We Were Soldiers Once . . . and Young

by Harold G. Moore

  21. Captain Cash’s recollections in this and subsequent chapters from transcript of taped discussion with Galloway on August 16, 1991, and multiple telephone discussions with Galloway, 1990-1992.

  22. Casualty figures compiled and crosschecked from after-action reports of 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry, and 1st Cavalry Division. Also, Sergeant Cumberland’s book of the dead, Army Adjutant-General’s list of Vietnam dead.

  19. Hell in a Very Small Place

  1. All quotes and comments attributed to Specialist 4 Ackerman in this and later chapters: letters to U.S. News & World Report, November 25, 1990, and a December 27, 1990, letter to Galloway.

  2. All attributions to Gooden in this and subsequent chapters: transcript of a Galloway interview of Gooden, August 17, 1991; multiple telephone discussions, Galloway/Gooden, in the latter part of 1991.

  3. Then-PFC Jack Smith’s account of the beginning of the fight at Albany and seeing his friends shot down: transcript of a speech by Smith, given at the Ia Drang reunion in Washington, DC, November 1991. Material on Thorpe from n. 9, ch. 18, and a February 10, 1966, citation awarding Thorpe an Army Commendation Medal.

  4. All quotes and information from David A. (Purp) Lavender in this and later chapters: letter to Moore, December 7, 1983; his completed questionnaire and the transcript of a statement recorded for Moore, spring 1984; transcript of Galloway’s interview of Lavender, September 4, 1991.

  5. All quotes and comments by James Young in this and subsequent chapters: transcript of a telephone interview of Young by Galloway, December 1991, during which time Young referred back to the pocket diary he kept after he was wounded for times and dates.

  6. Tademy on himself and Brown at LZ Columbus and overflying Albany; also on Bartholomew and Price: n. 6, ch. 18.

  7. Colonel Brown on his radio talks with McDade, the Westmoreland briefing, and reinforcements: n. 12, ch. 17.

  8. Tademy and Cash on the radio conversations: n. 6, ch. 18, and n. 21, ch. 18, respectively.

  9. McDade’s view of the situation and his actions: n. 18, ch. 17.

  10. Hemphill quotes in this and subsequent chapters: from transcript of August 21, 1991, telephone discussion with Galloway.

  11. Knowles flies to Albany, talks to McDade: Moore telephone interviews of Knowles on May 5 and 6, 1992. Warrant officer reports 14 KIA to Knowles: corroborated by his letter to Moore cited in n. 20, ch. 7.

  12. On the dispositions of the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry at Albany and across the valley to the southeast; how the battle began and developed; and the resulting melee: These are the conclusions of the authors based on detailed study of all the accounts of the battle.

  20. Death in the Tall Grass

  1. Smith on what he saw all around him: n. 3, ch. 19.

  2. Howard, Alley, Shucart, Shadden, Towles, Young, McDade, and Ackerman quotes and comments: See notes to chapters 17, 18, 19.

  3. On the alerting of Myron Diduryk’s company: Dillon, Moore, and three men of the 1/7 Battalion operations section had been listening to McDade’s 2nd Battalion command frequency during the late morning and early afternoon of November 17 at Camp Holloway. Suddenly that radio went wild with the sound of explosions, small arms, and men shouting. We knew immediately that the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cav was in deep shit. The word for us to alert Diduryk’s Bravo Company came at around four P.M. and was instantly relayed to him.

  4. Wallenius’s birthday: n. 2, ch. 10.

  5. Rescorla: n. 19, ch. 17.

  6. Although the 1st Cav Division after-action report and the 2nd Battalion, 5th Cav after-action report specify 6:25 P.M. as the time the reinforcements began landing, study of other reports and of comments by the aviators and the officers and men of Bravo 2/7 lead the authors to be more comfortable with the 6:45 P.M. time that we use here.

  21. Escape and Evade

  1. Howard: n. 13, ch. 17.

  2. Alley: n. 14, ch. 17.

  3. The story of James Young: See n. 5, ch. 19.

  4. The saga of Toby Braveboy is covered briefly here from the following sources: article by Charlie Black in the Columbus (Ga.) Ledger-Enquirer, early December 1965; account in J. D. Coleman’s Pleiku; letter to Moore, August 9, 1983, from Bob McMahon, who was in 2nd Brigade Headquarters when Braveboy was brought in; undated (December 1965) report of the 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry on the rescue and its aftermath (this report states that within an hour of Braveboy’s rescue, the North Vietnamese attempted unsuccessfully to lure another H-13 scout helicopter into an ambush by emulating the Braveboy circumstances; the scouts killed two North Vietnamese, and the rest ran for it). A letter dated July 12, 1991, from Dave Bray, former 1/9 pilot, to Moore provided details of the first sighting of Braveboy and how near he came to being shot by the H-13 observer; also, Joel Sugdinis, Braveboy’s company commander (n. 8, ch. 18), details how he changed the Alpha Company 2/7 radio call sign to “Braveboy” after visiting Toby Braveboy in the hospital. Also, Galloway telephone discussions with members of the Braveboy family (his father and a sister-in-law) who still reside in Coward, S.C.

  22. Night Without End

  1. Lombardo and Jekel lose the chin bubble on their Huey: n. 2, ch. 8.

  2. Stinnett: from Paul P. Winkel’s “Table 11 and Enclosures” in his aviation studies of the exhaustively researched 257-page report compiled 1990-1991 to support Winkel’s recommendation that 5 aviators of the 229th Assault Helicopter Battalion—Bruce P. Crandall, Ed W. Freeman, Jon R. Mills, Frank Moreno, and Leland Komich—be awarded, belatedly, the Medal of Honor for their heroic actions in the Ia Drang Valley, November 14-16, 1965. The authors and Winkel have copies. Also, Galloway’s telephone interview of Stinnett, December 1991.

  3. Diduryk: n. 11, ch. 11.

  4. Rescorla: n. 19, ch. 17.

  5. Gwin, Shadden, Payne: See Gwin, n. 12, ch. 13; Shadden, n. 18, ch. 18; Payne, n. 20, ch. 18.

  6. Jack Smith lights a cigarette, even if it may get him killed: Smith’s 1991 Veterans Day speech in Washington.

  7. Shucart, n. 14, ch. 18; Pujals, n. 11, ch. 18; Forrest, n. 15, ch. 18; and Lavender, n. 4, ch. 19.

  8. Sgt. Ibach isolates and eventually links up with battalion perimeter: undated written statement, Ibach to Galloway, December 1991.

  9. Ainsworth: n. 3, ch. 18.

  10. Stinnett and the landing under fire: n. 2, above.

  11. Sugdinis, n. 8, ch. 18; Scott, n. 13, ch. 17; Gwin, n. 12, ch. 13; Ackerman, n. 1, ch. 19; Shucart, n. 14, ch. 18; Payne, n. 20, ch. 18; and Fesmire, n. 10, ch. 18.

  12. Captured bugle: The inscription was taken by the authors directly from the bugle itself.

  13. Tademy, n. 6, ch. 18; Tully, n. 1, ch. 18; Brown, n. 12, ch. 12; An, n. 5, ch. 1.

  14. Wallenius and the dead: n. 2, ch. 10.

  15. Shadden’s ordeal ends: n. 18, ch. 18.

  23. The Sergeant and the Ghost

  1. Transcript of Galloway’s interview of Fred J. Kluge, December 17, 1991.

  2. Transcript of Galloway’s interview of Robert J. Jeannette, December 18, 1991.

  24. Mentioned in Dispatches

  1. Knowles and the news conference: J. D. Coleman’s Pleiku; Galloway, who was present at the conference. Also, Moore’s telephone interviews with Knowles on May 5-6, 1992.

  2. Entries from General Westmoreland’s daily journal: “Memoirs, Gen. Westmoreland’s History Notes 11/14-11/20/65 pp. 7-12 only” from Collection: “Papers of William C. Westmoreland.” Folder Title: #2 History File 25 Oct-20 Dec 65, Lyndon B. Johnson Library. Also, daily schedule of events, November 14-20, 1965 (5 pages), “Papers of William C. Westmoreland,” Box Seven: #2 History File, Document nos. 22 and 23, pp. 1-7. Lyndon B. Johnson Library.

  3. Westmoreland visits the 1st Battalion at Holloway; the briefing; his talk to the troopers: Moore’s personal recollections, verified by n. 2 above and by Galloway recollection. The matter of whether or not Chinese advisers were inside South Vietnam with the NVA regiments in late 1965 has never been answered to the satisfaction of Moore and Dillon. />
  4. General Johnson’s message: quoted from a copy given Moore by Maj. Gen. Kinnard, and in Moore’s collection.

  5. Sugdinis, Rescorla: n. 8, ch. 18, and n. 19, ch. 17, respectively.

  6. Move of 1st Battalion to Catecka: brigade and battalion after-action reports; Moore’s personal recollection.

  7. The 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry moves to LZ Crooks: 1st Cavalry Division and 2nd Battalion after-action reports.

  8. Setelin: n. 5, ch. 10.

  9. Friendly-fire tragedy at Catecka: Galen Bungum (n. 3, ch. 6); personal statements of Dillon, Herren, Plumley, and Whiteside, to Moore.

  10. Some men leave Catecka—and the U.S. Army: Moore, Plumley, Warren Adams recollections.

  11. Rescorla: n. 19, ch. 17.

  12. The battalion leaves Catecka for An Khe: Moore and Plumley recollections and notes.

  13. The 3rd Brigade turns over the Ia Drang operation to the 2nd Brigade, and the action of the ARVN Airborne Task Force: from 1st Cavalry Division after-action report; Samabria and Boyle, “The Lure and the Ambush.”

  14. General Schwarzkopf’s recollection of the action along the Cambodian border: interview by Galloway in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, January 1991.

  15. Kinnard, Larsen, and Westmoreland on going into Cambodia: transcript of Galloway interview with Kinnard, September 19, 1990; transcript of Galloway interview with Larsen, September 19, 1990; transcript of Galloway interview with Westmoreland, September 1990.

  16. Bundy’s cable on ground rules for any cross-border actions in Cambodia: copy of four-page top-secret State Department cable from W. P. Bundy to the American embassy in Saigon, dated November 20, 1965, with copies to McNamara, Wheeler, McGeorge Bundy, and the secretary of state’s office. Sanitized and declassified on September 17, 1991, at the authors’ request. Approximately 1V2 pages were blanked out in the “sanitization” process. National Security File, Country File Vietnam. Box 46. Lyndon B. Johnson Library, Austin, Tex.

  17. Orders to cavalry commanders to keep quiet about NVA in Cambodia: Moore’s personal recollection.

  18. Rescorla, n. 19, ch. 17; Setelin, n. 5, ch. 10; Shucart, n. 14, ch. 18; Sugdinis, n. 8, ch. 18; Gwin, n. 12, ch. 13; McDade, n. 18, ch. 17; General An, n. 5, ch. 1.

  19. Enemy weapons captured: 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry after-action report.

  20. Setelin, n. 5, ch. 10; Tanner, n. 8, ch. 10; McDade, n. 18, ch. 17; Gwin, n. 12, ch. 13.

  21. On Moore’s promotion to colonel: He had been on the promotion list for over 13 months. It was not a “battlefield promotion,” as some media reports stated at the time.

  22. The McNamara briefing: Moore’s recollection, corroborated by Lt. Col. Ben Silver’s history notes.

  23. Charlie Hastings shot down: notes of conversation with Galloway in January 1992.

  24. Forrest and his distress over the missing PFC Ackerman: n. 15, ch. 18.

  25. Recovering the missing men’s remains: Moore’s recollection; also, page 6, 3rd Brigade after-action report on Operation Lincoln III, dated April 27, 1966.

  25. “The Secretary of the Army Regrets …”

  1. Casualty totals: from battalion and division after-action reports.

  2. Jemison, n. 8, ch. 1; Young, n. 5, ch. 19; Poley, n. 7, ch. 1.

  3. Yellow Cab casualty notification: statements of surviving family members who were thus notified. Drunk taxi driver: statement of Sara Elliott to Galloway at August 1990 Ia Drang reunion at Fort Benning.

  4. Betty Jivens Mapson: letter to Galloway, November 28, 1990.

  5. Julie Moore on the taxis and the funerals and on visiting the families: transcript of her tape-recorded statement of November 28, 1991.

  6. Kornelia Scott: written statement provided to the authors, October 1991.

  7. The remarkable story of Barbara Geoghegan Johns emerges in her own words in a series of typed single-spaced recollections to Galloway totaling more than 10 pages, plus cover letters, dated between April 1991 and October 1991. Enclosures include the “before” and “after” copies of Lt. Geoghegan’s death certificate; a copy of the elder Mrs. Geoghegan’s September 24, 1965, letter to her son in Vietnam; a copy of the letter to the people of Pelham written by the elder Mrs. Geoghegan and published on January 13, 1966, in The Pelham Sun; and copies of Geoghegan’s obituary in The Dome (the newspaper of Pennsylvania Military College), December 2, 1965, and in The Catholic News of New York, N.Y., December 9, 1965.

  8. No less moving is the story told by Betty Jivens Mapson in two lengthy handwritten statements to Galloway dated November 28, 1990, and December 2, 1991. Also her enclosures of copies of letters September-October 1965, from Sgt. Jerry Jivens, copies of newspaper clippings, and a telegram from the Army providing details of how Sgt. Jivens’s body would be shipped home and details of how the family would be entitled to a burial allowance of between $75 and $200, depending on whether burial was in a national cemetery or a private one. Also multiple telephone discussions between Galloway and Mrs. Mapson between November 1990 and January 1992.

  9. Catherine Metsker McCray: The story of her marriage to Captain Metsker and the impact of his death in combat is told in a handwritten statement to Galloway, November 16, 1991.

  10. Karen Metsker Rudel: Her story of growing up without a father comes directly from a detailed typed, single-spaced statement provided at Galloway’s request. Also, multiple telephone conversations with the authors, and a memorable personal meeting with Mrs. Rudel at the 1990 Ia Drang reunion in Washington, D.C.

  11. Edward D. Monsewicz: His story of his father covers three typed pages, provided through the kind assistance of CSM James Scott (ret.).

  26. Reflections and Perceptions

  1. McNamara’s “long war” prediction to the reporters in Saigon: Stanley Karnow, Vietnam: A History, p. 480.

  2. McNamara’s assessment of the Vietnam situation and recommendations to the president: from a declassified “Memorandum for the President,” November 30, 1965. Collection National Security Country File, Vietnam. Container No. 75. Folder Title 2EE. Lyndon B. Johnson Library, Austin, Tex. Declassified January 31, 1985.

  3. The more detailed memo: “Memorandum for the President dated 6 December 1965, Subject: Military and Political actions recommended for South Vietnam.” National Security Country File, Vietnam. 2E, Box 75. Lyndon B. Johnson Library, Austin, Tex. Declassified January 31, 1985.

  4. The mid-December meeting: Karnow’s coverage of this December 17-18, 1965, White House meeting is on pp. 481-82, and discusses McNamara’s arguments and the concurrence of Rusk, Ball, and McGeorge Bundy. Will Bundy’s comment on McNamara’s option number one: transcript of telephone interview by Galloway, fall 1990. See also: ch. 33, pp. 7-14, Will Bundy’s unpublished manuscript on the Vietnam decisions, in the Historical Office of the Department of State and the JFK and LBJ libraries for a more detailed discussion of the decision-making climate in December 1965, in the wake of the Ia Drang battles.

  5. Kinnard on pursuit of the enemy into Cambodia: transcript of telephone interview by Galloway, September 19, 1990.

  6. Will Bundy’s comments on hot pursuit of enemy into Cambodia: See n. 16, ch. 24, also n. 4, above.

  7. American casualties: 3rd Brigade after-action report. The Kys’ visit: They were such a bizarre duo, in their matching black jump suits and purple silk scarves, that Moore will never forget them. On the enemy return to the Bong Son within one week: intelligence reports of that time. The 3rd Brigade was ordered back in April for a “show of force” dubbed Operation Bee Bee. In early May, 3rd Brigade and ARVN units carried out Operation Davy Crockett in the Bong Son, destroying the 9th Battalion of the People’s Army’s Quyet Tam Regiment. This is when SFC Glenn Kennedy, a Charlie Company veteran of LZ X-Ray, lost his life in combat. Also of interest: When the 1st Cav Div left Bong Son in early 1968, the 173rd Airborne moved in, and remained there until at least early in 1969.

  Selected Bibliography

  The most useful and most used historical documents in our research were:


  1. The December 9, 1965, after-action report of the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry’s battle at LZ X-Ray, November 14–16, 1965.

  2. The March 4, 1966, after-action report of the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) operations in the Pleiku campaign, October 23-November 26, 1965.

  3. The November 24, 1965, after-action report of the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry operations of November 12–21, 1965.

  4. The December 4, 1965, after-action report of the 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division operations in Pleiku province, November 1965.

  5. The operations journals of the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) Tactical Operations Center at An Khe, covering the period from 12:01 A.M., November 14, 1965, through 12 P.M., November 18, 1965.

  Why Plei Me?, published in Pleiku, August 1966, by the South Vietnamese II Corps Commander, Major General Vinh Loc, contains a wealth of information, derived from captured enemy documents and prisoner interrogations, on the People’s Army units in the Plei Me-Ia Drang campaign. It also includes the translation of “Characteristics of the 1st U.S. Air Cavalry Division,” the North Vietnamese after-action report written by then-Colonel Hoang Phuong. The Vinh Loc book also reprints a People’s Army map, captured in August 1966, which shows in great detail the locations of North Vietnamese units in Cambodia.

  William P. Boyle and Robert Samabria’s “The Lure and the Ambush” is an unpublished article-length U.S. military monograph written in Vietnam and dated December 1965. It covers the departures of the People’s Army’s major units of the B-3 Front from North Vietnam and their arrival in South Vietnam, details the strengths of various units and their casualties, and emphasizes the enemy actions. What makes the document a treasure trove for the researcher is extensive quotation from intelligence documents and captured enemy documents and diaries. It also focuses on interrogation reports and “knowledgeability briefs” concerning 35 North Vietnamese prisoners—officers, NCOs, and line soldiers—most of whom were captured by the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) during October and November 1965.