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

Moore, LT General Ha; Galloway, Joseph

Softcover

ISBN 10: 034547581X ISBN 13: 9780345475817

Publisher: Presidio Press, 2004

Synopsis

Each year, the Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps selects one book that he believes is both relevant and timeless for reading by all Marines. The Commandant's choice for 1993 was We Were Soldiers Once . . . and Young.
In November 1965, some 450 men of the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, under the command of Lt. Col. Hal Moore, were dropped by helicopter into a small clearing in the Ia Drang Valley. They were immediately surrounded by 2,000 North Vietnamese soldiers. Three days later, only two and a half miles away, a sister battalion was chopped to pieces. Together, these actions at the landing zones X-Ray and Albany constituted one of the most savage and significant battles of the Vietnam War.
How these men persevered--sacrificed themselves for their comrades and never gave up--makes a vivid portrait of war at its most inspiring and devastating. General Moore and Joseph Galloway, the only journalist on the ground throughout the fighting, have interviewed hundreds of men who fought there, including the North Vietnamese commanders. This devastating account rises above the specific ordeal it chronicles to present a picture of men facing the ultimate challenge, dealing with it in ways they would have found unimaginable only a few hours earlier. It reveals to us, as rarely before, man's most heroic and horrendous endeavor.

About this title

Review:

"A GUT-WRENCHING ACCOUNT OF WHAT WAR IS REALLY ALL ABOUT, which should be 'must' reading for all Americans, especially those who have been led to believe that war is some kind of Nintendo game."
-GENERAL H. NORMAN SCHWARZKOPF

"Hal Moore and Joe Galloway have captured the terror and exhilaration, the comradeship and self-sacrifice, the brutality and compassion that are the dark heart of war."
-NEIL SHEEHAN, author of A Bright Shining Lie

"A powerful and epic story . . . This is the best account of infantry combat I have ever read, and the most significant book to come out of the Vietnam War."
-COLONEL DAVID HACKWORTH, author of the bestseller About Face

Book Description:

The defining moment of the Vietnam war when the American dream of a quick victory died - hard.

About this edition

• Publisher: Presidio Press
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 034547581X
• ISBN 13: 9780345475817
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 480