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Posted by LightSpeed on original thread;

Reflections from a member of 2/5 in the IA DRANG

November 14-15 Charlie Company, along with the rest of the 2/5 Cav, combat assaulted into a new LZ named Victor, about 3.5 kilometers (clicks, in the vernacular) southwest of LZ X-Ray, where the 1/7 Cav was fighting to stay alive. Their mission was to move overland from LZ Victor to LZ X-Ray and relieve the 1/7 Cav.

At 8:00 AM the morning November, the 2/5 Cav moved out from Victor with Company A and Company B abreast, and C echeloned to the left rear. The march to LZ X-Ray took about four hours and was uneventful, though A Company had some light contact.

Below is a map carried by CPT Boyt during that battle. The reader might wish to print out the map. (Source: Ed Boyt and "Pleiku: The Dawn of Helicopter Warfare in Vietnam" by J. D. Coleman.)

November 14-17

C 2/5 Cav is involved in the famous Ia Drang Valley fight. This was the first major engagement between US Army troops and main force units of the People's Army of Vietnam (known to us as the NVA.) On November 14, 1st Battalion 7th Cavalry air assaulted into LZ X-Ray, adjacent to the Chu Pong Massif near the Cambodian border in II Corps. It ran into the 32nd, 33rd, and 66th Regiments of the NVA. LZ X-Ray became a killing ground, and the 1/7th was almost overrun. During the morning hours of November 15th, C 2/5 Cav, along with the rest of the battalion, marched overland to their aid, closing on LZ X-Ray at noon. Almost immediately , C 2/5 was involved in the rescue of 2nd Platoon, Company A, 1/7th Cav, which had been separated from the rest of the battalion. C 2/5 Cav was commanded by CPT Edward A. Boyt. That night, they formed part of the perimeter around LZ X-Ray. The following morning, they secured the LZ while the 1/7th was extracted. During the morning of November 17th, the 2/5 Cav marched out of LZ X-Ray to clear the way for a B-52 strike on the Chu Pong Massif. The move to LZ Columbus was made with C Company in the lead, and was uneventful. (Sources: "1st Cavalry Division After Action Report Pleiku Campaign", "Pleiku - The Dawn of Helicopter Warfare in Vietnam" - J.

A bomb run by U. S. Air Force fighters on the Chu Pong Massif west of X-Ray. NVA troops were massed on this mountain, and the NVA headquarters was located there as well.

LZ Columbus - most of the artillery was fired from this LZ in support of X-Ray, and C 2/5 Cav marched to Columbus as they left X-Ray. In this picture, a Chinook helicopter is bringing in supplies