Ia Drang, LZ X-Ray*
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Date:  November 14, 1965*
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Battle location: Ia Drang Valley, Vietnam*
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Battle Type: US Army vs North Vietnam Meeting Engagement*
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In November 1965, Lt. Col Harold (Hal) G. Moore (1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry) was given simple orders: to engage the enemy and destroy them.*
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Lt. Col. Moore was anxious to prove the concept of Air Cavalry.  He and his 450 troops dropped into landing zone X-Ray at 10:48 AM.*
Moore, not one to lead from the rear (or even from above), was the first to set foot into the valley.  Immediatly he and his men secured the LZ, then set up a perimeter in the surrounding trees.  It took 3 trips (30 minutes round trip) to get all of Moore's troops into the battle.*
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Lt. Col Moore came in looking for a fight.  He got it, what he didn't know beforehand was that he had dropped onto the doorstep of General Chu Huy Man's 33rd and 66th Regiments.  General Man was anxious to fight the newly arrived Americans.  He had fought the French until they withdrew, now he would fight the Americans too.*
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Like Col. Custer (also lst Battalion, 7th Cavalry) at the Battle of the Little Big horn, Hal Moore soon found himself surrounded.  Moore had something, however, which Custer did not; heavy artillery which would create a ring of steel around his men and all the air support that was available over South Vietnam.  Moore later commented "No matter how bad things got for the Americans fighting for their lives on the X-Ray perimeter, we could look out into the scrub brush in every direction, into that seathing inferno of exploding artillary shells, 2.75 inch rockets, napalm canisters, 250- and 500-pound bombs, and 20mm cannon fire and thank God and our lucky stars that we didn't have to walk through that to get to work."*
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Historical Note:*
Both sides claimed the battle of X-ray a victory.  In his After Action Report, Moore reported 79 Americans Killed in Action, 121 wounded, and none missing.  Moore estimated 634 enemy dead by body count and an additional 1,215 estimated killed and wounded by artillery and air attack.*
Source:  We Were Soldiers Once...And Young - Ia Drang: the battle that changed the war in Vietnam; p.105 and 199; Lt.Gen. Harold G. Moore(Ret.) and Joseph L. Galloway; Random House New York; 1992*
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Designer's Notes:*
This scenario is designed to be played as the Americans against a computer North Vietnam.  Lt.Col. Moore and his first wave of men are already aboard the 16 Hueys and enroute to LZ X-ray.  The Chinooks are transporting your artillery units to LZ Falcon.  The troops on the ground in the bottom right corner are the rest of 1/7 Cavalry.  Transport them by Huey to X-Ray in any order you choose.  Good Luck.*
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Designed By:  Steve Goodmansen*  