We were Soldiers Once...And Young: Ia Drang--The Battle That Changed The War In Vietnam

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Summary: So you want to know the true story?
Review: Being an enthusiastic reader, I couldn't wait to get this book in my hands. Having read some of the reviews here, I did have doubts about it's quality but after reading the book, I will say that if you are like some who were evidently looking for a flowery novel with perfectly written prose and a plot sewn together with the precision of Gone With The Wind, you will most likely be overwhelmed in the beginning. It is not an easy read but a good one if you take your time. If you're a reader who doesn't want to think, avoid this one. You won't be able to get through it.

Don't be frustrated by the author's obvious (and admirable) desire to give names to the faces of those heroic soldiers wrote about. It is not necessary for you to even remember the names to enjoy the book though it will enhance your sense of "being there" and the emotions derived from knowing the real people behind the tale .

This was written to one end and one end only in my opinion-to let you know what it was really like to have fought in that unnecessary war. It does not, however, rely on the gore usually found in novels about combat (especially the Vietnam War) but more on drawing you into the chaos and intense pressure these brave soldiers were subjected to while fighting in this new kind of warfare. Descriptions of violence are there but are not the grotesque Hollywood type usually found in books on this subject.

Having been a fan of military books and movies since childhood, I can say without qualm that this is the finest I have ever read (three times already in only 5 weeks)and would recommend it to anyone who desires to know the truth of this awful conflit and gain first hand knowledge of the what and why that caused it to occur. I could not and did not set this story down until I finished!

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Summary: We Were Soldiers Once...And Young: Ia Drang
Review: My husband, Sgt. Bill Mullins, was in the battle of the Ia Drang and I have researched many books and documentaries regarding the Vietnam War. This is truly the finest book written about Vietnam, the Ia Drang Valley and the Air Mobile unit. This book also pays tribute to the wives of these fine soldiers and lets the reader know what they went through at home. I have had the good fortune to meet some of the survivors of the Ia Drang, including Lt. Gen Hal Moore and Joseph Galloway, all of whom are true heroes.

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Summary: Amazing Topic, Poorly Written
Review: When I think of this book and the movie made from it, I wonder how they did that. Trying to gather comprehensible, story-telling scenes for a motion picture from this jumble of poorly written hodgepodge would have been very difficult-hats off to the screenwriter.

Admittedly I, who read at least one to two books a week, was unable to get more than halfway through this one. I pushed myself hard to finish it, but reading again and again about the major screwups by field officers which caused the deaths of so many men and the way the commander (author) never placed blame or showed criticism for those junior to him made me lose all interest. Perhaps later in the book Moore court-marshalled them all and everything came out well in the end. As an officer he may be among the great; as an author he should have found a good ghostwriter.

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Summary: One of the best war stories I've ever read.
Review: I read this book back in 1994, and I've just finished re-reading it. It is one of the best war stories ever written. There are two battles chronicled here, X-Ray and Albany. The battle at landing zone X-Ray, where Col. Hal Moore's 1st battalion 7th Cavalry fought three battalions of NVA regulars, was made into the movie starring Mel Gibson. In this battle, the cavalry troopers landed by helicopter and formed themselves into a defensible perimeter before the NVA could attack. X-Ray could probably be termed a victory for the U.S. forces, since they lost about 70 killed in action, as opposed to about 600 confirmed and 1200 estimated NVA.

The second battle, Albany, was not in the film, probably because it was a terrible defeat for the U.S. forces. The 2nd battalion, 7th Cavalry, under the command of Col. Robert McDade, was ordered to walk out of X-Ray to another landing zone about 10 miles away. Leading elements captured two enemy soldiers, and McDade called all the company commanders forward for a pow wow. While the men were leaderless and spread out along the line of march, an NVA battalion fell on them and cut them to pieces. The cavalry was able to form a perimeter near the front of the column and, thanks to the heroism of Captain George Forrest, who sprinted through a hail of bullets the 550 yards back to his company at the rear of the column, another perimeter at the rear of the column. In between these two perimeters, along the line of march, was a grisly killing ground in which survivers of the initial onslaught, most of whom were wounded, fought in small groups, trying to stay alive. Bands of NVA walked around, shooting and killing the wounded. Over 150 U.S. soldiers were killed during this battle, and many more seriously wounded. This could not be called a U.S. victory.

Perhaps the most moving and important part of this book is near the end, where family members of some the U.S. officers killed in the battle tell the stories of their lives.