November 17-19 ,1965 Vietnam War. The Battle of la Drang Part 2 : the part not shown in the movie We We Were Soldiers . There were two parts of the battle that took place between November 14th and 18th, 1965, at two landing zones (L Z ) northwest of Plei Me in the central Highlands of South Vietnam, as part of U.S. Air Mobil Offensive code named Operation Silver Bayonet. Representing the American forces were elements of the 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division/ the 1st and 2nd Battalion of the 7th Cavalry Regiment and the 2nd Battalion of the 5th Cavalry Regiment , all U.S. Army, still badly outnumbered, facing elements of the B3 Front of the ( PAVN ) Peoples Army of North Vietnam and the Viet Cong, a loosely organised , more brutal guerilla force. On November 14th the 1st Battalion 7th Cavalry landed at the first LZ X-Ray and were assaulted by Vietnamese but were repulsed after two days and nights of heavy fighting. However, the follow - up surprise attack on November 17th that overran the marching column of 7th Cavalry 2nd Battalion near the second LZ Albany was the deadliest ambush of a U.S. unit during the course of the entire war. Some 300 American deaths in the 35 day operation Silver Bayonet happened in just this one fight that lasted just 16 hours .The soldiers were spread out and easy pray for VC in the dark, as Americans begged for their lives. Now you understand why the second half of the story was not told in the movie ,but was in the book.
Posted on: Mon, 18 Nov 2013 15:47:01 +0000