Brave men and a battle in Vietnam
Written: Apr 12 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: An eye opening account that grabs you and won't let go. You gain appreciation.
Cons: You will shed a tear, though that's not necessarily a bad thing.
The Bottom Line: It doesn't seem right to say I enjoyed reading of such death and suffering, but I do recommend it. It left me numb and humbled.
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| mcswarsik's Full Review: Harold G. Moore et al - We Were Soldiers Once...an... |
At first, US Special Forces advisers were "dying by ones and twos". Next came the Marines, who started dying by "fours and fives". In the front of the book, We Were Soldiers Once...and Young, are the names of 305 soldiers, who died in one month during October to November 1965. 234 of them within 4 days, 155 of them in 16 hours. Most of those 155, hit within one horrific hour of battle.
Not all died quickly. The survivors went through hell.
Troopers heard the single gunshots or witnessed the shooting toward the ground by roaming North Vietnamese soldiers, that signified their execution....One trooper crawled to safety. He related that as he lay wounded, an enemy officer placed a pistol in his mouth and fired. It came out the back of his neck, leaving him unconscious and thought dead. Another soldier had propped himself up against a tree after having his legs badly burned by napalm. An enemy soldier walked up to him and shot him in the eye with a pistol. He was found alive.
We Were Soldiers Once...and Young is the true story of America's first major battle with the North Vietnamese army. It tells of the newly formed Air Cavalry, that would enable the US to place troops anywhere at will. How the North Vietnamese needed a large confrontation to learn how to fight this new helicopter war. As quoted by North Vietnamese Brigadier General Chu Huy Man, his goal was "to draw the Americans into battle-to learn how they fight and teach his men how to kill them." Lessons were learned at a heavy price..paid by both sides.
450 men of 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry were dropped by helicopter into the Ia Drang Valley and surrounded by 2,000 North Vietnamese soldiers. They fought for 2 terrible days until relieved by 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry. This relief unit, instead of being flown out from their now secure area, was forced to hike two and one half miles to another landing zone (LZ). As the stretched out column marched, they were cut to pieces. It is the story of the battle of LZ's X-Ray and Albany.
Written by Lt. Gen Harold G. Moore (Ret.) who commanded the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry (Custer's outfit) and Joseph L Galloway, a journalist with them during the fight, it tells of almost unbelievable bravery and sacrifice. Unimaginable horror and suffering. Harold Moore shows his love of and devotion to his men. The sadness and pride he felt for them.
The violence of warfare from bullets that shatter flesh and bone, napalm and white phosphorus that burn and cause excruciating pain, high explosive rounds that tear men to bits and throw bodies into trees, hand to hand combat...and the young men who endured this.
Of medic Calvin Bouknight, who went from wounded man to wounded man, shielding his patients each time by placing his own back between them and the enemy guns. Until finally, he was shot and killed.
Of Spec 4 Williard Parrish who fought off wave after wave of charging enemy soldiers with his M-60 machine gun until it's ammo was exhausted. Then firing clip after clip from two .45 pistols. More than 100 Vietnamese soldiers were found in a semi-circle around his position.
Told mostly from the American point of view, you are also shown the dedication and bravery of the North Vietnamese who suffered losses at a staggering 12 to 1.
American leaders thought this acceptable...They would beat them through attrition..wear them down. Of course this didn't wear them down...even after 8 more years....and the American people DID NOT find the trading of 12 Vietnamese lives for 1 American life "acceptable".
It tells of a book of poetry, written in beautiful script, dropped by an enemy soldier. "Oh my dear. My young wife. When the troops come home after the victory, and you do not see me, please look at the proud colors. you will see me there, and you will feel warm under the shadow of the bamboo tree."
Of the young Vietnamese soldier who upon finding a wounded American hiding, took aim with his rifle. As the trooper, Toby Braveboy, raised his bandaged hand and shook his head, this enemy soldier lowered his weapon and walked away.
After the battle an American trooper relates, "Blood, body fragments, torn uniforms, shattered weapons littered the landscape. It was a sobering sight. Those men, our enemies, had mothers too."
The reader is also shown the shock and aftermath of receiving a telegram that begins "The Secretary of the Army regrets...." Parents, wives and children tell how their lives were effected by the deaths of their sons, husbands and fathers in that far off place. It left me in tears.
General H. Norman Schwarzkopf wrote "We Were Soldiers Once...and Young is a great book of military history, written the way military history should be written. It is a gut-wrenching account of what war is really about."
On the back cover it states.
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.
This book is currently in being made into a movie. They have pledged to "get it right", to honor those brave, young soldiers. Not just pages in a book, these men, those that survived and now in their 50's and 60's, are our friends, neighbors, co-workers. The relatives of those killed still carry on and still feel the pain.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
mcswarsik
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Member: Mike
Location: CT
Reviews written: 60
Trusted by: 106 members
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