7th Cavalry Ia Drang LZ Xray and LZ Albany

[Salvage Sailor]

Aloha Everyone,

 

Many of our members are familiar with the battle at LZ Xray in November 1965 due to the film "We Were Soldiers". But many of you, especially the younger members are not familiar with the entire story of the week long battle as you're not read the book nor many of the first hand contemporary accounts. The battle at LZ Albany resulted in far more US casualties than Xray and was largely ignored and the details suppressed by the Army at the time.

 

In 1993 when the book was first being published, there was a first hand account aired of Hal Moore and several of the other members of both 1/7 and 2/7 returning to Vietnam for the first time since the battle 28 years before. The battle at LZ Xray is now quite familiar to many due to the movie, but the battle fought the next day by 2/7 at LZ Albany is unknown to all but those who seek it out.

 

This first hand documentary with interviews by Hal Moore, Joe Galloway, Bruce Crandall, Jack Smith, Larry Gwin, George Forrest, etc.

 

The first two parts are the story of 1/7 LZ Xray up to when they were relieved by 2/7. The second two parts are "The Walk In The Sun" resulting in the ambush and decimation of 2/7 at LZ Albany including the story of Jack Smith.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Salvage Sailor]

"The Walk In The Sun" resulting in the ambush and decimation of 2/7 at LZ Albany including the story of Jack Smith.

Well worth reading, his first hand contemporary and detailed account of the fight (1967 Saturday Evening Post account by Jack Smith http://www.vietnamwall.org/news.php?id=1 )

 

 

 

 

 

[gwb123]

The story of LZ Albany will rip your heart out. It was one of those costly lessons that we seem to repeat conflict after conflict.

 

Once you've read it, you will understand why it was not included in the movie.

 

One of the most moving parts of the story is when the survivors of LZ Xray mounted up to go provide those who were caught in the ambush at LZ Albany. A true story of strength and endurance.

[Salvage Sailor]

The story of LZ Albany will rip your heart out. It was one of those costly lessons that we seem to repeat conflict after conflict.

 

Once you've read it, you will understand why it was not included in the movie.

 

One of the most moving parts of the story is when the survivors of LZ Xray mounted up to go provide those who were caught in the ambush at LZ Albany. A true story of strength and endurance.

 

That's the story of Captain Rick Rescorla, going to the relief of 2/7 at Albany after being in the thick of the fight at Xray. Rescorla is not covered in the documentary above and he was truly an American (and British) hero. I knew Rick when I worked in NYC and was at the Trade Center during the first bombing in 1993. He was killed in the 9/11 attack at the World Trade Center. Bio https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Rescorla

 

9/11, LZ X-Ray, LZ Albany and Rick Rescorla

 

On September 11, 2001, Rick Rescorla watched the north tower burn out of his window on the 44th floor of the south tower. Despite Port Authority Police stating to stay in the building, he ordered fellow Morgan Stanley Dean Witter employees floor by floor to evacuate.

They were halfway down to the ground floor when the second airliner hit the south tower. Rick Rescorla did not panic. Using a bullhorn, he sang to his team, just as he sang to his Soldiers in Vietnam. He helped keep everyone calm by singing God Bless America and old Welsh miner songs. He kept saying, “today is a day to be proud to be American.” Of the firm’s 2,700 employees, all but six survived. He led them to safety and returned into the tower with firefighters to help clear the building. Rick Rescorla paid the ultimate sacrifice for his country that day. His body was never recovered.

Rescorla’s bravery is also remembered in the battles of LZ X-Ray and LZ Albany. He earned a Silver Star for his leadership of Bravo Company 2nd Battalion 7th U.S. Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) during those November 1965 battles. The battalion fought its way out of Albany, however, it weighed heavy on his heart that 305 Americans died in the la Drang Valley. After the Army, he used his GI bill and earned two degrees. He also trained officers in the Oklahoma National Guard and security guards in hand-to-hand combat. He later retired from the Army Reserve as a Colonel.

[Garandomatic]

Amazing man, rescorla. I read about his story and Albany in the sequel to We Were Soldiers called We Are Soldiers Still. Darned good read.