What Happened At The Battle Of Ia Drang? (#1 ANSWER!)

The big battles began when then–Lt. Col. Hal Moore, a 43-year-old West Point graduate out of Bardstown, Ky., was given orders to airlift his 450-man 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, into the valley on a search-and-destroy mission. He’s having done a cautious aerial reconnaissance by helicopter and selected a football field–sized clearing at the base of the Chu Pong Massif, a 2,401-foot-high piece of ground that stretched to the Cambodian border and beyond for several miles. The sketchy American intelligence Moore was provided said the area was home base for possibly a regiment of the enemy. In fact, there were three North Vietnamese Army regiments within an easy walk of that clearing, or the equivalent of a division of very good light infantry soldiers. (last edited 20 days ago by Morgana Peterson from Bangui, Central African Republic) [2]

Based on an article from vvmf.org, as the fighting around Landing Zone X-Ray subsided, McDade’s 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry, was ordered to move cross-country to Landing Zone Albany, where it was to be picked up by helicopter and moved to a new location. The U.S. Unit was moving through the jungle in a long column when the 8th battalion of the North Vietnamese 66th Regiment sprang in to a massive ambush. Of the 500 men, 150 were killed and only 84 were able to return to immediate duty. Companies C and D took the brunt of the Communist attack, and most of the men were quickly hit. It was the most successful ambush against U.S. Forces during the course of the entire war. [3]

On November 14, 1965, the 1st Battalion (Bn), 7th Cavalry Regiment (Regt), 1st Air Cavalry (Cav) Division (Div) was sent on a search and destroy mission deep into the jungles of a plateau in the Central Highlands in the Ia Drang River Valley, thirty-seven miles west of Pleiku in the Gia Lai Province, Republic of (South) Vietnam (RVN). There they’re have meeting the 32nd, 33rd, and 66th Regts of the People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN). The U.S. Had fought against local Vietnamese Communist (Viet Cong) forces in small skirmishes since the withdrawal of the French in 1954; however, the Ia Drang Valley marked the first time U.S. Forces faced off against trained North Vietnamese regulars in the battle that has become synonymous with the beginning of full scale U.S. Involvement in the RVN. While the Battle of Ia Drang constitutes roughly a month-long period, the two major battles occurred at Landing Zones (LZ) X-Ray and Albany. (last revised 79 days ago by Anamaria Locklear from Mosul, Iraq) [4]

Based on a new article from thedailybeast.com, army intelligence estimated the presence of a single enemy regiment of about 2,200 soldiers in the immediate vicinity. In fact, Moore’s battalion, the 1st of the 7th Cavalry, had landed within strolling distance of three regiments of the People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN)—the regular army of North Vietnam. As it happened, the North Vietnamese, too, were looking for trouble. According to Brig. Gen. Chu Huy Man, commander of the Central Highlands front, most of his troops had only recently arrived in the Highlands after an arduous, two-month trek from North Vietnam down the Ho Chi Minh Trail.They’re have having been very active in the area over the preceding month, laying siege to a Special Forces camp at nearby Plei Me. Now they hoped to lure the newly arrived American forces into a major engagement in order to learn their tactics—especially how they used helicopters to deploy infantry units deep inside Communist-held territory, and to keep them supplied in extended operations. (we really thank Ruston Dobbs from Makhachkala, Russia having brought this to our attention). [5]