1 They're not talking about responsiblity or accountability either. World events go by without a mention. I asked my 14 yr old what her history teacher said about the Iraq elections, "not a word" she told me. Supplemental education is in order. "There are those who will serve, because there have been those who have served." We'll teach them about duty, honor and the price of freedom.

2 This discouragement of enlistment by academia is the last ditch stand of the "Progressive" world view, better known as "Better Red than Dead." They denigrate military service and the National spirit in one last grab for the respect they used to get before the flatulant error of their world view became obvious.

3 Perhaps people are not volunteering for military service due to their skepticism at how it is being used.

4 That doesn't justify the reasoning for 'counter-recruitment'. The need for a strong military goes beyond this particular conflict. We can either maintain through volunteers or a draft. Which do you prefer?

5 First off, thank you for doing your part in service to the nation. Thanks to your husband, of course, as well, but he's not doing the blogging! I'm a conservative high school math teacher in California, and I've addressed the "counter-recruitment" issue on my blog at http://rightontheleftcoast.blogspot.com/2005/03/teaching-disrespect-for-military.html The good news is that there are still young people ready and willing to serve. Read Austin (the student)'s comment on this post: http://rightontheleftcoast.blogspot.com/2005/03/operation-enduring-reality.html Again, thank you for what you do.

1 Sarah: I've enjoyed reading your blog these past few months. I am so glad that your husband made it back safe and sound. You have every reason to be proud of him and all the others like him. It is people like you two that make me proud to be an American. Regards (fron The Heart Of Dixie) Sam

2 I remember Tim's letter to you - and crying. This is just as touching......maybe more so as I've been reading you the entire time and have laughed and/or cried for/with you every day. I'm just so happy you will have him home with you so very soon! Today! Today! IT'S TODAY!!

3 I was already getting teary eyed at "Dear CaliValleyGirl". Thanks so much for thinking about me right now, when your mind is surely on much more exciting things. I can't help but think about you too. I am so excited for you! And in a bizarre way, I am also excited for me too. Although I look forward to the anticipation of greeting him back in a year, I also look forward to all the experiences this year will bring. Thanks for all the support you have offered me, and I wish you all the best for the reunion that you have been dreaming about for a year!

4 Everyone else has said it, I remember this letter too. And I can't tell you how happy I am for you both.

5 Sarah, I'm so so so happy for you and Russ! It's been a joy (and many times, a comfort) to read your blog over this past year (+). Enjoy.

6 I love the picture and I very much enjoyed what you wrote in this post. Your husband has done the Iraqis and us a great service, and you have to by being so supportive. Thank you. Your family reminds me of how proud I am to be an American, and how appreciative I am that there are many families like yours.

1 Don't confuse debate with facts.

2 hey mrs.grok First of all congrats to you and your husbands service to our great country!Secondly as a veteran,a private schooled educated upper middle class white male american (I'm 34 years old not some old fogey)the question is really why are there not more people serving in the armed forces rather than our urban inner city youth and samall town country boys.I was in the us navy 1990-1993 thee middle class isn't pulling their weight in my opinion about serving in's country during a time of war>That's just my honest opinion.

1 Red 6 is right. As is SDB. My stuff is in a box in the attic. I helped Birdie's lovely bride move into an apartment near us last weekend. His are stashed away somewhere, too. Makes me proud!

1 Sarah, my profoundest gratitude for a most excellent post. We will add SFC. Salie to our Roll of Honour. And also, I was under the false impression that Joe Galloway was dead. He is a journalist that I have wanted to get in contact with, thank you most profoundly. Your husband is very lucky to have you, as I am sure he knows. Later on, Darling Girl.

2 To put Joe Galloway Lier,Plagerist, name with Hornrable Journalist is a travisty. Joe Galloway never saved Jimmy. Joe "Jimmy wase wearing Nylon combat Boots", the 1st Cavlavry was never issued this item when we deployed to vietnam in 1965. I bought a copy of Requiem just before Christmas here in Australia and, after looking through it, feel that it is a wonderful tribute to all of the photographers who lost their lives in Viet Nam and Cambodia. It brought back a lot of memories to see some familiar names like Kate Webb, Al Kaff, Hugh Van Es, Joe Galloway, Bob Carroll and others in the list of Acknowledgements. I think that Horst Faas and Tim Page have put together a very moving memorial to a brave group of photographers. Regards, Sue Troath -- Sue Troath (sue.troath@tip.csiro.au), February 23, 1998. Return to Hollywood: We Were Soldiers Once -- But in Which War? We Were Soldiers (#7789) by Russell L. Ross on January 30, 2003 at 2:24 PM Reviewer: Russell L. Ross lzalbany65@aol.com from San Jose, CA Fiction We Were Soldiers Once and Young X-Ray part. page references are from the hardback. FICTION: Fabarication applies particulary to a false but carefully invented statement or a series of statements, in which some truth is sometimes interwoven, the whole usually intended to deceive. The Greatest Hero "People everywhere are smitten- With a tale that is written. Once a hero's deeds are known- They're as good as etched in stone. Every word, folks take to heart- And think this makes them very smart. Amazing how the very wise- Never stop to realize- That what they read may not be true. Groo Moral: Even when the words are true the may not speak the truth Groo Can you make Col. Klink ( Moore ) and Rambo the Reporter (Galloway ) into hero's pages from the hardback Lt. Col. Moore was the Col. Klink of the war? He knew nothing, nothing Page 17 Moore's new concepts & techniques were written in the 1950's FM 57-35 Army Transport Avation-Combat Operations, 1963 FM 57-35 Airmobile Operations. by Officers he worked with? in 1957. Moore in 1957 "I was in on the concept of Airmobility with Gavin, Norton, Seneff Williams". With 2 1/2 years writing, 1 1/2 years training in Airmobile tatics in the 11Air Assault Division Test, for a total of 4 years and yet he retained nothing about Airmobile tatics. Page 37 Crandall "Moore wanted Aviation present, to be part of his Staff". Moore, Crandall or his ALO had to coordinate the flight time from Plei Me to X-Ray, flight routes, fire support, resuppy, Medevac Huey. Moore couldnt plan the operation with out Crandall ( aviation ) present. Page 60 As Crandall flared the huey to land at Landing Zone X-Ray Moore & his troops starts firing their weapons. FM 57-35 There is no firing from the helicopter during flight, landing or any other time. Pity the troop to their right a face full of hot brass, left ear drums ringing, brass on floor or getting caught in the Huey's controls Moore who had been listening to the battle of Landing Zone Albany on the radio voluntered for the 1st Battalion 7th Cavalry to go to Columbus to guard the artillary, So the 2nd Battalion 5th Cavalry could go and reinforce ALBANY. MYTHS of The Ia Drang Valley Some Officers even Kinnard stated that Moore voluntered to go into ALBANY but he didnÂ’t. and from Persons in the book That Moore and Galloway write good about give in return and adds to the MYTHS about the 1/7 and Moore. One Reporter Bob Poos of Soldier of Fortune writes that Moore and the 1st Battalion 7th Cavalry was the ones who relived the Plie me camp, Soldier of Fortune March 83 page 29-30 ARVN AMBUSH 3rd column last 2 paragraphs. Plie Me did get relief- with a vengeance- from the 1st Cavalry Division. Through a strange coincidance, the camp commander, Capt Harold Moore, Learned later that much of the relief force was commanded by a name sake, Lt. Col. Harold Moore commander of the 1st Battalion 7th Cavalry. When in fact it was my old unit the 2nd Battalion 8th Cavalry. Capt George Forrest when he spoke to the Old Guard said Lt. Col. Moore was there in the 11AAD in 1963. So starts the myths about Lt. Col. Moore and the 1st Battalion 7th Cavalry. Moore idea would cost time becouse the 1st Battalion 7th Cavalry would have to be to Columbus 4 hours, Then the 2nd Battalion 5th Cavalry would have to be flown to Albany another 4 hours. 8 hours to renforce Albany? So why didnÂ’t Kinnard send the 1st Battalion 7th Cavalry to reinforce ALBANY? They were probally to drunk? they had spent the day of the 17 in the Bars of Pleiku The most outrageous LIE Page 287 At Landing Zone Albany. There on the dying enemy soldier something shiny. A big battered old French army Bugle. FACT: This Bugle was captured at Landing Zone X-Ray and brought into Landing Zone Albany by the reinforcements. Leadership Principle 1 Be Technically and Tactically Proficent To know you job thoroughly, you must posses not only specific knowledge of its details but also a broad general knowledge concerning its area of intrest. you should be competent in combat operations and training as well as in the technical and admimistrative aspects of your duties. If you demonstrate deficincies in these functions,your subordinates will lose confidance in you as a leader. Moore is under the delusion he has come up with a new Air Assault tatic for the 1st lift would doom his men. for the want of a nail, The 2nd Battalion 7th Cavalry. As the Battle of Landing Zone X-Ray would grind up, The Troops, Helicopters and Artillary. Making them unavalible for other units. Leading to the walk to Landing Zone Albany by the 2/7. What happend. It would appear Moore would be the first one chosen by Kinnard for the 11 AIr Assault test, When it started up in 1963 but he wasnt. He had To write a letter to Major General Kinnard ( His Old Boss ) begging for a Infantry Battalion in the 11 air Assault Division. It wasent till 1964, 1 year after it started he got the call. He didnt get one with the 11 Air Assault but instead was given a Infantry Battalion in the 2 infantry Division. The 2nd Battalion 23rd Infantry. Moore Had never commanded a Infantry Battalion before. But one of the hand picked officers by Kinnard in 1963 was Lt. Col McDade, He was chosen for the G-1 spot, He would be given command of the 2nd Battilion 7th Cavalry around November 7,1965 aproximately 10 days before the battle of Landing Zone Albany. McDade Had never Commanded a Infantry Battalion before. THERE WAS ANOTHER FACTOR, MOORE AND MCDADE WERE HAVING A POWER STRUGGLE. Keep abreast of current military devolopements. Moore "I thought up a new technique for the inital lift." There are only two types of Air assaults. Moore under the delusion he had come up with a new technique. The ground Commander ( Moore ) must concider two general types of Airmobile assault when preparing the ground tatical plan. These types of assaults differ primarily in the proximity of the LZ to the assault objective The first and preferred type is the landing of the assault ehelons immediately on, or adjacent to, the objective The secound type of assault involves landing a distance from the objective in a secure LZ, and requires assembly, reorganization, and movement to an attack position prior to the assault on the objective. Some simulare characteristics of Moore and Custer. When no one wrote about them, They wrote their own Books. Both were considered too Flamboyent, by fellow officers. And not well liked. George Armstrong Custer ( His men called him yellow hair ) Commander of the 1st Battalion 7th Cavalry at the battle of the Little Bighorn. The Indians would wipe the 1st Battalion 7th Cavalry out to a man. Starting the Indian wars, The UNITED STATES would unite and almost wipe out all the Indians taking their lands and putting them on Reservations LT.Col. Harold G. Moore ( His men called him yellow hair ) Commander 1st Battalion 7th Cavalry at the battle of Landing Zone X-Ray November the 14,1965 Pleiku Provance of South Vietnam. Moore's men with help from the reinforcement's ( Bco 2/7 ) saves Landing Zone X-RAY. Starting the Vietnam war. Which almost tears the United States apart. Both Battles ( The Little Bighorn ) and ( Landing Zone X-Ray ) were fought by the 1st Battalion 7th Cavalry. On a Sunday, In a Valley, By a River, In tall Grass and near a Large Mountian or Hill top. Both Commanders were told the size of the enemy troops. By their Scouts. But didnt belive them. Scout to Custer "There is a very very large Indian camp down there." Custer "Where I dont see any camp" Intelligence Lieutenant to Col. Moore "There is the possibiy of a PAVN Regiment near the Chu Pong mountain. Moore that didn't really bother me. Both the Commanders wanted to force the Enemy to stand and fight. As the enemy's tatics were hit and run. Custer in the lead charges into the valley his troops behind. to cut off the Indians, So they couldn't escape on to the plains. Moore in the lead Huey charges in to the Valley his troop behind would be the first one on Landing Zone X-Ray, hopeing the North Vietnamese or the Viet Cong wouldn't excape in to the mountians and into Cambodia. Both would get their wish. The Indians and North Vietnamese would send 1,000 or more men out to meet the 1st Battalion 7th Cavalry. The Commanders then realized that the size of the enemy forces was true. their scouts were right They were out numbered. Both battles were defensive. After the initial charge by the 1st Battalion 7th Cavalry They would pull back, Circle the wagons and let the enemy throw them selves at their defense's. Custer didn't have renforcements, It would take weeks to get them, His supplies were miles behind him. The 1st Battalion 7th Cavalry was wiped out to the man. Moore didnt have that problem "I had something Custer didn't, Reinforcements with in Hours. Moore forgot to lay on supplies and water for his troops. Moore's Men with the help of the Reinforcements ( Bco 2/7 ) save Landing Zone X-Ray. starting the Vietrnam War.It would almost destroy the United States. The Troops FOUGHT VALIANTLY. What happend to Moore's H-hour. Moore Get's his H- hour confused with the Attack time in the mission order. H-hour in air assault terms is difined as the time the lead helicopter touches down on the Landing Zone. Moore puts the H-hour at H-1030. He then gets word the Artillary cant fire until H-1017. H-hour get delayed. 1 incremint? ( usually 15 minutes ). So that should make H-hour, H- 1045. But Moore ( who is in the lead Huey ) dosent set foot on LZ X- Ray until H-1048, 3 minutes late. Lt. Col. Moore and Joseph L. Galloway's part.( the enlisted mens,Officers, Junior Officers and the 2/5, Bco 2/7 and 2/7 Battalion stories cannot be disputed.) Moore couldnt READ a MAP? Page 30 November 9, 1965 Moore "What does the RED STAR that is on the intelligence map mean?" The Red Star is not a military symbol its explanation should have been on the lower right side ( margin ) of the map. Moore " I had no doubt the 1/7 my Battalion would be chosen to mount the attack into the Ia Drang as the 2/7 had a new commander. Fact!! " the 1/7 was closer to the objective then the 2/7 " and had nothing to do with the readiness of the Battalions. (Gen.John J Tolson). Page 17 Moore's new concepts & techniques were written in the 1950's FM 57-35 Army Transport Avation- Combat Operations.1960's FM 57-35 Airmobile Operations. By Officers he worked with? Page 17 1957 Moore "I was in on the concept of Airmobility with Pentagon Reasearch and developement group. Moore "I was the 1st man in the Airborne Branch". 4 years writing and training in Airmobile tatics. Yet Moore retained nothing about Airmobile tatics. Page 41 Moore "I thought up a new technique for the inital lift". There are only 2 types of Air assaults This is the 2 one. Page 37 Crandall "Moore wanted Aviation to be present, to be part of his Staff" FM 57-35>Both the Ground Commander ( Moore ) and Aviation Commander ( Crandall ) or his ALO had to coordinate>flight time from Plei Me to X-Ray, flight routes,resuppy. Moore couldnt plan the operation with out Avation present. FM 57-35 Key personnel are distributed among the aircraft of the lift so the loss of one aircraft does not destroy the command structure. Page 58 Moore and Crandall in the same Huey. Page 59 The lift is flying at 110 knots. FM 57-35 When diffrent types of aircraft fly in a single lift, cruising speed of the slower aircraft must be the controlling speed of the lift. UH-1B's are Gunships fly at 80 knots UH-1D's are Slicks 110 knots. I ask Bco's 1/7 3rd Platoon Leader Dennis Deal, why didnt Moore lay on water for his men ( B co would be on the LZ for over 4 hours ) and why he said it was not the Aviations job to haul out Wounded Troops? B co's 1/7 3rd Platoon Leader Dennis Deal "dont ask me I knew nothing about Airmobile tatics." Page 106 Moore we needed water, medical supplies and ammo. Page 107 Bco 1/7 3rd Platoon Leader Dennis Deal by 3pm we ran out of water, the wounded kept begging for water. Page 145 November 15, 1965 at 6:20am Jemison shared his last drops of water. Page 112 November 14, 1965 While all day long the Battalion Supply Officer was riding in and out of X-Ray & Galloway came. 240# of water, medical, ammo not coming in, 1 Wounded troop not going out. Page 106 Moore "hauling Wounded was not the slick crews job" ( Aviation ) FM 7-20 the Battalion Commanders hanbook, Hauling wounded is the secoundary mission of all military aircraft. Page 63 Moore used his command Huey to haul out a non wounded POW. Page 167 but none his wounded troops, Lt Franklin terribly wounded was set aside to die. FM 1-100 Army Aviation The Command and Control Huey is to be used for Command and Control ONLY it shouldnt be used for anyother purpose, like RESUPPLY. . a Medevac Huey was suppose to fly with the assault echelon ( 1st Lift ) Page 105 a wounded troop was stumbling toward the aid station, Galloway " stay away go back" what was this 17 year old's thoughts 50 feet from the aid station and treatment and told to stay away? FM 57-35 page 12 paragraph 24 supply 6 miscellaneous. a. probable water supply points are predesingnated. and comes in with the fowllowing echelon. FM 7-20 page 271 paragraph 313 returning aircraft may be used for the evacuation of casualities. Galloway had no military service. COMMAND RESPONSIBILITY no one expects the battalion commander to act as a rifleman no matter how proficient he is. As he does so. who commands his battalion? Who gives guidance to his Company Commanders, he is taking responsibility away from his men and not meeting his own. Page 34 Moore "I went to school on the Division Commander, authority must be pushed down to the man on the spot. Page 40 Moore "I personally to influence the action would be in the 1st Huey to land on X-Ray." Page 60 Moore leading his command group clear a sector of X-Ray, on the way back to the LZ, meet the troops who were suppose to clear that sector. Page 73 Moore "I was tempted to join A co or C co's company's men" Page 108 Moore "My operations Officer`& the Avaition Liason Officer had controlled all flights into X-Ray, I then took control, every Huey coming to X-Ray must radio me for landing instructions. Page 109 Crandall Moore was now a signalman at the far end of the LZ was standing up, directing us where to land. Page 109 The Brigade Commander had given Moore pathfinders. Page 195 Moore "I personally lead the final counterattack to make certian that the Company Commander of Bco 2/7 & his men did a safe, clean, job & to look for my Missing Troops. Moore didnt bring in his execuitive Officer( 2nd in command ) to help run the battalion command post. Page 39 Moore "we had never maneuvered in combat as a battalion" Page 28 Moore the Battalion made 2 sweeps near An Khe. Page 31 nov 9 Moore "We shuttled the Battalion in 16 Hueys" Page 32 nov 9 Galloway "My first time out with Moores 1/7 Battalion" Original story Solider of Fortune November 83 Page 25 Nov 9 Galloway "before nitefall Moore waved his battalion across a stream" Each Huey could carry 10 Troops. 10 troops X 16 Hueys=160 Troops per lift. Page 30 a enemy base camp Page 55 a radio transmision intercepted, estamated a N V regiment was near X-Ray Page 57 commo wire was seen. Page 39 Moore puts only 80 men (5 per Huey) in the inital lift. Page 57 riflemen extra ammo all they could carry. Air Assault tatics emphasize maximum inital lift, to get maximum lift each huey carries minimum amount of fuel + 30 min reserve, with refueling & ammo Points near the Pickup Zone. Troops only basic load of ammo and web gear (intrenching tool, 2 canteens, bayonet and poncho and 1st aid pack ) Page 40 Moore "later lifts could carry more men 100 as fuel burned off". Page 198 Rear area Operation Officer Dick Merchant "the Huey could carry 10 men" Page 111 Winkle"I had a total of 16 men in my Huey". Fourner "it was left up to each pilot how many men he carried" on later lifts I was carring 9-12 troops. How it should have happend according to Air Assault Tatics FM 57-35 With only 16 Hueys weight is a factor, so the inital lift ( the assault echelon ) must contain sufficant Troops to secure the Landing Zone. The Alowable Cargo Load the ( ACL ) of each UH-1D for this mission should have been 3,000 pounds as its under 50 nautical miles ( only 14.3 miles to the objective ) using the Space method a space is defined as the weight of a fully combat equiped troop ( 240 pounds ) 10 Troops = 2,400 pounds per Huey. Page 39 B co 114 troops, A co 40 troops, Ground Commanders command group 6 for a total of 160 troops in the 1st lift. Moore was a Pilot? Page 58 Crandall ( The Aviation Commander ) is starting the Huey from the left seat the co-pilot seat, There is no starter on that side. Page 58 Moore as they load the Hueys "what is the flying time from Plei Me to Landing Zone X-Ray"? 14.3 miles. Page 37 Moore and Crandall plan an Air Assault. Page 40 with a time table & failed to put down the flying time from Plei Me to Landing Zone X- Ray, with out this information, How did they plan the Assault??? Page 58 Mills 13 min 15 sec. Page 59 Speed ( rate ) 110 knots this time will take them 25 miles away. The correct time is 8 min. Formula for Time is Distance X 60 divide by Rate ( Speed ) 14.3 X 60 = 858 divide by 110 = 7.8 min = 8 min time is rounded up to the nearest min. Formula for Distance is rate ( Speed ) X time divided by 60 110 X 8 = 880 divide by 60 = 14.6miles = 15miles miles is rounded up to the nearest 1/2 mile. using 7.8 min for time for the distance 110 X 7.8 = 858 divide by 60 = 14.3 miles The distance from Plei Me to Landing Zone X-Ray. Page 188 A blazing flare under an unopened parachute hit the ammo dump, the Sgt.Major grabbed it with his bare hands, it burns at 4,000 degrees, it needs the parachute to lite the candle. Letter from Randy Wallace, the Screenwriter and Director, about the film: The Wheelhouse 15464 Ventura Boulevard Sherman Oaks, CA 91403-3002 Randall Wallace 7 February 2001 To all men who fought in the Ia Drang Valley, November 1965, and their families. Gentlemen, As many of you have already heard, we are preparing to make a film version of Hal Moore and Joe Galloway's book WE WERE SOLDIERS ONCE...AND YOUNG. As you can imagine, this is an enormously ambitious undertaking. As the prologue of Hal and Joe's landmark book states, "Hollywood has gotten the story of the Vietnam veteran wrong every damn time, whetting the knives of twisted politics on the bones of our dead brothers." Well this time we mean to get it right. This is not to say that any of us making the film are unconcerned with accuracy. The Disclamer> ( It is not meant to tell the story ) of each individual, ( or to capture the same kind of truth ) a documentary would. I salute you. Best regards, Randall Wallace 1st Cavalry Division as the Division Commander Kinnard had to use the whole of the division resorces to keep Lt. Col. Moore from losing Landing Zone X-Ray. Kinnard "I violated a lot of priniples about how hard you work your guy's and how many hour's you fly your helicopters." "I literally flew the Blades off the choppers." Things wrong with the trailer Why is Moore shown stepping out of the Huey on the right side at X-Ray? When he was on the left behind Crandall, who was in the co-pilots seat. Page 58 hardback, Page 67 paperback Moore as they land at X-Ray. as Crandall flared the Huey to land I FIRED burst into the brush to the LEFT, toward the mountian. page 60 hardback, page 69 paperback Why are there 5 Hueys flying in the formation, when there is supposed to be only 4, in the over head shot there are 6 Hueys. As they land at X-Ray they are in some type of formation that dosent exist. Page 59 Hardback, Page 68 paperback The Hueys as they fly to X-Ray are suppose to be in a Heavy left formation, But they are eather in a column, trail formation> http://www.biggolddog.com/photos.htm The photographs offered are from the personal collection of Joe Galloway ( Rambo the Reporter ) and were taken at LZ X-Ray during and after the action in the Ia Drang Valley, November 14-16, 1965. The images reflect the savagery of the combat, a feel for the emotions of the soldiers involved and a sense for the terrain in which the battle was fought. The photographs have never before been published and most have been seen only by a handful of participants in the action. ( Actually some pictures have been published and seen by over 26 million people ) These images will help put a real face on the people, places and events in the upcoming movie, "We Were Soldiers Once...And Young", starring Mel Gibson. A film based on the book of the same name by Lt. Gen. Hal Mooore and Joe. Ia Drang Scholarship Fund.... As a lasting tribute to the men of the 1st of the 7th Cavalry who gave so much in the Ia Drang, a permanent scholarship fund was established for the children and grandchildren of those who died in action in this heroic event. To honor that commitment, 10% of the purchase price of every Joe Galloway at the Ia Drang photo will be donated to the fund. Stories Part Fiction he embelished for them. U.S. NEWS and World Report Oct 29,1990 Pg 32 Fatal Victory Pg 36 Vietnam Story. ARTICLES Galloway Plagarized. U.S. News and World Report Oct 25, 93 Page 45 Step by Step into a Quagmire SOURCE: Stanley Karnows Vietnam a History Pages 479-485. U.S. News and World Report Feb 4,1991 Page 49 "Who's Afraid of the truth" SOURCE: Soldier of Fortune Dec 84 Pg 104 (Press ) by Fred Tucker. ( TUCKERS GORRILLAS ). In the movie Gibson portray Galloway as a Reporter who pick's up a weapon only to protect the wounded. BUT!!! Galloway was the most heavely armed Reporter in Vietnam. Page 32 Joseph L. Galloway Had wrangled a ride in to the Plie Me camp while it was under siege, and becouse of the shortages of fighters found him self assigned to a .30 cal light machine gun. With two other reporters After the battle was over Major Charles Beckwith hands Galloway an M-16 rifle, Galloway told Beckwith, Strictly speaking, under the Geneva Convention he was "A civilian noncombatant." As you see there is no logic. Galloway has just spent 3 days maning a .30 cal machine gun killing PAVN troops and after the battle is over decides he is a civilian noncombatant? The question is why didnt Galloway join the service? He was always to busy playing Soldier instead of being a Reporter. He wanted to be at any battle he could get to, to record it, But when he get's there at the battle. He start's to play Soldier. You cant write or record History, While you busy playing soldier. Of all the reporters in Vietnam, Galloway was the most danegerous to the Americian troops, in His Walter Mitty and Rambo persona. He had no idea what the soldier's job was, He as a reporter and could do what he wanted and go where he wanted to at any time. Joseph L. Galloway( Rambo the Reporter ) ROAMED all over VIETNAM, Killing as he pleased. Page 35 November 13,1965 Galloway hitched a ride from Pleiku to Catecha the 3 Brigade headquaters Galloway " I dug a foxhole out on the perimeter with B company 1/7, Under one of those $50.00 tea bushes, set out some spare! magazines ( M-16 ). Galloway playing Soldier, It would have been better if he said I set out some spare film rolls. to record events, his mind set is playing soldier. Page 32 Galloway writes: " At first lite I pinched of a small piece of C-4 explosive from the emergency supply in my pack and used it to boil up a canteen cup of water for coffee. Walter Mitty part: If you lit C-4 very carefully you could be drinking hot coffee in maybe 30 secounds. If you were careless it blew your arm off. If Galloway was so eager to receive the Bronze Star, Then he should be ready to pay the price for violating the UCMJ. Conspiring to take a $500,000 Helicopter and receiving Military equipement, 1 M16 Rifle, 1 Carl Gustaf, I had to sign for all my equipement as all soldiers did and had to turn it in when I left, Who did Galloway leave the M-16 with, Does he have papers saying he turned it in? The same with the Carl Gustaf, Where did he get it? Did he buy it, Pick it up on the Battlefield? Did he sell it when he left? If he turned it in, Does he have the paper work to show it? Galloway conspired with a friend ( A Huey Pilot )into flying into Plei Me camp. There were orders for all aircraft to stay out of the area, The friend went AWOL, He and Galloway took the Huey and flew into Plei Me, Beckwith needed, medical, and ammo. At Plei Me Major Charles Beckwith had put Galloway and 2 other Reporters on a machinegun. and had given Galloway an M-16 Rifle. MYTH's: Page 156- 157 Vincent Cantu and Galloway meet during fierce attack on D and C company's. Galloway was taking pictures. Vincent Cantu braved the fire and sprinted to where Galloway was. TRUTH: Soldier of Fortune Sept 83 Page 28 Galloway writes "During a ( LULL!!)." I met Vincent Cantu this was before the(skyhawk) naplmed the Command post. MYTH's: Page 35 Galloway The plantation billed the U.S. $50 for each tea bush and $250 for each rubber tree. TRUTH: Soldier of Fortune Sept 83 Page 25 Galloway They billed U.S.$25 for each tea bush $125 for each rubber tree. Galloway only left the saftey of the Command Post During " LULL's " in the Battle, As soon as the firing started up, He would headed right back to the Command post, HReviewer: Russell L. Ross lzalbany65@aol.com from San Jose, CA Fiction We Were Soldiers Once and Young X-Ray part. page references are from the hardback. FICTION: Fabarication applies particulary to a false but carefully invented statement or a series of statements, in which some truth is sometimes interwoven, the whole usually intended to deceive. The Greatest Hero "People everywhere are smitten- With a tale that is written. Once a hero's deeds are known- They're as good as etched in stone. Every word, folks take to heart- And think this makes them very smart. Amazing how the very wise- Never stop to realize- That what they read may not be true. Groo Moral: Even when the words are true the may not speak the truth Groo Can you make Col. Klink ( Moore ) and Rambo the Reporter (Galloway ) into hero's pages from the hardback Lt. Col. Moore was the Col. Klink of the war? He knew nothing, nothing Page 17 Moore's new concepts & techniques were written in the 1950's FM 57-35 Army Transport Avation-Combat Operations, 1963 FM 57-35 Airmobile Operations. by Officers he worked with? in 1957. Moore in 1957 "I was in on the concept of Airmobility with Gavin, Norton, Seneff Williams". With 2 1/2 years writing, 1 1/2 years training in Airmobile tatics in the 11Air Assault Division Test, for a total of 4 years and yet he retained nothing about Airmobile tatics. Page 37 Crandall "Moore wanted Aviation present, to be part of his Staff". Moore, Crandall or his ALO had to coordinate the flight time from Plei Me to X-Ray, flight routes, fire support, resuppy, Medevac Huey. Moore couldnt plan the operation with out Crandall ( aviation ) present. Page 60 As Crandall flared the huey to land at Landing Zone X-Ray Moore & his troops starts firing their weapons. FM 57-35 There is no firing from the helicopter during flight, landing or any other time. Pity the troop to their right a face full of hot brass, left ear drums ringing, brass on floor or getting caught in the Huey's controls Moore who had been listening to the battle of Landing Zone Albany on the radio voluntered for the 1st Battalion 7th Cavalry to go to Columbus to guard the artie only took pictures of the dead and wounded. Where are his action pictures? -- Russell L. Ross (lzalbany65@aol.com), March 16, 2004. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Joe Galloway reply to what is posted above. Galloway wont protect his Integrity a journlist most important asset In a message dated 1/15/2004 3:23:36 PM Pacific Standard Time, jgalloway@krwashington.com writes: like i say russell, if you had anything worth taking i would sue you for libel and slander and take it all. but you don't. only a couple bottles of blue pills which you need to use more regularly. KnightRidder's Military Consultant Joe Galloway never served in the Military Russell L. Ross 1741 Maysong ct San Jose, CA. 95131-2727 408 926-9336 This is the 2nd Rewrite of We Were Soldiers Once and Young, I,m still looking for the 1st, In the 1st. verson Galloway writes Col. Moore was told to stay out of the mountains. I will pay up to $100.00 or more for that article. It was in Military type Magzine, like Soldier Of Fortune also. BY JOSEPH L. GALLOWAY KnightRidder's Military Consultant. JOSEPH L. GALLOWAY, PLAGERIST, LIAR, CONMAN. JOE GALLOWAY News > Iraq: The Aftermath > Monday, Jan 05, 2004 Joe Galloway Joe Galloway Not just Rumsfeld, but all of his civilian experts who never wore a uniform. Galloway never wore a uniform, no military service. Galloway can only parrot what the military person he is interviewing. The photographs offered are from the personal collection of Joe Galloway ( Rambo the Reporter ) and were taken at LZ X-Ray during and after the action in the Ia Drang Valley, November 14-16, 1965. The images reflect the savagery of the combat, a feel for the emotions of the soldiers involved and a sense for the terrain in which the battle was fought. The photographs have never before been published and most have been seen only by a handful of participants in the action. ( Actually some pictures have been published and seen by over 26 million people ) These images will help put a real face on the people, places and events in the upcoming movie, We Were Soldiers Once...And Young, starring Mel Gibson. A film based on the book of the same name by Lt. Gen. Hal Mooore and Joe. Ia Drang Scholarship Fund.... As a lasting tribute to the men of the 1st of the 7th Caultant to Secretary of State General Colin Powell spoke recently with Fred L. Schultz at U.S. Naval Institute headquarters. STEVE NORTHUP http://www.usni.org/Proceedings/Articles02/PROgalloway02.htm Why is Joseph L. Galloway altering his combat pictures of Landing Zone X-Ray?? is it becouse they show the truth and not the lies written by Galloway and Moore in their Book We Were Soldiers Once and Young ( The X-Ray part ). Joseph L. Galloway is altering some of his combat pictures to match the story line in the book, as he now has the equipement to change them. !!!!!WARNING!!!!! if you buy these pictures, be warned, some of the pictures you see at this web site isnt the orignal pictures. he has now since changed the ural here is the new ones http://www.weweresoldiers.net/ http://www.weweresoldiers.net/plate2.htm check out ALTERED photos 1, 3, and 5 tell me what is wrong with them. The photographs offered are from the personal collection of Joe Galloway ( Rambo the Reporter ) and were taken at LZ X-Ray during and after the action in the Ia Drang Valley, November 14-16, 1965. The images reflect the savagery of the combat, a feel for the emotions o Read the rest of this comment... [ Reply ] > Re: The Television War by: Anonymous on: Monday, Jan 19 @ 02:22 AM

3 From The Digital Journalist http://www.digitaljournalist.org/issue0204/galloway3.htm Joe Galloway Bravo Company of the 1st Battalion 7th Cavalry was brought in to pull security around the Brigade HQ that night. It was Saturday, November 13, 1965. I moved out on the perimeter with the company and dug myself a good, deep foxhole under a tea bush. There were just enough alarms and outbursts of firing on the perimeter that night to keep us all wide awake. >In the morning the word passed that B Company was moving out; the whole >battalion was moving out on an operation to the west of Plei Me Camp. >I caught up with the Brigade Commander, Col. Tim Brown, who confirmed >that for me. I told him I wanted to ride in with the 1st Battalion. Brown said it was probably going to be another long, hot walk in the sun---but I could hang around and if anything happened he would fly out in his command helicopter and I could go with him. I nodded but had a bad feeling about this; felt I ought to go in with the troops. The 1st Battalion troops lifted on out, replaced by Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion 7th Cav. >1700hrs Nov.14,1965 Catecha 3 Brigade Headquaters< Later, when the radios burst into frenzied reports of action, Bravo 2/7 Cav began lining up and loading up on choppers. <(1700hrs Nov.14,1965, Catecka. 20miles from X-Ray)< I slipped down the line, found one chopper with room and got aboard. Just before we lifted off a big lieutenant came down the line looking in every chopper. He spotted me, waved me off, and put a medic aboard in my seat. I couldn't complain about that, but there was action out there in a place designated Landing Zone XRay, and I couldn't get there. Back to Brigade HQ. Col. Brown came bustling out of the tent with a couple of his staff officers behind him. He waved me along, moving quickly toward his command chopper, bristling all over with radio antennas. He told me that Lt. Col. Moore and his men had gotten into a helluva fight out there in the Ia Drang Valley and he was headed there. As we neared the end of the 20 mile flight we could easily locate the battlefield: a cloud of smoke rose high above it. We dropped down to about 1500 feet circling the clearing below. I had earphones on and could hear Col. Brown talking to Lt. Col. Moore. Brown wanted to land; Moore was telling him the landing zone was under intense enemy fire and if he landed that command chopper with all those antennas it would be a magnet for bullets. >Moore succeeded in waving off his boss. (1200hrs Nov.14,1965 over LZ X-Ray) >Brown told me on the radio that he was dropping me at Landing Zone >Falcon five miles from LZ XRay and I would have to catch a ride in from >there. More disappointment. I jumped off the chopper at another small clearing in the scrub brush, this one filled with a battery of 12 105mm howitzer artillery pieces. They were firing nonstop, providing support for Lt. Col. Moore's besieged battalion in XRay. As the day wore on more reporters drifted in. A new AP guy I had not previously met. Someone from Reuters, probably my friend Robin Mannock. A couple of others. We met every chopper, begging for a ride in to the fight. No luck. The day was growing older and except for the incessant din of outgoing artillery fire we were no closer to the action. It was then that I ran into Capt. Gregg (Matt) Dillon, the 1st Battalion S-3 or operations officer. I asked how I could get to XRay. He replied: I am going in with two choppers full of ammo and water just as soon as it is good dark. I said I wanted to go. He said he couldn't make that decision without Hal Moore's approval, but he would get on the radio and ask him. I stuck with him till he picked up the radio handset and informed Moore of his plans. "Oh yes, that reporter Galloway wants to come along." Hal Moore responded: "If he is crazy enough to want to come in here, and you have the room, bring him along." All right! I had a ride. Now all I had to do was hide out from the rest of the gang till they got tired and headed back to Pleiku for the night. >I disappeared behind a tent and waited them out. >Finally they were all gone and Dillon's two choppers roared in. >We got aboard in the darkness and lifted off. I was bound for the biggest battle of the war---and I was all alone. An exclusive! Joe Galloway at LZ Falcon from1200hrs Nov 14,1965 till aprox 2100hrs. 20 miles from Catecha Joe Galloway at Catecka? >(1700hrs Nov14,1965 20miles from X-Ray)< Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion 7th Cav. Later, when the radios burst into frenzied reports of action, Bravo 2/7 Cav began lining up and loading up on choppers. I slipped down the line, found one chopper with room and got aboard. Just before we lifted off a big lieutenant came down the line looking in every chopper. He spotted me, waved me off, and put a medic aboard in my seat. Back to Brigade HQ. Col. Brown came bustling out of the tent with a couple of his staff officers behind him. He waved me along, moving quickly toward his command chopper, bristling all over with radio antennas. How did Galloway get to LZ Falcon? What time did leave for LZ Falcon? REFERENCE Page 174-175 We Were Soldiers Once and Young Paperback Mel Gibson on cover. Page 134-135 We Were Soldiers Once and Young Hardback. Nov 14,1965 1700hrs CUPI Reporter Joe Galloway had spent the afternoon desperately trying to finagle his way into LZ X-Ray, without success. Galloway had been aboard Col. Tim Browns Command Chopper when I waved Brown shortly after noon.<1200hrs over LZ X-Ray< At Brigade headquaters (Catecka)Galloway had lined up with the Troopers of Bravo company 2 Battalion and boarded a lift helocopter- but only briefly. Lt. Rick Rescorla say: "as we boarded the Hueys , a stocky journalist in a sandy colored beret with an M-16 and camera jumped on one of our choppers. Major Pete Mallet came over and pulled him off. Galloway shifted to LZ Falcon.(Catecka 20 miles from LZ Falcon). So Joe Galloway has wittness at Catecha (Rick, Mallet) and at LZ Falcon who say he was there. (Galloway"As the day wore on more reporters drifted in. A new AP guy I had not previously met. Someone from Reuters, probably my friend Robin Mannock. A couple of others. We met every chopper, begging for a ride in to the fight. No luck. The day was growing older and except for the incessant din of outgoing artillery fire we were no closer to the action. Fact >Galloway and Cantu met during a >LULL< not during the attack on D co. REFERENCE>>Soldier of Fortune Sept.83 page 28, left column, paragraph 7 During this fighting two events occurred which are burned into my memory. First, I was over near the clearing shooting a few pictures when I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. A tall, lanky GI jumped out of one of the mortar pits about 30 yards away and ran, zig- zagging under fire, across that corner of the clearing. He jumped under the bush I was crouching behind and shouted: Joe. Joe Galloway! Don't you know me man? I'm Vince Cantu from Refugio! In the middle of the worst day of the worst battle of the Vietnam War a guy who graduated with me from Refugio High School, Class of '59, was grabbing and hugging me. "You got to get down, Joe. There are guys dying all around us. This is dangerous shit!" Vince and I talked a little bit. He told me his term of service would be up in two weeks, if he survived this day and the next and the next. "I'll be home in Refugio for Christmas," he said. I asked him to go by and say hello to my mom and dad---but not to get too explicit with the details of where and under what circumstances we had met. Vince made it out, made it home, and in my late mother's photo albums is a snapshot of Vince and his young daughter sitting in their living room. Moore didnt see Galloway save jimmy! Joe Galloway never saved Jimmy. Joe "Jimmy wase wearing Nylon combat Boots", the 1st Cavlavry was never issued this item when we deployed to vietnam in 1965. The second event came after I had moved back to the command post, located behind a huge termite mound, a key terrain feature in this part of the Highlands. These things were big as a small car, hard as concrete and provided good cover for both us and the enemy. I had just leaned back when suddenly I could hear Moore shouting loudly: "Charlie, call that SOB off of us. CALL HIM OFF!" I turned to my left and could see two F-100 Supersabre jets, one behind the other, headed straight for us. The first had just released two cans of napalm. The second was about to the do the same. Lt. Charlie Hastings, the Air Force forward observer, was screaming into his mike: Pull up! Pull up! The second plane pulled up. That left the two cans of napalm loblollying end over end toward us. Gregg Dillon buried his face in my shoulder. Later he would tell me he had heard if napalm was coming in you should protect your eyes. The two cans went right over our heads and impacted no more than 20 yards from us, the jellied gasoline spreading out and flaming up going away from us. That 20 yards saved our lives, but through the blazing fire I could see two men, two Americans, dancing in that fire. I jumped to my feet. So did medic Tommy Burlile. Burlile was shot in the head by a sniper before he could reach the scene. I charged on in and someone was yelling, "Get this man's feet!" I reached down and grabbed the ankles of a horribly burned soldier. They crumbled and the skin and flesh, now cooked, rubbed off. I could feel his bare ankle bones in the palms of my hands. >We carried him to the aid station. Galloway cant get his FICTION straight! Is Jimmys wife 's nameTrudy or Cathy? Jimmys wife 's name what is it Trudy or Cathy? Galloway cant get his FICTION straight! Jimmys wife has 2 diffrent names. Jimmy 2 diffrent days of his death. Daughter has 3 diffrent birthdays!! From from http://digitaljournalist.org/issue0204/galloway4.htm Joe Galloway ">>Later I would learn that his name was Jimmy D. Nakayama of Rigby, Idaho." ">>His wife >>Trudie<< had given birth to their first child, a daughter she named Nikki, on >>November 7. ??" >>Jimmy died in an Army hospital two days later, on November 17.>For a lot of years I looked for Jimmy's wife and daughter. >>Last month, after the movie We Were Soldiers was released I >>received a letter from >>Jimmy's widow. >>Last week a letter came from his daughter Nikki, now 36 years >>old and the mother of >>two young sons. >No single day has passed since that long-ago November day that I have not thought about Jimmy Nakayama, >the young woman who loved him, >and the daughter who would never know a father's love. 2 diffrent stories. 3 diffrent birthdays for his Daughter, 9th, 15th, 17th Nov 1965. From http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/news/special_packages/galloway/11525840.htm >>There were men such as Jimmmy >Cathy,<< gave birth to their baby girl, Nikki, a couple of days before he died on >Nov. 15, 1965.< From the book of Fiction X-Ray part only We were Soldiers once and Young, Hardback PAGE 163 Jimmy died 2 days later on Nov 17,1965. The Day he died his wife had their baby. >>Later I would learn that his name was Jimmy D. Nakayama of Rigby, Idaho. >>His wife >>Trudie<< had given birth to their first child, a daughter she named Nikki, on >>November 7. ?? >>Jimmy died in an Army hospital two days later, on November 17.>For a lot of years I looked for Jimmy's wife and daughter. >>Last month, after the movie We Were Soldiers was released I received a letter from >>Jimmy's widow. >>Last week a letter came from his daughter Nikki, now 36 years old and the mother of >>two young sons. >>No single day has passed since that long-ago November day that I have not thought >>about Jimmy Nakayama, >>the young woman who loved him, >>and the daughter who would never know a father's love. Posted on Fri, Apr. 29, 2005 http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/news/special_packages/galloway/11525840.htm Galloway cant get his FICTION straight! Jimmys wife has 2 diffrebt names jimmy 2 diffrent days of his death, Daughter has 2 diffrent birthdays!! R E L A T E D C O N T E N T KRT photo courtesy Steve Northup Reporter Joe Galloway is shown in August 1965 as a war correspondent. >>There were men such as Jim Nakayama of Rigby, Idaho, who >>had so much to live for. >>His wife, >>Cathy,<< gave birth to their baby girl, Nikki, >>a couple of >>days before he died on >>Nov. 15, 1965.<< Today, Vietnam is different from when the war started and ended By JOSEPH L. GALLOWAY Knight Ridder Newspapers HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam - Never mind that dateline. It will always be Saigon to me, the place where I landed 40 years ago to cover a war that would eventually consume much of my youth and much of my country's innocence before it ended in bitter, bloody chaos three decades ago. The old familiar streets are still here, but now they're lined with chic shops and boutiques instead of the seedy bars where delicate Vietnamese women once wheedled overpriced "Saigon Teas" out of big American GIs. The traffic is, at once, both denser and calmer as motorcycles have replaced bicycles and the man-powered cyclo taxis have been banned from the center of town. Pedestrians seem to risk death just crossing a street full of speeding motorbikes, but it's a carefully choreographed dance. There are rules for the walker: Don't run. Don't try to dodge. Just walk slowly straight ahead and let the motorbikes adjust for you. The Vietnamese are still the hardest-working people I have ever known, hustling and bustling and chasing a buck and a living with determination. The majority of them, 60-plus percent, are under the age of 30, and for them the war is something in the history books. The country and the people are far different than they were when we came and when we left. In the cities, the old shabby yellow colonial buildings that survived have been spruced up and modernized. Office towers and high-rise hotels tower over their older neighbors. Cranes are everywhere in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City as new construction sprouts on every available scrap of land. Communists may still rule here, but business is still business, and business is good in Vietnam. The country's economy grew at a rate of 7.7 percent in 2004. Two-way trade between Vietnam and the United States has reached $6 billion annually. Trade with neighboring China is also at $6 billion a year. A local Honda plant cranks out millions of the ubiquitous motorbikes that sell for the equivalent of $1,000 to $2,000. On the outskirts of Hanoi, a huge gate modeled after the Brandenburg in Berlin, complete with sculpted horses, marks the entrance of a new subdivision for the very affluent. A planned but still unbuilt house there sold six months ago for $250,000. The same non-existent home has already changed hands twice. The last buyer paid $450,000 for it. Yet in poorer rural areas such as Quang Tri province, the per capita income is still around $200. What we call the Vietnam War the Vietnamese call the American War. "You see, we have fought so many wars over a thousand years that we could never call yours `the Vietnam War' - it would be meaningless to us," explained an earnest young guide in Hanoi. The American War takes up only one paragraph in the history book taught in grade schools in Vietnam today. But a big, busy bookstore on what once was Tu Do Street in old Saigon carries shelves full of books about the war and biographies of some of the great North Vietnamese Army commanders, such as Gen. Nguyen Huu An, who did his best to kill all of us in the Ia Drang Valley during some terrible November days in 1965. A friend and fellow scribbler, Phil Caputo, inscribed a copy of his book "A Rumor of War" to me: "As an old French general once told another, `The war, old boy, is our youth - secret and uninterred.'" By then, in the late 1970s, both of us knew exactly what that old French general meant. It seemed so simple and straightforward when we began that march 40 years ago with the landing of the first American Marine battalion at the port city of Danang. We were a modern superpower blocking the spread of communism to a Third World country. War has a way of looking simple going in - and generally turns out to be far more complex and costly than the architects ever thought possible. This one sure was. The Vietnam War consumed the presidency of the brash Texan Lyndon B. Johnson, who sent the first combat troops there. It brought young American protesters into the streets and helped topple Johnson's successor, Richard Nixon. A third president, Gerald Ford, inherited an orphaned war that ended in chaos and defeat on his watch. To those who fought it, mostly young draftees on both sides, the war was unavoidable, a duty their country demanded of them. To those caught in the middle, the peasant farm families, it was an unending and deadly disruption to their lives. One and a half million Vietnamese perished in those 10 years. On the black granite wall in Washington, D.C., the names of 58,249 Americans who died in Vietnam are engraved. The war gave me the best friends of my life and took some of them away almost immediately. I can still see their faces as they were then. There was Dickie Chapelle, with her horn-rimmed glasses and a boonie hat decorated with the jump wings she'd earned in some other war long before. She told me that the first rule of war corresponding was that you must survive in order to write the story and ship your film. A Marine walking in front of her set off a booby-trapped mortar shell and a tiny fragment nicked her carotid artery. She bled to death, her head in the lap of another reporter, Bob Poos, while a Catholic chaplain gave her the last rites. And Henri Huet, half French, half Vietnamese, all heart, all smiles. He took me on my first combat operation, teaching me every step of the way how to do this insane work and stay alive. He went down in a South Vietnamese Huey helicopter inside Laos in 1971 with the finest photographer of the war, Larry Burrows of Life magazine, and another who might have inherited Burrows' mantle had he lived, Kent Potter of UPI. I think of them all, all 66 who died in our war giving everything they had, telling the truth and showing the real face of war to America and the world. I think, too, of the young American soldiers who died all around me in the Ia Drang Valley and elsewhere in a war that seemed like it would never end - and never really has in my memory and in my heart. >>>There were men such as Jim Nakayama of Rigby, Idaho, who had so >>>much to live for. >>>His wife, >>Cathy,<< gave birth to their baby girl, Nikki, a couple of days before he died on >>Nov. 15, 1965. << Then there were those on the other side, such as Gen. An who did his best to wipe us out in the Ia Drang and came damned close to it. Years later, in 1993, he and some of his officers went back to our old battlefield with us, walked that blood-stained ground and shed tears with us for all who died there, American and Vietnamese. Gen. An died of a heart attack a year later. In 1995 my good friend Lt. Gen. Hal Moore and I visited Gen. An's home in Hanoi to pay our respects to his widow and children. There, in a glass case of his most precious possessions, along with his uniform and medals and photographs of the young warrior, was a copy of our book, "We Were Soldiers Once ... and Young," which told the story of the battle. I think, too, of Col. Vu Dinh Thuoc, who started his career as a private storming the French positions at Dienbienphu and progressed to lieutenant commanding a company at the Ia Drang and on to colonel commanding a division in the final attack on Saigon. As we later walked the battlefield together, Thuoc tapped me on the chest and said: "You have the heart of a soldier. It is the same as mine. I am glad I did not kill you." So am I, colonel. So am I. And I am glad that peace and a measure of prosperity have at last come to Vietnam and its people after a thousand years of war. There's no room left for anger or bitterness, only memories, and they, too, will vanish soon enough. ---------------------- Joseph L. Galloway is the senior military correspondent for Knight Ridder Newspapers. He spent 22 years as a foreign and war correspondent and bureau chief for United Press International, and nearly 20 years as a senior editor and senior writer for U.S. News & World Report magazine. His overseas postings included four tours as a war correspondent in Vietnam. On May 1, 1998, Galloway was decorated with the Bronze Star with V for valor for rescuing wounded soldiers under fire in the Ia Drang Valley in November 1965. His is the only medal of valor the U.S. Army awarded to a civilian for actions during the Vietnam War. He is the co-author, with retired Lt. Gen. Hal G. Moore, of the national bestseller "We Were Soldiers Once ... and Young," which was made into the movie "We Were Soldiers," starring Mel Gibson.

1 And Birdie heads back to Afghanistan in April.

2 Military families are the least likely of all to EVER forget that the war doesn't end upon our own soldiers' return. For most married to career soldiers, our loved ones (and ourselves) haven't had time to get settled back into regular life before being told they are heading back. For military spouses, while we adjust to being together again with the one we love, we must also start the often emotionally trying time of pre-deployment too. I'm personally finding it to be a rollercoaster all it's own. Military families of today know war. We know it like no history book could have ever prepared us for. We know the fear, the lonliness, the heartbreak and we know it well. We know grief as we mourn the loss of our friends who didn't make it home. We do not however, ever forget that a war is on. Civilians may have that pleasure. We, however, carry our nation's sacrfice on our shoulders and in our hearts. And even when this war does end, I find it highly unlikely most of us will ever forget any of it.

1 Dude, that imposter was a space-Alien.

2 All I have to say is this.... "That is f***** up as a football bat!!" 4ID Weather Guy PS: All weather guys in the Army are Air Force dudes sucking it up ;-D

3 I hope when they catch the creep, they can throw him in a Federal lockup. Or better yet, Leavenworth!

1 Soon, Sarah. Soon.

2 Remember . . . they save the best for last! Don't you just hate all those stupid sayings. I have heard a ton. It is bittersweet for me but glad to hear that everyone is coming home safe. I think about everyone daily. . . keep that chin up!

3 Oh, honey... Hang in there. You've got months and months behind you and only days ahead of you. You're gonna make it.

4 Waiting these last fews weeks must seem longer and harder than all the months before ... you know we're pulling for you, right? Just hang in and hang on.

1 Sarah, I know those 10 extra days must feel like a lifetime for you. Hang in there, and look at it as an extra few days for you to get yourself ready for the big reunion. You're a trooper! I hope the time passes quickly for you.

2 Sarah, Sorry you have to wait so much longer. Try to take it easy and remember to exhale every two to three minutes!! heh

3 SARAH!!! I am SO sorry! I don't even know what to say...But if you want to borrow mine for a couple of days, let me know. :-)

4 In something like this, I hate being right.

1 That's a good thing. The CIB was created by General Marshall because the infantryman of WWII lived a life nobody else shared, and he wanted something to honor them, and them alone. They received far too few awards and decorations in comparison to other groups. Warfare has changed, and something along these lines was definitely needed without giving the CIB to everyone.

2 Sarah - I think the wives and families receive too little recognition for your sacrifices! I'd award you a CWB, too :-) I'm glad for your hubby and all of the others who deserve this recognition!

3 As a CIB winner - Korea - I welcome our comrades in action.

1 I doubt that the story is quite as the LT tells it. What an unbelievable PR blitz he has going right now, between his attorney and his mom's website. The Marine Corps, quite properly, are not releasing the facts that caused them to investigate the incident. All of the news stories have left out the relevant info in the last paragraph of one story: "The investigators could recommend Pantano face court-martial, receive administrative discipline or that the charges be dropped altogether, the Marines said." Charges are put on a charge sheet to formally inform the accused what he's charged with - then there is an Article 32 hearing, the equivalent of a Grand Jury hearing. Just because charges have been typed, that does not mean that the LT will face the charges in court and risk conviction. An officer is going to investigate the facts surrounding the case, the LT will be there to present his side along with his attorney, and the officer will recommend to the Commanding General that a court-martial should be impanelled to hear the case (there is probable cause evidence, and a panel or judge needs to determiine if the accused is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt) or the case should be dismissed without further action - there isn't even probable cause to go forward. I, for one, am very proud to be part of a military organization that doesn't take deaths of an enemy as lightly as other nations. Under the reasoning that we're at war, LT Calley might also have been spared any questions as to his My Lai massacre. The fact that the Marines think they need to investigate indicates pretty clearly that there is something else to this story that has been hidden so far. And we can't expect the LT to tell us what that might be. But this isn't just a knee jerk reaction - otherwise there would be hundreds of Marines charged with murder. Clearly, this is different for some reason. And I will bet you that there's more there than just one disgruntled enlisted man. Take it from me - either he had been warned before of the proper way to do things or they suspect him of setting up the Iraqis just so he could kill them with impunity. Only an investigation will tell what really happened. You can't ignore such a serious complaint just because you want to believe the officer. Now, if the World Court wanted to try our Marines, I'd be right there with you! But the fact that the military thinks this is serious indicates that something ugly is under this rock.

2 You seem to have a lot more faith in the military justice system than I think is warranted. I spent 20 years in and my revelation to you is that they're human too. The service isn't fair. It can't be, it's just a system, designed to help the most of us get along with the rest of us. People, can be fair, and often are in the service. That's to make up for the system. I think I'd hold off on the doubts in a man over a system just a mite longer. Tom

3 I spent 6 years in, all as a JAG attorney working prosecution or defense. I have seen the way sausage is made from the inside. I can categorically state that I NEVER had a client charged where I was shocked with the charge. Some did not go further than the Article 32, but there was enough evidence to require an investigation and, in most cases, an explanation that satisfied the fact finder. There is something here - we just don't know what it is yet.

4 Thanks.

5

6 Love your Site!

7 Hello!

8 Wow, great blog.

9

10 Excellent blog.

1 That is one of the dumbest things I've ever heard. Next us taxpayers will be expected to pay each firefighter to 'train' in the firehouse for two days after each day fighting a fire. This means we will have to pay for twice the manpower we really need for the job. We cannot afford the military we have now without putting this additional burden on us.

2 Boy GG, you're an idiot. What it means is that we go to the British system, except they rotate every six months. Deploy, rest, train, redeploy. That means at any one time one third of their army is on an operational tour and the other two thirds are either resting or preparing to rotate in - you don't need double the troops, it's just a way to give soldiers a predictable schedule for planning purposes. So, I guess a fireman isn't earning his money unless he fights a fire everyday? A waste of time and money to train or sit in the firehouse and wait for a fire? Why would anyone sign on for a job where you would never be home and always be in danger? Would you? Then why do you expect military members to happily spend two out of three years away from their wives and kids instead of only one or six months? Dolt. Idiot. Pay yourself and go fight your own damn fires 24/7.

3 To whom it may concern: Many Americans, including most serving military members, are not aware that the very United States Constitution they have sworn to serve and defend does not apply to them. Henry Kissenger once stated,- "Military men are just dumb, stupid animals to be used as pawns for foreign policy." (Quoted from "The Final Days" by Woodward and Berstein). And though this "war tactic" has been used to the fullest, the actions our organization are trying to EXPOSE includes the battle being fought by our service members within their own ranks. There is a secret unconstitutional law that prohibits military members from seeking final redress for wrongful actions taken upon them while serving. These certain actions may include murder,severe reprisal (to individuals exposing fraud, waste, and abuse under the "whistleblower protection act"), rape, human experimentation, medical malpractice, gross and criminal negligence, etc. The shameful law is called the Feres Doctrine, named after the young Lt. Rudolph Feres, who died in a barracks fire caused by the negligence of the Army. This doctrine bars constitutional redress of wrongful acts or omissions resulting in injury or death arising from non-legitimate military necessity or decisions. The Feres Doctrine law was not created by the United States Congress, who makes laws and oversees the military, but judicially created. This law has been in existence for over 54 years, however Congress and the United States “mainstream” media refuse to address and report respectfully. Most of the tax paying public is unaware of the extreme human and constitutional abuses being silenced by this law as it is staying locked behind the iron gates of the military. Who will assist in broadening public discourse in this matter? The only organization I found that will even address the Feres Doctrine is Veterans Equal Rights Protection Advocacy. Their Feres Doctrine abolishment initiative seeks to restore constitutional rights to the men and women serving in our military. Our Congress continues to use American military personnel to provide protection of human rights around the world, yet those very military personnel are not afforded the same protection in the United States due to the Feres Doctrine. At the least, I respectfully request that you contact both of your US Senators and Senator Arlin Spector (PA) who is the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Also, please sign our on-line petition. We owe every freedom we possess to those who have fought for "US" and this Country. For more in depth information please go to www.VERPA.org . Please pass this information on to all Citizens you believe might be interested in this information,especially those who may be affected by the Feres Doctrine.

1 Sarah - You and I want to see the stories of heroism, drama, character, humor, etc. I'm sure that we are not unusual in that respect, and most Americans want that as well. But there are a lot of folks in Hollyweed who think that the average demographic is the anti-war elitist. Just proves that they don't know their target public!

2 I think the biggest scandal of the war has been Bush and the Mission Accomplished banner. The mission is still not accomplished and I could care less if soldiers are blowing off a little steam by mud wrestling. Over here people are worried more about whether a minor league baseball stadium is going up in there backyard or passing a law to stop people from wearing low-riding pants. Someone needs to get their priorities straight!

3 Chuck, Militarily speaking, a mission refers to a very specific goal within a larger action. A war consists of multiple missions, each of which can be celebrated in their accomlishment without saying that the war has been "won."

4 I think the biggest scandal is the fact that there were no WMD. My brothers went over there to fight, they are still on the ground there now. The reason they were sent there was a complete lie, and that hurts a lot. There is plenty of evidence to show that Abu Ghraib was NOT just a few bad apples, but directives from the top. The same torture techmiques were being used an Gitmo. Before the torture was discovered the administration was playing games with coming up with justifications for torture, and trying to redefine torture. You're kidding yourself if you pretend that it was just a few people acting independently. Responsibility is supposed to go to the leadership, Bush dodging blame has shamed us all. Other serious scandals: Dropping the ball on guarding hundreds of thousands of tons of explosives, while rushing to protect the oil ministry. Throwing away billions of taxpayer dollars in high dollar no bid contracts to Halliburton, despite other qualified companies being available for bid. $5000 toilet seats look like a bargain these days. Working closely with Ahmed Chalabi who was an Iranian spy passing intelligence to Iran. Worse was when Bush tried to cover his ass and and said "Adhmed who?" when asked about him after the scandal hit. Falujah - The collective punishment of the people of that city was unconscionable. No other move has given so much support to the insurgents. There are many more that come to mind.

5 Why do Liberals always post a laundry list of the same lies and twisted half-truths? >there were no WMD. Every intelligence service on planet Earth told there were, as did the UN itself, as late as 1999. So, where did it all go? Please explain your theory. >The reason they were sent there Congress voted to send troops to Iraq in the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq in October 2002. It listed over a dozen reasons for sending troops to Iraq; the existence of WMDs was just one of them. >Abu Ghraib was NOT just a few bad apples, but >directives from the top I'll never understand this particular Liberal lie, except in the deep-seated need to smear the troops and their Commander-in-Chief as much as possible. >torture techmiques were being used an Gitmo We do not use torture. We make people somewhat uncomfortable. That's not torture, and calling it so does not make it so. Torture is defined as causing physical damage. >guarding hundreds of thousands of tons of >explosives I believe you're talking about the 380 tons of explosives that were moved after the invasion began, but before our troops reached that area. Hard to tell, with all your overblown rhetoric. It's true, after all: Liberals are bad at math! "Hundreds of thousands of tons," indeed. >no bid contracts to Halliburton Are you talking about the no-bid contracts awarded to Halliburton by Clinton during the Balkans conflict? If so, you're the first Liberal to acknowlege them. Congratulations! >other qualified companies being available for bid Name them. Then explain why you think they can do a tenth of the job Halliburton has been doing for decades, a tenth as well. Then explain why you think time-critical jobs should wait for a two-to-four year bidding process, when only one company can actually do the job. >Ahmed Chalabi who was an Iranian spy Proof, please. Thanks! >collective punishment of the people of that city You mean the people who left notes in their houses thanking the Americans for freeing them, and inviting them to stay in their homes, when the Americans allowed the Fallujah residents to leave the city? Those people? You need to come out of your walled ivory tower and learn what's really going on in the world.

6 Cavalier, I am not a liberal, nor do I live in an ivory tower. I am actually independent of any political party, unlike you, so I don't have any reservations admitting to the failings of Clinton, Bush, or any other leader. It is really quite funny that you accuse me of partisanship, seeing that you obviously live in such blatantly self-imposed partisan ignorance. You make excuses for the failings of Bush & co., simply because you imagine that they are on your team, while we all know that if Bush belonged to a different political party you would be calling for blood. Speaking of blood, your hostility to facts is summed up by suggesting that there was no torture in Abu Ghraib. There were images of a prisoner's legs being torn open by attack dogs. It was torture, plain and simple. But since it is your guy who is ultimately responsible, you have to play a Clintonian definition game. The facts are there staring you in the face, but they don't fit your worldview, so you hide from them.

7 Attacking me personally just makes you look like more of a fool. Sorry to burst your bubble, but I'm an unaffiliated Conservative. Maybe you should stop digging your hole when you're in over your head. As for your insistence that the Abu Ghraib guards did things they shouldn't have: I agree with that assessment. So does the Bush administration and the UCMJ, which is why they're being tried for exceeding their orders and committing crimes. Next point... oh, wait, you were out of those.

8 FWIW, you attacked me personally. I responded in kind. You responded with another personal attack. You obviously aren't a bright one. Glad we agree on the fact that there was torture, though you have changed your position on the matter. Since you don't seem to be able to rebut my point except for by agreeing with it I guess this discussion isn't going to go anywhere. Have fun with you head in the sand.

1 Congratulations

2 Congratulations to the best son-in-law anyone could have!

3 Congratulations! The difference between a 1Lt and a Captain is quite sweet!

4 Congratulations from a growing fan of your blog.

5 Lead well, serve well and keep your troops well. That is what a man does. Thank you.

6 Yay!!! Congratulations, indeed :-)

7 Wow! Fabulous... congratulations!

8 Woot! Yay for Captain Grok!

1 My household has bolt cutters. I had to buy one to cut the locks off my foot locker when I came home from OEF. I lost the keys. R/ Ed

2 I must be weird, then, because we own bolt cutters, and hubby and I have never been in the service!