Vietnam War (1954-1976)
The Vietnam War remains fresh in America's collective memory. The war divided America and was a bitter defeat for a nation accustomed to military victories. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial remains one of the most visited sites in Washington D.C., and no landmark evokes half as much emotion.
The battle for Landing Zone X-Ray in the Ia Drang valley was called "the battle that changed the war in Vietnam."
In 1965 the 1st battalion of the 7th cavalry was dropped by helicopter into the Ia Drang valley where three regiments of the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and a battalion of Vietcong (VC) surrounded them. In the first major engagement between American and NVA soldiers the badly outnumbered Americans successfully defended the landing zone, suffering heavy casualties in the fighting. This scenario focuses on the Vietnamese attack on the morning of the second day of the battle.
Resources:
A search of the Internet, library, and Magweb.com turned up some useful resources for wargaming Ia Drang and the Vietnam War.
- We Were Soldiers Once...And Young by Lt. Gen. Harold Moore and Joseph Galloway - this is a great book! It was also the subject of a movie starring Mel Gibson. My scenario is based on the chapter entitled "A Dawn Attack."
- LZ X-Ray website (http://www.lzxray.com/), terrific website loaded with useful information
- Ia Drang and Landing Zone X-Ray (http://www.wtj.com/articles/xray/), Wartimes Journal website with animated flash maps of the battle
- "Where the Metal Meets the Meat" by Mike Cowles, Wargamesjournal.com (www.wargamesjournal.com) about wargaming Vietnam and Ia Drang
- "The Ia Drang Valley Campaign" by Pete Jones, Society of Twentieth Century Wargamers, SOCTW JOURNAL #26 (magweb.com)
Map
More Battle of Ia Drang 1965
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© Copyright 2003 by Matt Fritz.
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