We Are Soldiers Still: A Journey Back to the Battlefields of Vietnam (29 page)

Schwarzkopf and, xii

U.S. News & World Report

cover article on Ia Drang, 2, 5

visit to An’s widow, 142–44

visit to Dien Bien Phu (1999), 130

war, beliefs about, 187–88

weapons carried by, 10, 31, 78

wife’s death, 223

Galloway, Joshua, 229

Galloway, Lee, 229

Galloway, Theresa Null, 223

Gell, Sgt. Jack, 224

Geoghegan, Lt. Jack, 106, 200

family of, 106

George Washington University, 159

Giap, Gen. Vo Nguyen, 16, 30, 33, 42, 130, 134, 142, 189

at Dien Bien Phu, 22, 42, 44–47, 130–31, 135, 138, 140–41

meeting with, 1990, 21, 25, 30–33

meeting with, 1993, 44–47

meeting with, 1999, 22

thirtieth anniversary of fall of Saigon and, 154

Gibson, Mel, 221

Godboldt, PFC Willie, 106

Grant, Gen. Ulysses S., 187

Greene, Graham, 151

Grella, Don, 87

Gwin, Lt. Larry (later Capt.), 42, 47, 63–64, 67, 96, 99, 102, 105, 109, 113, 115, 121, 122, 227

C-123 crash and, 63

Hanoi, 2, 49, 20–33

B-52 bombing raids, Christmas, 1972, 40

building and corruption in, 152

changes and growth, 42–43, 152, 154

dikes, 152

Hotel Metropole, 51

Hao, Col. Tran Minh, 53, 91, 96, 97, 109–10, 122, 126–27, 149, 228

helicopters, 6, 28.
See also
1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile)

Bell UH-1 Iroquois (Huey), 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 15, 87, 133

first deployment, Ap Bac (1962), 31–32

NVA reaction to, 29

Soviet-made Hind, 2–3, 86, 89, 99, 110, 113

229th Assault Helicopter Battalion, 10

Hell in a Very Small Place
(Fall), 129

Herren, Capt. John (later Col.), 7, 8, 42, 47, 90, 97, 227

Hmong tribes, 152

Ho Chi Minh, 30, 31, 135

Ho Chi Minh Trail, xv, 4, 22, 28, 37, 85, 136

“How to Fight the Americans” (Phuong), 29

Huey.
See
Bell UH-1 Iroquois (Huey)

Hussein, Saddam, xviii–xix, 195

Ia Drang Scholarship Fund, 229–30

Ia Drang Valley, battles of, xv–xvi, 7–13

1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), 11

5th Cavalry, 1st Battalion, 42, 113

5th Cavalry, 2nd Battalion, 11, 206

7th Cavalry, 1st Battalion, Alpha (A) Company, 8, 38, 41–42

7th Cavalry, 1st Battalion, Bravo (B) Company, 7, 10, 38, 42, 96

7th Cavalry, 1st Battalion, Charlie (C) Company, 78, 96, 105–6, 172–73

7th Cavalry, 2nd Battalion, 11–13, 39, 42, 122, 206

7th Cavalry, 2nd Battalion, Alpha (A) Company, 63, 64, 113, 118

7th Cavalry, 2nd Battalion, Bravo (B) Company, 77, 90–92, 205–7

7th Cavalry, 2nd Battalion, Charlie (C) Company, 86, 113, 124, 125

ABC television documentary, 5, 22, 41–42, 63, 95–96, 115, 155, 228

air support, fighter-bombers, U.S., 9, 11, 36

An’s command post, 38, 39

B-52 bombers sent to saturate Chu Pong Massif, 11, 36

as bloodiest battle in Vietnam War, xvi

casualties, American, xv, xvi, 3, 9, 12, 17, 90, 91, 101–2, 106, 108–9, 115, 116, 123, 124, 172–73, 184, 200, 205, 206

casualties, North Vietnamese, xv–xvii, 3, 19, 98, 184, 205, 206

commander, North Vietnam (An), 4, 11, 21, 37, 38–39, 68, 91, 92

commander, North Vietnam (Man), 34–37

commander, U.S. (Moore), 4, 7–13, 19–20, 77–78, 170, 184–85

comparison of opponents, 4

conditions, 89–90, 115

Congressional Medal of Honor and other awards, xvii, 79, 200

draftees in battle, 4, 5, 78

firepower, U.S., 9

as Forest of the Screaming

Souls, xix, 17, 111

Galloway at, xviii, xix, 4, 9–10, 78

Hao’s poem, 126–27

historian Phuong, after-action report, 20, 28–29

Huey’s assigned to operation, 6

Huey transport of U.S. troops, 7, 8, 9, 10, 87, 133

Jack Smith’s account, 116–18

Landing Zone (LZ) Albany, xv, 7, 11, 11–13, 38–39, 63, 64, 113–27, 123, 124, 206–7

Landing Zone (LZ) Columbus, 11

Landing Zone (LZ) X-Ray, xv, 3, 4, 6–7, 10, 11, 12, 19, 29, 36, 38, 39, 50–51, 53, 77, 85–86, 88–99, 97, 101–11, 114, 121, 122, 124, 133–34, 170, 171, 172–73, 205–6, 212, 224

Landing Zone (LZ) Yankee, 88

location, 4, 5

“Lost Platoon,” 90–92, 97

monument planned, 149

Moore and Galloway’s return to (1993), xvii, 1–4, 17, 22, 41–69

Moore’s command post, 8, 95, 107

Moore’s orders, 5

napalm drop, 107, 120

night on battlefield (1993), 99, 101–11

non-commissioned officers, U.S., 5, 6

officers, North Vietnamese, 53

Plumley in, 6, 7, 77–78, 88, 95

psychological effects on survivors, xix–xx, 15, 50–51, 94–95, 110, 115, 116–18, 155, 201

recovery of bodies (1966), 12, 124

scouting of, U.S., 6

Sgt. Eade’s account, 118–21

song about, 67

tactics and strategy, North

Vietnamese, 35–37

troop strength, 4, 5, 6, 184–85

veteran reunions, 80–81, 116, 199–201

victory claimed, North Vietnamese, 36–37

Imploding Man, The: Back Home from Vietnam
(Gwin), 64

improvised explosive devices (IED), xix

Indochina War, 34, 44, 55, 69

ambush at Mang Yang Pass, 67–68, 137

ambush of Group Mobile 100, Chu Dreh Pass, 147–48

American financing of, 45, 130–31

burial of soldiers, 68

Dien Bien Phu (
see

Dien Bien Phu)

failure of French command to understand the enemy, 137

fort near Plei Me Camp, 6