In fact, the contrary happened as the U.S. immediately made plans to escalate their involvement. Ia Drang Valley, Battle of the (1965). Captain Ramon "Tony" Nadal, 29, commanded Alpha Company.One of his platoons was quickly cut off by the enemy. The first major battle fought between US troops and the North Vietnamese was during the Pleiku Campaign in 1965, in the Ia Drang Valley. Even so, Ia Drang didn't have the effect of deterring further American participation. Fight at Ia Drang by John A. Battle of the Ia Drang Valley Tenets of Air Land Battle Analysis The battle of the Ia Drang Valley [IDV] was actually of series of engagements between the US 1st Cavalry Division and the B-3 Front, North Vietnamese Army from 18 OCT to 24 NOV 1965. The Battle of Ia Drang Valley. The battles of Ia Drang in November 1965, although costly to him in raw numbers of men, reinforced his confidence. IN NOVEMBER 1965, the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, led by Lieutenant Colonel Harold G. "Hal" Moore, dropped into the Ia Drang Valley and soon engaged the enemy. And, while by any standards the American performance there was heroic and tactical airmobility was proven, the cost of such “victories” was clearly unsustainable, even then. The three-day battle pitted about 450 U.S. troops against some 2,000 North Vietnamese Army soldiers. General Disclaimer - This is a private sector project developed by Crafted Knowledge.Although we enter into collaborative associations with many supporting organizations, this site is not owned or operated by any Government body. Senior U.S. military leaders declared the Battle of the Ia Drang Valley an American victory. The battle was later dramatized in the film We Were Soldiers. 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.

3 Up to the fall of 1965 the fighting by U.S. troops in Vietnam had been characterized, for the most part, by hit-and-run counterinsurgency operations against Viet Cong irregulars. Cash. Walter Marm. more. On February 26, 2007, Crandall received the Medal of Honor. The heavy casualties suffered in Ia Drang shocked the public opinion and the high command alike. The Battle of Ia Drang was the first major military operation of the United States in the Vietnam War. Many considered it to be the US Army's 1st battle in Vietnam. One of the American commanders who fought in the battle, which was the first in which high casualties figures of dead and wounded Americans occurred, was stunned by the tactics employed by the North Vietnamese. Even in the eyes of the war’s chief architect. Major Bruce Crandall made over 20 flights into intense enemy fire during a battle in the Ia Drang Valley, South Vietnam, in November 1965, evacuating 70 wounded and delivering ammunition.

Hear Bruce's Story.