“I used the code word ‘Broken Arrow,’ which meant ‘American unit in contact and in danger of being overrun,’ and we received all available aircraft in South Vietnam for close air support. We had aircraft stacked at one-thousand-foot interval from seven thousand foot to thirty-five thousand foot.” -Lieutenant Charles Hastings |
When first landed, the American troops were surrounded by North Vietnam forces, but with air support from helicopters, they were able to make the Ia Drang Valley campaign a success (Caputo 34). |
“When we support a unit, we go to the field and stay with them when the situation permits.” -Sergeant George R. Bassett of the 101st Airborne Brigade |
After 35 days of combat, the United States destroyed two North Vietnamese regiments, earning the first Presidential Unit Citation (1st 1). The Ia Drang battle was the bloodiest and worst fight the United States had ever fought (Letters 41).
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“The many men that died, I will never forget. The odor of blood and decayed bodies, I will never forget. ... I will never be the same though, never, never, never. If I have to go into battle again, if I am not killed, I will come out insane...The friends I lost and the many bodies I carried back to the helicopters to be lifted out, I will never forget.”
-Sp-4 Kenneth W. Bagby, soldier in the Ia Drang Valley Campaign |