11/14/11 Update: Please visit the Ia Drang Reading and Viewing List to access the updated list.

This week marks the 45th anniversary of the battles at Ia Drang—at Landing Zones (LZ) X-Ray and Albany.

CommandPosts.com is honored to have the opportunity to share original stories from, and about, those who served there:

Bud Alley was a communications officer for the 2^nd Battalion of the 7^th Cavalry, and fought at the LZ Albany battle of Ia Drang. He describes that day at LZ-Albany: “There was no front, sides or rear.”

Robert L. Barker, LTC (Ret, USA), commanded C Battery, 1-21FA, during the battles of Ia Drang. He describes their support of the 1-7th Cavalry and 2-7th Cavalry at LZ X-Ray and LZ Albany.

Jules Crittenden is a Boston Herald editor who has reported from South Asia, the Middle East and the Balkans, and who accompanied the 3^rd Infantry Division’s 4/64 Armor in the taking of Baghdad. He writes about John Eade’s bravery during the battle of LZ-Albany.

Robert  H. “Bob” Edwards, COL (Ret, USA) was the Commander of C Company, 1st Battalion 7th Cavalry, and fought at the LZ X-Ray battle of Ia Drang. What would he like people to know about the Ia Drang valley battle? “Plain and simple: The brave men who fought there.”

Nancy Edwards, Bob Edwards’ wife, thought he had been killed at Ia Drang. For a week she waited for news, mentally preparing for his funeral. She describes learning about the battle and the events that followed.

Larry Gwin was the XO (Executive Officer) or CO of Alpha Company, 2^nd Battalion, 7^th Cavalry, 1^st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) and fought at LZ X-Ray and LZ Albany. He describes the close air support at LZ Albany, November 17, 1965.

A special thank you to Joe Galloway, for providing the introductions that made this possible.

For more about the battles of Ia Drang and the men who fought there, visit:

Reports and Interviews

• “After Action Report, IA DRANG Valley Operation 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry 14-16 November 1965“
• “Ia Drang—Where Battlefield Losses Convinced Ho, Giap, and McNamara the U.S. Could Never Win,” by Joe Galloway, Vietnam Magazine
• “Vietnam Story,” by Joe Galloway, U.S. News & World Report
• “A Reporter’s Journal from Hell,” by Joe Galloway, Digital Journalist
• “Death in the Ia Drang Valley, November 13-18, 1965, by Private 1st Class Jack P. Smith,” Saturday Evening Post
• Ia Drang 1965, The War Times Journal
• “Rick Rescorla: Ia Drang Hero,” Vietnam Magazine

Video & Images

• Images from the Battle of Ia Drang, by Joe Galloway
• “The Battle of Ia Drang Valley,” CBS News Special Report, report by Morley Safer, with introduction from Walter Cronkite, and interviews with Maj. Charles Beckwith, Brig. Gen. Richard K. Knowles, Capt. Guy Kimsey, Gen. William C. Westmoreland, Col. William Lynch, and soldiers who fought at Ia Drang
• Bruce Crandall, Ed Freeman and Joe Galloway on the battle of LZ-X-Ray , U.S. Army
• Interview with Joe Galloway, Digital Journalist
• Ia Drang Veterans Panel, American Veterans Center, with Lt. Gen. Hal Moore, Lt. Col. George Forrest, Maj. Ed Freeman, Col. John Herren, Col. Tony Nadal, Lt. Col. Bruce Crandall, Specialist-4 Bill Beck, and Joe Galloway (transcript)
• “We are Soldiers Still: Lt. Gen. Hal Moore and Joe Galloway,” Pritzker Military Library
• “Larry Gwin: LZ Albany,” American Veterans Center
• “Joe Galloway and Hal Moore Meet,” American Veterans Center
• “Walter “Joe” Marm: LZ X-Ray,” American Veterans Center
• “Walter “Joe” Marm,” Pritzker Military Library “Medal of Honor with Ed Tracy”
• “Bruce Crandall,” Pritzker Military Library “Medal of Honor with Ed Tracy”
• “Voice of the Prophet,” an interview with Rick Rescorla, done with Robert H. “Bob” Edwards’ son Robert Edwards. Rescorla survived the battles of Ia Drang, and was killed in the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks, after first saving the lives of hundreds of Morgan Stanley employees.