Ia Drang Valley, Battle of the (1965)
Ia Drang Valley, Battle of the (1965). One of the most significant battles of the Vietnam War, the 14–16 November 1965 battle in the Ia Drang Valley in South Vietnam's central highlands between the U.S. Army's 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) and the 33rd and 66th Regiments of the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) marked a watershed change in the military strategies of both sides. For the NVA, it was a shift from reliance solely on Viet Cong guerrilla forces to the use of conventional military forces in order to achieve victory. For the United States, it marked the beginning of direct massive involvement in ground combat operations, as well as a test of the heliborne air mobility tactics that were to become the hallmark of the war.
Thwarting an NVA plan to cut South Vietnam in two by attacking eastward across the central highlands to the South China Sea, the 1st Cavalry Division's 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, made a heliborne combat assault directly into the enemy assembly area. Supported by massive air and artillery fires, including strikes by B‐52 bombers, the NVA were routed and forced to retreat back into their Cambodian sanctuaries. The victory was marred, however, by the ambush of the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry, by remnants of the NVA force as it withdrew from the battle area. Casualties totaled 234 killed in action during the landing zone X‐Ray and Albany actions.
[See also Guerrilla Warfare; Helicopters; Vietnam War: Military and Diplomatic Course.]
Thwarting an NVA plan to cut South Vietnam in two by attacking eastward across the central highlands to the South China Sea, the 1st Cavalry Division's 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, made a heliborne combat assault directly into the enemy assembly area. Supported by massive air and artillery fires, including strikes by B‐52 bombers, the NVA were routed and forced to retreat back into their Cambodian sanctuaries. The victory was marred, however, by the ambush of the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry, by remnants of the NVA force as it withdrew from the battle area. Casualties totaled 234 killed in action during the landing zone X‐Ray and Albany actions.
[See also Guerrilla Warfare; Helicopters; Vietnam War: Military and Diplomatic Course.]
Bibliography
Harry G. Summers, Jr. , The Bitter Triumph of the Ia Drang, American Heritage (February 1984).
Harold G. Moore and and Joseph L. Galloway , We Were Soldiers Once … And Young, 1992.
Harry G. Summers, Jr.
More From encyclopedia.com
William Childs Westmoreland , Westmoreland, William C.
William C. Westmoreland
U.S. Army general and member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; commander of the American troops in Vietn… Nguyen Cao Ky , Nguyen Cao Ky
Nguyen Cao Ky
Son Tay, Vietnam
South Vietnamese military officer and political
leader; premier of South Vietnam, 1965–67
Nguyen Cao Ky… Vo Nguyen Giap , Vo Nguyen Giap
Vo Nguyen Giap
Quang Binh Province, Vietnam
North Vietnamese military leader
General Vo Nguyen Giap was the leader of the North Vietna… Nguyen Van Thieu , Nguyen Van Thieu
Nguyen Van Thieu
Phan Rang, Vietnam
South Vietnamese military and political leader; president of the Republic of Vietnam, 1967–75
Ng… Creighton Williams Abrams , Creighton W. Abrams
An outstanding tank commander in the U.S. Army during World War II, General Creighton W. Abrams (1914-1974) continued to serve in… Vietnam War , More than fifty-eight thousand American soldiers and an estimated two million Vietnamese soldiers and civilians were killed in the Vietnam War (1954–…
About this article
Ia Drang Valley, Battle of the (1965)
You Might Also Like
NEARBY TERMS
Ia Drang Valley, Battle of the (1965)