In the first significant battle between American troops and the North Vietnamese, the momentous Ia Drang Valley Battle served as a catalyst to furthering U.S. involvement in Vietnam. We Were Soldiers Once...and Young gives the reader a rough and raw look at the realities of war, Vietnam, and the poignant battle between October 23 and November 26, 1965 of the Ia Drang Valley. With choppy sentences and lacking artful literature, men who were actually there could have only written this book. Authors, Harold Moore who commanded the 1st Battalion-7th Cavalry, and Joseph Galloway a reporter present throughout the battle's traumatic days, both combined extensive research, in-depth interviews and above all personal memories to write one hell of a chilly book.
             We Were Soldiers Once and Young highlights the advancement of tactical war fare, the prevailing use of helicopters and brings to play air mobile operations. Yet through tales of heroism, bravery, courage, and pure out insanity, Moore and Galloway compose pages upon pages of the United States finest weapon, America's dazzling young solders.
             Moore and Galloway set up the history of the conflict of Vietnam and the prelude to Ia Drang by articulating "American had not yet recovered from the shock of President Kennedy's assassination" (11). Vice President Johnson had triumphed over Republican opponent Goldwater and succeeded Kennedy as President. Perhaps a vehicle to Johnson's inflamed temper towards the conflict in Vietnam, February 6, 1965 the MACV were attacked by Viet Cong. Like a row of stacked dominoes, Johnson approved Operation Rolling Thunder and thirty-two days later U.S. Marines landed ashore at the outskirts of Vietnam. Thinking that the United States firm action and aggression would bring Hanoi to the negotiation table, Ho Chi Minh had nothing to say to the U.S. while his country was being bombed. Like an old ex-wife, Westmoreland began asking Johnson for more troo...