8 July, 2024 Siobhan Marie Day 0 Comments 2 categories

Directed by Randall Wallace, with Screenplay by Randall Wallace, Based on "We Were Soldiers Once… and Young" by Hal Moore and Joseph L. Galloway, and Produced by Bruce Davey, Stephen McEveety, and Randall Wallace, Starring: Mel Gibson, Madeleine Stowe, Greg Kinnear, Sam Elliott, Chris Kleinl, Keri Russell, Barry Pepper, Đơn Dương, with Cinematography by Dean Semler, and Edited by William Hoy, with Music by Nick Glennie Smith, and Production companies: Icon Productions, and Wheelhouse Entertainment, and Distributed by Paramount Pictures (United States), and Concorde Filmverleih (Germany) (2002)

The Massacred War…

We Were Soldiers is a powerful American war film written and directed by Randall Wallace and starring Mel Gibson. The film has a stellar ensemble cast that includes Madeleine Stowe, Greg Kinnear, Sam Elliott, Chris Klein, Keri Russell, Barry Pepper, Đơn Dương, Ryan Hurst, Clark Gregg, Jon Hamm, and Dylan Walsh. It is based on a true story with military action and minimum drama that moves at a gut-wreching pace but full of heart-racing moments! Adapted from the 1992 book We Were Soldiers Once…and Young by Lieutenant General (Ret.) Hal Moore and reporter Joseph L. Galloway, it dramatizes the Battle of Ia Drang on November 14, 1965.

Randall Wallace directing Mel Gibson in "We Were Soldiers" (2002) Photo Credit: Sunset Boulevard/Getty Images

Mel Gibson as Lt. Col. Hal Moore in "We Were Soldiers" (2002) Photo Credit: Paramount Pictures

Madeleine Stowe as Julia Moore in "We Were Soldiers" (2002) Photo Credit: Paramount Pictures

Greg Kinnear as Major Bruce Crandall in "We Were Soldiers" (2002) Photo Credit: Paramount Pictures

Sam Elliott as Sgt. Maj. Basil Plumley in "We Were Soldiers" (2002) Photo Credit: Paramount Pictures

Chris Klein as 2nd Lt. Jack Geoghegan in "We Were Soldiers" (2002) Photo Credit: Paramount Pictures

Keri Russell as Barbara Geoghegan in "We Were Soldiers" (2002) Photo Credit: Paramount Pictures

Barry Pepper as Joe Galloway in "We Were Soldiers" (2002) Photo Credit: Paramount Pictures

Đơn Dương as Lt. Col. Nguyễn Hữu An in "We Were Soldiers" (2002) Photo Credit: Paramount Pictures

Ryan Hurst as Sgt. Ernie Savage in "We Were Soldiers" (2002) Photo Credit: Paramount Pictures

Clark Gregg as Capt. Tom Metsker in "We Were Soldiers" (2002) Photo Credit: Paramount Pictures

Dylan Walsh as Capt. Bob Edwards in "We Were Soldiers" (2002) Photo Credit: Paramount Pictures

Jon Hamm as Capt. Matt Dillon in "We Were Soldiers" (2002) Photo Credit: Paramount Pictures

Each year, the Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps selects one book that he believes is both relevant and timeless for reading by all Marines. The Commandant's choice for 1993 was We Were Soldiers Once . . . and Young. In November 1965, some 450 men of the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, under the command of Lt. Col. Hal Moore, were dropped by helicopter into a small clearing in the Ia Drang Valley. They were immediately surrounded by 2,000 North Vietnamese soldiers. Three days later, only two and a half miles away, a sister battalion was chopped to pieces. Together, these actions at the landing zones X-Ray and Albany constituted one of the most savage and significant battles of the Vietnam War. How these men persevered--sacrificed themselves for their comrades and never gave up--makes a vivid portrait of war at its most inspiring and devastating. General Moore and Joseph Galloway, the only journalist on the ground throughout the fighting, have interviewed hundreds of men who fought there, including the North Vietnamese commanders. This devastating account rises above the specific ordeal it chronicles to present a picture of men facing the ultimate challenge, dealing with it in ways they would have found unimaginable only a few hours earlier. It reveals to us, as rarely before, man's most heroic and horrendous endeavor.

Moore at the United States Military Academy in May 2010. Harold Gregory Moore Jr. (February 13, 1922 – February 10, 2017) was a United States Army lieutenant general and author. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the U.S. Army's second-highest decoration for valor, and was the first of his West Point class (1945) to be promoted to brigadier general, major general, and lieutenant general. Moore is remembered as the lieutenant colonel in command of the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, at the Battle of Ia Drang in 1965, during the Vietnam War. The battle was detailed in the 1992 bestseller We Were Soldiers Once… and Young, co-authored by Moore and made into the film We Were Soldiers in 2002, which starred Mel Gibson as Moore; Moore was the "honorary colonel" of the regiment. Moore was awarded the Order of Saint Maurice by the National Infantry Association as well as the Distinguished Graduate Award by the West Point Association of Graduates. Photo Credit: United States Military Academy

Joseph L. Galloway in 2007. Joseph Lee Galloway (November 13, 1941 – August 18, 2021) was an American newspaper correspondent and columnist. During the Vietnam War, he often worked alongside the American troops he covered and was awarded a Bronze Star Medal in 1998 for having carried a badly wounded man to safety while he was under very heavy enemy fire in 1965. From 2013 until his death, he worked as a special consultant for the Vietnam War 50th anniversary Commemoration project run out of the Office of the Secretary of Defense and has also served as consultant to Ken Burns' production of a documentary history of the Vietnam War broadcast in the fall of 2017 by PBS. He was also the former Military Affairs consultant for the Knight-Ridder chain of newspapers and was a columnist with McClatchy Newspapers.

U.S. Army soldiers air-lifted into LZ X-Ray. Combat operations at Ia Drang Valley, Vietnam, November 1965. Major Bruce P. Crandall's UH-1D helicopter climbs skyward after discharging a load of infantrymen on a search and destroy mission. Photo Credit: Wikipedia Commons

On Sunday, November 14, 1965 at 10: 48 a.m., Lt. Col. Hal Moore, (in a magnificent performance by two-time Academy Award winner Gibson), and his regiment of 400 men, the 1st Battalion, 7th Calvary, or as Moore would refer to it, “General Custer‘s old Battalion“, known for the Battle of Little Bighorn, Moore sees this as some kind of bad omen, but none the less, they touch down at Landing Zone X-Ray in the Ia Drang Valley, a place in Vietnam known as “The Valley of Death”. Moore and his men find themselves surrounded by roughly 2,000 North Vietnamese soldiers and the ensuing battle becomes one fo the most savage in American war history. The film dislays the heroism, bravery, and sacrifce of the very real men in United States history that fought at the Battle of Ia Drang, the film also shows the butchery of battle and the fog of war, as We Were Soldiers is a grueling exploration at the concept of war in all its collateral damage for both sides, as well as all of the horror invloved in the pursuit of rightousness of war. We Were Soldiers takes its place among great American war history classics like Apocalypse Now, Platoon, and Saving Private Ryan!

68TH FILM OSCARS CEREMONY IN LOS ANGELES - In 1995, Gibson produced, directed, and starred in "Braveheart", a historical epic, for which he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Director, the Academy Award for Best Director, and the Academy Award for Best Picture. Photo by Frank Trapper/Corbis via Getty Images

Soldiers of the U.S. Amry 1/7th Cavalry and Lt. Col. Hal Moore's regiment in "We Were Soldiers" (2002) Photo Credit: Paramount Pictures

Brevet Major General George Armstrong Custer in field uniform. Photo Credit: Getty Images

Soldiers of the U.S. Amry 1/7th Cavalry disembark from a Bell UH-1D Huey at LZ X-Ray during the battle of Ia Drang in "We Were Soldiers" (2002) Photo Credit: Paramount Pictures

Moore and his men find themselves surrounded by roughly 2,000 North Vietnamese soldiers in "We Were Soldiers" (2002) Photo Credit: Paramount Pictures

Soldiers of the U.S. Amry 1/7th Cavalry disembark from a Bell UH-1D Huey at LZ X-Ray during the battle of Ia Drang. Photo Credit: United States Army

Directed by Francis Coppola, and Written by John Milius, and Francis Coppola, with Narration by Michael Herr, and Produced by Francis Coppola, Starring: Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Martin Sheen, Frederic Forrest, Albert Hall, Sam Bottoms, Larry Fishburne, Dennis Hopper, with Cinematography by Vittorio Storaro, and Edited by Richard Marks, Walter Murch, Gerald B. Greenberg, and Lisa Fruchtman, with Music by Carmine Coppola, and Francis Coppola, and Production company: Omni Zoetrope, and Distributed by United Artists (1979)

Directed and written by Oliver Stone, and Produced by Arnold Kopelson, Starring: Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe, Charlie Sheen, with Cinematography by Robert Richardson, and Edited by Claire Simpson, with Music by Georges Delerue, and Production company: Hemdale Film Corporation, and Distributed by Orion Pictures (1986)

Directed by Steven Spielberg, Written by Robert Rodat, Produced by Steven Spielberg, Ian Bryce, Mark Gordon, and Gary Levinsohn, Starring: Tom Hanks, Edward Burns, Matt Damon, Tom Sizemore, with Cinematography by Janusz Kamiński, and Edited by Michael Kahn, with Music by John Williams, Production companies: Amblin Entertainment, and Mutual Film Company, Distributed by DreamWorks Pictures, and Paramount Pictures (1998)

The Battle of Ia Drang was the first major battle between the United States Army and the People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN), as part of the Pleiku Campaign conducted early in the Vietnam War, at the eastern foot of the Chu Pong Massif in the central highlands of Vietnam, in 1965. It is notable for being the first large scale helicopter air assault and also the first use of Boeing B-52 Stratofortress strategic bombers in a tactical support role. Ia Drang set the blueprint for the Vietnam War with the Americans relying on air mobility, artillery fire and close air support, while the PAVN neutralized that firepower by quickly engaging American forces at very close range.

A map of the Battle of Ia Drang (1965) Photo Credit: United States Army

The People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN), officially the Vietnam People's Army, also recognized as the Vietnamese Army (Vietnamese: Quân đội Việt Nam, lit. 'Military of Vietnam') or the People's Army (Vietnamese: Quân đội Nhân dân), is the national military force of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the armed wing of the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV). The PAVN is a part of the Vietnam People's Armed Forces and includes: Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, Border Guard and Coast Guard. Vietnam does not have a separate Ground Force or Army service. All ground troops, army corps, military districts and special forces are designated under the umbrella terms combined arms (Vietnamese: binh chủng hợp thành) and are belonged to the Ministry of National Defence, directly under the command of the CPV Central Military Commission, the Minister of National Defence, and the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army. The military flag of the PAVN is the National flag of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam defaced with the motto Quyết thắng (Determination to win) added in yellow at the top left (or by the side of the flagpole) Photo Credit: Wikipedia Commons

B-52 strike on NVA troop positions, November 15–20. The Pleiku Campaign took place from 23 October to 26 November 1965. II Corps Command named it Pleime Campaign, with a slightly different starting date of 20 October instead of 23 October, consisted of three operations: Operation Dân Thắng 21(20 to 26 October 1965), the first Pleime preparatory phase, was the relief operation of the besieged Pleime camp. Operation Long Reach, which was the Chu Pong phase, comprising two operations: Operation All the Way (27 October – 9 November 1965) conducted by the 1st Air Cavalry Brigade and Operation Silver Bayonet I (9–18 November 1965) conducted by the 3rd Air Cavalry Brigade against the NVA, which culminated in the Battle of Ia Drang occurring from 14 to 18 November 1965. Operation Than Phong 7 (18–26 November 1965) conducted by the ARVN Airborne Brigade in conjunction with the 2nd Air Cavalry Brigade conducting Operation Silver Bayonet II in the Ia Drang area. It was the final Ia Drang exploitation phase. This joint ARVN-US campaign was characterized by a special procedure of "common operational concept, common intelligence, common reserve, and separate command". Photo Credit: United States Army

A napalm strike erupts in a fireball near US troops in South Vietnam, 1966 during the Vietnam War. (AP Photo)

American involvement in Vietnam can stretch back as far as the end of World War II, depending on how you define “involvement,” but one thing is for sure; when the U.S. committed its combat troops to defend South Vietnam, things got hot almost immediately. The most stunning example of the ferocity of Vietnam battlegrounds is the 1965 Battle of Ia Drang, the first time the U.S. Army fought a major battle against the People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN), North Vietnam’s regular forces. Photo Credit: Uited States Army

H-60 Black Hawk helicopters transporting troops for an air assault exercise. Air assault is the movement of ground-based military forces by vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft, such as helicopters, to seize and hold key terrain that has not been fully secured, and to directly engage enemy forces behind enemy lines. In addition to regular infantry training, air-assault units usually receive training in rappelling, fast-roping techniques, and air transportation. Their equipment is sometimes designed or field-modified to allow better transportation and/or carrying within aircraft. Photo Credit: Wikipedia Commons

A B-52 Stratofortress assigned to the 307th Bomb Wing, Barksdale Air Force Base, La., approaches the refueling boom of a KC-135 Stratotanker from the 931st Air Refueling Group, McConnell Air Force Base. The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is an American long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, which has continued to provide support and upgrades. It has been operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) since the 1950s, and NASA for over 40 years. The bomber can carry up to 70,000 pounds (32,000 kg) of weapons and has a typical combat range of around 8,800 miles (14,200 km) without aerial refueling. Photo Credit: United States Air Force

PAVN and Viet Cong guerilla forces controlled much of the South Vietnamese countryside by the end of 1964. Their main military forces were based in the central highlands, mountainous, almost impassable jungle areas that made attacks from motorized vehicles ineffective. The U.S. decided to use the new tactic of air mobility assaults to hit the communists based there. The plan was to helo in a battalion-sized force and use helicopters to resupply and extract them. Heavy weapon support would come in the form of artillery, rocket fire, and close-air support aircraft. Lt. Col. Hal Moore, the commander of the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, was ordered to launch an airmobile assault on November 14 and then to conduct search and destroy operations the following day. Photo Credit: United States Army

Vietnamese troops in Vietnam War quickly engaging with American troops, 1967. Photo Credit: Wikipedia Commons

The battle at LZ X-Ray was documented in the CBS special report The Battle of Ia Drang Valley by Morley Safer and the critically acclaimed book We Were Soldiers Once… And Young by Moore and Galloway. In 1994, Moore, Galloway and men who fought on both the American and North Vietnamese sides, traveled back to the remote jungle clearings where the battle took place. At the time the U.S. did not have diplomatic relations with Vietnam. The risky trip which took a year to arrange was part of an award-winning ABC News documentary, They Were Young and Brave produced by Terence Wrong.

The battle at LZ X-Ray was documented in the CBS special report "The Battle of Ia Drang Valley" by Morley Safer in 1965. Photo Credit: CBS News

Morley Safer (November 8, 1931 – May 19, 2016) was a Canadian-American broadcast journalist, reporter, and correspondent for CBS News. He was best known for his long tenure on the news magazine 60 Minutes, whose cast he joined in 1970 after its second year on television. He was the longest-serving reporter on 60 Minutes, the most watched and most profitable program in television history. During his 60-year career as a broadcast journalist, Safer received numerous awards, including 12 Emmys, a Lifetime Achievement Emmy from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, three Overseas Press Awards, three Peabody Awards, two Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards, and the Paul White Award from the Radio-Television News Directors Association. In 2009, Safer donated his papers to the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History at the University of Texas at Austin. Jeff Fager, executive producer of 60 Minutes, said "Morley has had a brilliant career as a reporter and as one of the most significant figures in CBS News history, on our broadcast and in many of our lives. Morley's curiosity, his sense of adventure and his superb writing, all made for exceptional work done by a remarkable man." He died a week after announcing his retirement from 60 Minutes.

Harold Gregory Moore Jr. (February 13, 1922 – February 10, 2017) was a United States Army lieutenant general and author. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the U.S. Army's second-highest decoration for valor, and was the first of his West Point class (1945) to be promoted to brigadier general, major general, and lieutenant general. Moore is remembered as the lieutenant colonel in command of the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, at the Battle of Ia Drang in 1965, during the Vietnam War. The battle was detailed in the 1992 bestseller We Were Soldiers Once… and Young, co-authored by Moore and made into the film We Were Soldiers in 2002, which starred Mel Gibson as Moore; Moore was the "honorary colonel" of the regiment. Moore was awarded the Order of Saint Maurice by the National Infantry Association as well as the Distinguished Graduate Award by the West Point Association of Graduates. Photo Credit: United States Military Academy

Joseph Lee Galloway (November 13, 1941 – August 18, 2021) was an American newspaper correspondent and columnist. During the Vietnam War, he often worked alongside the American troops he covered and was awarded a Bronze Star Medal in 1998 for having carried a badly wounded man to safety while he was under very heavy enemy fire in 1965. From 2013 until his death, he worked as a special consultant for the Vietnam War 50th anniversary Commemoration project run out of the Office of the Secretary of Defense and has also served as consultant to Ken Burns' production of a documentary history of the Vietnam War broadcast in the fall of 2017 by PBS. He was also the former Military Affairs consultant for the Knight-Ridder chain of newspapers and was a columnist with McClatchy Newspapers.

In 1994, Moore, Galloway and men who fought on both the American and North Vietnamese sides, traveled back to the remote jungle clearings where the battle took place. At the time the U.S. did not have diplomatic relations with Vietnam. The risky trip which took a year to arrange was part of an award-winning ABC News documentary, They Were Young and Brave produced by Terence Wrong. Photo Credit: ABC News

The award-winning ABC News documentary, "They Were Young and Brave" produced by Terence Wrong in 1994. Photo Credit: ABC News

Galloway later described Ia Drang as “the battle that convinced Ho Chi Minh he could win”.

We Were Soldiers is the Featured Film Blog of the month for July, as we remember the United States and its Revolutionary Day, and the American men wo were soldiers once, and young that made up that revolution. While we did not have the same success in Vietnam, fathers, brothers, husbands, and sons still fought for the ideal of freedom with some paying the ultimate price, all of them bearing any burden and attempting to oppose and survive any foe to assure the survival and success of liberty. Movies to History looks at the failure that wasn’t the Revoltionary War, but no less describes the heart of a nation in every generation of grueling war, no matter the outcome. You can expect to read a critique of the 2002 film, as well as a detailed explanation and significance of the Battle at Ia Drang Valley. You can also read a recommendation for the film that includes the very real soldiers that are dramatized in the film and fought alongside Lt. Col. Hal Moore at the Ia Drang Valley. There is also a review of the 1992 book that the film is based off of, We Were Soldiers Once… and Young by Lieutenant General (Ret.) Hal Moore and reporter Joseph L. Galloway. You can also watch the classic 1965 interview documentary in the CBS special report The Battle of Ia Drang Valley by Morley Safer where the battle at LZ X-Ray was documented. There is also a Top Ten List to commemorate the film being a Featured Film Blog of the month, and for We Were Soldiers, the topic of the list is My Top Ten Vietnam War Movies! And finally, as a Featured Blog of the month, you can watch the Official Trailer for the 2002 film and then plan on watching We Were Soldiers on Paramount+ with Showtime tonight!