We Were Soldiers Once...and Young - Softcover

Moore, Harold G.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0060975768 ISBN 13: 9780060975760

Publisher: HarperPerennial, 2002

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 is
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

"Between experiencing combat and reading about it lies a vast chasm. This book makes you almost smell it" (Wall Street Journal)

"A stunning achievement... I read it and thought of The Red Badge of Courage, the highest compliment I can think of" (David Halberstam)

"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)

"There are stories here that freeze the blood... The men who fought at Ia Drang could have no finer memorial" (The New York Times Book Review)

"If you want to know what is was like to go to Vietnam as a young American... and find yourself caught in ferocious, remorseless combat with an enemy as courageous and idealistic as you were, then you must read this book. Moore and Galloway have captured the terror and exhilaration, the comradeship and self-sacrifice, the brutality and compassion that are the dark heart of war" (The Times)

Book Description

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

Edition details

• Publisher: HarperPerennial
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0060975768
• ISBN 13: 9780060975760
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 471