“We Were Soldiers” Hal Moore Talks About The Battle For Ia Drang

Lt. General Hal Moore talks about the Battle of Ia Drang at the 2008 American Veterans Center’s conference.

It was November 14, 1965, in the Ia Drang Valley of the Central Highlands of Vietnam. American troops were transported by helicopter to clear landing zones and set up the command center of the operation at a large termite mound in Landing Zone X-Ray (LZ X-Ray).

The LZs were about 30 minutes round trip from the base, and the 16 Huey helicopters could only transport about 12 men each at once. The first boots hit the ground at 10:48 and by 12:15, shots were bring fired. It would be many hours before the battalions were at full strength and the battle would last for several days.

For the first two of those days, it was the job of the 1^st and 2^nd battalions of the 7^th Air Cavalry to hold LZ X-Ray against some 2,500 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops. Much of the tales of this battle revolves around that 1^st Battalion and its commander, Lieutenant Colonel Hal Moore.

The U.S. troops eventually defeated the much larger enemy force, but with very heavy losses.

In this moving video from the American Veterans Center, Hal Moore talks about the battle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82LqvxhuFEY