''We Were Soldiers Once...and Young: la Drang - The Battle That Changed the War in Vietnam'' is a

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

book by Lt. Gen. Harold G. Moore (Ret.) and war journalist Joseph L. Galloway about the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. It focuses on the role of the First and Second

Battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

s of the

7th Cavalry Regiment The 7th Cavalry Regiment is a United States Army cavalry regiment formed in 1866. Its official nickname is "Garryowen", after the Irish air " Garryowen" that was adopted as its march tune. The regiment participated in some of the largest ba ...

in the Battle of the Ia Drang Valley, the United States's first large-unit battle of the Vietnam War; previous engagements involved small units and patrols (

squad In military terminology, a squad is among the smallest of Military organization, military organizations and is led by a non-commissioned officer. NATO and United States, U.S. doctrine define a squad as an organization "larger than a fireteam, ...

platoon A platoon is a Military organization, military unit typically composed of two to four squads, Section (military unit), sections, or patrols. Platoon organization varies depending on the country and the Military branch, branch, but a platoon can ...

, and

company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether Natural person, natural, Juridical person, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members ...

sized units). It was adapted into the

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

film ''

We Were Soldiers ''We Were Soldiers'' is a 2002 American war film written and directed by Randall Wallace and starring Mel Gibson. Based on the book '' We Were Soldiers Once… and Young'' (1992) by Lieutenant General (Ret.) Hal Moore and reporter Joseph L. ...

''. The cover features Lt.

Rick Rescorla Richard Cyril Rescorla (May 27, 1939 – September 11, 2001) was a British-American soldier, police officer, educator and private security specialist. He served as a British Army paratrooper during the Cyprus Emergency and a commissioned officer ...

, a British-American Vietnam War veteran who served for both countries during the war. Rescorla was uncomfortable about being portrayed as a war hero and chose not to read it when he saw that its cover featured a combat photograph of him. When he learned that the book was being made into a film starring

Mel Gibson Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson (born January 3, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. The recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Mel Gibson, multiple accolades, he is known for directing historical films as well for his act ...

, he told his wife Susan that he had no intention of seeing it, as he felt uncomfortable with anything that portrayed him or other survivors as war heroes, commenting, "The real heroes are dead." Rescorla later served as the director of security for

Morgan Stanley Morgan Stanley is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered at 1585 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. With offices in 42 countries and more than 80,000 employees, the firm's clients in ...

and is credited with saving nearly 2,700 lives during the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

, dying in the process.

Reception

The book was a ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' best-seller.

David Halberstam David Halberstam (April 10, 1934 April 23, 2007) was an American writer, journalist, and historian, known for his work on the Vietnam War, politics, history, the Civil Rights Movement, business, media, American culture, Korean War, and late ...

called it, "A stunning achievement—paper and words with the permanence of marble. I read it and thought of ''

The Red Badge of Courage ''The Red Badge of Courage'' is an 1895 war novel by American author Stephen Crane. The novel was published on 3 October 1895. Taking place during the American Civil War, the story is about a young private of the Union Army, Henry Fleming ...

'', the highest compliment I can think of." General H. Norman Schwarzkopf said, "''We Were Soldiers Once...and Young'' is a great book of military history, written the way military history should be written." Since at least 1993, the book has been on the Marine Corps Commandant's Reading List for Career Level Enlisted.

Editions

* * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:We Were Soldiers Once... And Young 1992 non-fiction books Vietnam War books Battle of Ia Drang Non-fiction books adapted into films Cengage books Random House books Non-fiction books about the United States Army

Reception

Further reading

Editions

References