryland, I had the honor of meeting Capt Forrest, a man my husband respected very deeply. We were able to find "Purp" Lavender and Sgt Kluge to name a few. For me, the book gave me an insight on what happened to my husband and the rest of the young men amd very frankly left me in tears alot of the time. I am very proud to say that my husband served with all these fine men and Gen eral Moore and especially with Capt George Forrest If there is anyone interested in contacting us please do so we need desperately to find more of you that were with A 1/5
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