History Book Review

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Recommended: Short note on vietnam war

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to lay your life on the line for your country? In the book We Were Soldiers Once….and Young by Harold G. Moore and Joseph L. Galloway, many brave American soldiers put their lives on the line during the start of The Vietnam War. Colonel Harold Moore and Reporter Joseph Galloway recall all the events that occurred over a four day period in the la Drang Valley, in South Vietnam.
Thomas Brown, the 3rd Brigade commander was the guy calling the shots; he was Moore’s boss and was the one who informed him he was about to head out into the 1st battle in the la Drang Valley. The officers of Moore’s battalion were Captain Matt Dillon, the battalion S-3, which was the main operations officer also joining the battalion was Sergeant Major Plumley, who was a very experienced airborne solider, Major general Harry W.O. Kinnard, Brigadier general Richard Knowles, Caption Gordon (Rosie) Rozoanski, Captain John Herren, Captain Ramon (Tony Nadal), Captain Louis Lefebvre, and Air Force First Lieutenant Charlie Hastings. Harold Moore’s Battalion, the 450-man 1st Battalion, 7th Calvary of the U.S. Army was sent in on November 15th, 1965. After arriving in an area the American’s referred to as Landing Zone X-Ray the Battalion captured a North Vietnamese soldier who was found on a mountain. This captured solider reviled “There are three battalions on the mountain who very much want to kill Americans but have not been able to find any." A few hours later, those Vietnamese Battalions made contact with Moore’s 7th Cavalry and this began the first battle of the Vietnam War. Moore’s 450 men would soon realize they were up against a far greater number of Vietnamese soldiers than they expected. Bravo, Alpha, & Charlie...

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...needed to carry out in order to properly lead his men. He commanded his men not by simply telling them what to do, but by leading them in the field, and making sure that each and every man knew that they were a valuable part of his command. Moore’s innate ability to connect with his men allowed him to ask of his men more than most commanding officers, and equally his were willing to give back, some would give it all, but none would regret following him into battle. This book was not written to just inform about the war, I believe Moore and Galloway wanted to tell a story and allow their readers to have a real visual of what happened out there on the battlefield. Moore and Galloway did a wonderful job of showing the courage and leadership they put forth and showed the ultimate sacrifice they were willing to make not only for the other soldiers but for their country.

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