Finally after three days of intense fighting the 1rst Division 7th cavalry was being airlifted out of X-ray. The total body count for Americans was 79 and 121 wounded with none missing. Moore estimated that the enemy dead was 634 with an additional 1,215 killed by artillery and air attacks. They were transported to landing zone Falcon and then to Camp Holloway.
             The battle was far from over though. The 2nd battalion 7th cavalry that had helped secure landing zone X-Ray was to march to landing zone Albany. B-52 bombers were already in the air to strike the Chu Pong Massif and they had to be in a 2-mile safety zone. No one told them that they would have to fight their way to the landing zone. The 2nd battalion 5th cavalry was to march to LZ Crooks.
             The 2nd battalion 7th cavalry was heavily attacked as soon as they reached a small clearing just before LZ Albany. The two platoons were surrounded and chopped up before they knew what was happening. The 2nd battalion 5th cavalry was sent in to help, but were too far away to really help. Most of the heaviest fighting occurred in the first hour. Even the battle weary remnants from Bravo company 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry from LZ X-Ray were dropped in to help the 2nd Battalion 7th Cavalry.
             In the end, 305 Americans were killed in the 34-day Ia Drang campaign. 3,561 North Vietnamese were estimated killed. That was a kill ratio of 12-1. After these battles the U.S. realized that the North Vietnamese were more than matching America's build-up in Vietnam and we had two choices pull out now or dramatically increase the number of U.S. troops in Vietnam. They choose the later.
             I really liked the book. I saw the movie first and that was why I choose the book. The book went into a lot more detail on the actual troop movements and first hand accounts that the movie couldn't do without boring most people. It also went into aspects that the movie didn't even tak...