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N0KFQ > TODAY 18.11.11 01:09l 64 Lines 3076 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 14098_KB0WSA
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Nov 17
Path: IZ3LSV<IK6ZDE<I0OJJ<VE3UIL<N0KFQ<KB0WSA
Sent: 111118/0002Z 14098@KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA BPQ1.0.4
Nov 17, 1965:
1st Cavalry unit ambushed in the Ia Drang Valley
During part of what would become known as the Battle of the Ia
Drang Valley, a battalion from the 1st Cavalry Division is
ambushed by the 8th Battalion of the North Vietnamese 66th
Regiment. The battle started several days earlier when the 1st
Battalion, 7th Cavalry engaged a large North Vietnamese force at
Landing Zone X-Ray at the base of the Cheu Pong hills (Central
Highlands).
As that battle subsided, the 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 North Vietnamese sprang a massive ambush along the length of
the column from all sides. Companies C and D took the brunt of
the Communist attack--within minutes, most of the men from the
two companies were hit.
The North Vietnamese forces had succeeded in engaging the U.S.
forces in very tight quarters, where supporting U.S. firepower
could not be used without endangering American lives. The
cavalrymen returned fire, but the Communistss were fighting from
prepared fighting positions and many of the American leaders had
been felled in the initial stages of the ambush. As night fell,
the cavalrymen waited for the North Vietnamese to attack but
illumination flares provided by air force aircraft made the enemy
cautious. By morning, they had withdrawn.
Senior U.S. military leaders declared the Battle of the Ia Drang
Valley an American victory. That had clearly been the case with
the fight at Landing Zone X-Ray, where the three-day battle
resulted in 834 North Vietnamese soldiers confirmed killed with
another 1,000 communist casualties likely. However, the battle at
Landing Zone Albany was another story. Although there were over
400 enemy soldiers lying on the battlefield after the fighting
was over, the battle had been an extremely costly one for the 1st
Cavalry troopers. Of the 500 men in the original column moving to
Landing Zone Albany, 150 had been killed and only 84 were able to
return to immediate duty. 93 percent of Company C sustained some
sort of wound or injury--half of them died.
The Battle of the Ia Drang Valley was important because it was
the first significant contact between U.S. troops and North
Vietnamese forces. The action demonstrated that the North
Vietnamese were prepared to stand and fight major battles, and
senior American leaders concluded that U.S. forces could wreak
significant damage on the communists in such battles. The North
Vietnamese also learned a valuable lesson during the battle: they
saw that they could negate the effects of superior American
firepower by engaging American troops in physically close combat,
so that U.S. artillery and air fire could not be used without
endangering American lives. This became standard North Vietnamese
practice for the rest of the war.
73, K.O. n0kfq
Another old retired guy
E-mail: n0kfq@winlink.org
N0KFQ@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
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