The la Drang Valley of Vietnam,
a place our country does not remember,
in a war it does not understand.
This story is a testament to the young Americans
who died in the Valley of Death
and a tribute to the young men ofthe People's Army of Vietnam
who died by our hand in that place.
To tell this story, I must start at the beginning.
But where does it begin?
Maybe in June of 1954, when French Group Mobile 100
moved into the same Central Highlands of Vietnam,
where we would go 11 years later.
Maybe the story begins in America
when the Army first realized a new kind ofwarwas coming its way.
The White House anticipates a buildup and wants a victory
over cavemen in black pajamas.
We wouldn't be there ifthey hadn't already beaten the French Army.
The French Army? What's that?
The problem in Vietnam is terrain. Jungles, mountains, rivers.
Maneuver's a nightmare.
That's whywe came up with a plan to use helicopters,
leap in and out of battle.
Theywantyou to run the test on the idea.
It'll take a hell of a combat leader.
I know a young light colonel named Hal Moore.
He led a combat company in Korea.
Afterthat, he volunteered to test experimental parachutes.
Experimental parachutes? Sounds likejust the guy.
The other side ofthe mountain
Was all that he could see
The other side ofthe mountain
Was all that he could see
The bearwent overthe mountain
How aboutwe go back to Bingo? What do you say? Bingo.
B- I-N-G-O
And Bingo was his name-o
Tom, how much you know about our new colonel?
He was in Korea,
has a master's in International Relations from Harvard.
Harvard?
He's not one ofthose academic pussies, is he?
Hal Moore?
Want me to get one ofthose?
Come on, Too Tall. Give me your best shot!
Did you see that, sports fans? Did you see that?
Snakeshit drives that one to the moon, baby!
Hit the cutoff man! Hit the cutoff man!
And he's coming around!
Here he comes!
No, he's not.
You're out, Snakeshit! You're out!
Horseshit! No wonderyou can't fly. You can't see.
I believe you're out.
- You're a pilot? - Too Tall, sir.
- Yeah, I can see that. - You call, we haul.
- Can I speak to you a minute, Crandall? - Yes, sir.
- Out. - Safe.
- Can I buy you a drink? - Sure.
Thanks.
So, your men call you "Snakeshit. "
That's an affectionate appellation of my comrades-in-arms, sir,
'cause I fly lowerthan snake shit.
Well, I got a problem, Snakeshit, and I think you're the solution.
I've been called a lot ofthings, Colonel, never a solution.
You knowwhat air cavalry really means?
You fly into hostile territory, outnumbered, 10,000 miles from home.
Sometimes the battleground's no biggerthan a football field.
And ifthe choppers stop coming, we all get slaughtered.
Now, I figure chopper pilots won't fly into hell for strangers,
so, I'm Hal Moore.
I know, sir. Why us?
Well, you guys look like shit, butyour equipment is immaculate.
Yesterdaywas Sunday. You didn't have to be training, butyou were.
And you got pilots like that Too Tall character.
He's way outside the limits of army regs.
Theywanna flywith you for some reason.
I guess it's 'cause they think you're the best.
It's 'cause I only recruit the dumb ones, sir.
I don't suppose I have a choice in all this.
You sure don't.
Wouldn't miss it forthe world.
To the Air Cav.
Good morning, Sergeant Major.
How do you know what kind of goddamn day it is?
Group! Atten-hut!
At ease, gentlemen.
Welcome to the new cavalry.
We will ride into battle.
And this will be our horse.
You don't have to catch it. You don't have to feed it.
But I can assure you
that neitherthe new technology noryour status as officers
will keep you above the danger.
Sergeant Major Plumley and I come from the paratroopers
where the officer is always the first one out ofthe plane.
Because to follow your instincts
and to inspire your men by your example,
you have to be with them where the metal meets the meat.
Sergeant Major Plumley made all four combatjumps
in the 82nd Airborne during World War II.
Sicily, Salerno, Normandy and Holland,
plus one more in Korea.
He answers to me and to me alone.
Now, I hope you gentlemen like training,
'cause me and the Sergeant Major,
we love it.
Three strikes and you're not out!
There is always one more thing you can do!
Here we go, boys.
Move! Move! Go! Now!
- Two. - Let's go!
Three.
We're out of here!
- Pretty good, huh? - Pretty good.
There's only one thing wrong.
Be sharp, men! We will be the best platoon in this battalion!
Be ready in there! Let's go! Let's go!
All right! Your officer's dead!
- What do you do? What do you do? - First...
All right, he hesitated. He's dead. What do you do?
- Get offthe chopper! - Get off ofthe chopper.
All right, hold offthe third one.
Come on in.
Savage, you learn thejob ofthe man above you
and you teach yourjob to the man below you in rank.
That goes for every man in this outfit.
- Understood? - Yes, sir!
We'll be landing underfire, gentlemen.
Men will die.
Have you said your prayers?
- No? - No.
Come on. I'll say them with you.
- Fall in. - Give me that bear.
No.
All right. Ready. Set.
In the name ofthe Father, and the Son and the Holy Ghost.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou amongstwomen
and blessed is the fruit ofthywomb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners...
Cecile, I don't hearyou praying, honey.
I don'twanna be a Catholic. I wanna be a "Nethodist" like Mommy.
You do?
And why is that, honey?
So I can praywhatever I want.
That's a sin.
No, no, no, no, that's not a sin.
God just made you hardheaded. It's not a sin.
I'll tell you what. You wanna...
You wanna pray and thank God for ourfamily?
- Yes, sir. - That's good. Well, then, let's do it.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women
and blessed is the fruit ofthywomb, Jesus.
I can hearyou laughing, you know, even in here.
I'm not laughing, I'm marveling.
Marveling? Atwhat?
Thatyou can find stubbornness in your children
and think it comes from anybody butyou.
Yeah?
I'll give you something to marvel at.
He's a wild man.
When I pray
whatever I want,
I thank God foryou.
Beautiful morning, Sergeant Major.
What are you, a fucking weatherman now?
Look what I found forthe new baseball player.
Sent us another bunch of officers.
Real green. Got to train them up.
Makes me think I'm starting a new unit.
They sent new rifles, too. The M-16.
That's supposed to be a pretty good weapon.
Lots of plastic.
Feels like a BB gun to me. Believe I'll stick with my pistol.
You think we're gonna get close enough to the enemy to use that?
What do you think, sir?
A leader must remain cool and calm and thinking.
He must learn to ignore explosions,
the heat and dust, the screams ofthe wounded.
This is normal on a battlefield. Normal!
Colonel Tran, you need to get a company over
to reinforce the left flank.
- Where the hell is that coming from? - That's our advisors in Vietnam.
The new radio's picking up atmospheric bounce.
When Crazy Horse was a baby,
he nursed from the breast of everywoman in the tribe.
The Sioux raised their children thatway.
Everywarrior
called everywoman in the tribe "Mother. "
Every olderwarrior, they called him "Grandfather. "
Now, the point here is that they fought as a family.
Take care ofyour men.
Teach them to take care of each other.
'Cause when this starts,
each other is all we're gonna have.
- Did you tune that in? - Yes, sir.
Well, that's fine. You're my radio operator.
You'll be fine. You'll work it out.
Any ofyou sons of bitches calls me Grandpa,
I'll kill you.
Godboldt, take your boots off.
Go on.
Everybody, take your boots off.
Everybody. Socks, too.
I wantyou to draw fresh socks from supply.
Keep yourfeet dusted with powder.
Everybody check each other's feet like Godboldt and me.
- Now, thatyoung man's a leader. - Yes, sir.
That otherfella, that big, strong one there,
he wants to win medals.
Why the hell are you in the back?
Goddamn it, why are you in the back?
He's eager.
Ladies, I'm just really, really glad you're here today.
I know that some ofyou are new to the Army
and all of us are new to this post,
so I thoughtwe could pool our resources
and coverwhatever questions we might have.
So why don'twe start with item number one, food.
Ifthe commissary is out of something, where's the best place to shop?
Well, I tried Big Star, and it's okay.
But I keep thinking mywater's gonna break right in the checkout aisle.
That takes care offood shopping. So item numbertwo, laundry.
The base washing machines don'twork.
They're full of sand from the swamp missions.
All right, I'll take care ofthat.
- I've already complained. - Well, we'll just go to the General.
In the meantime, the laundromat in town's okay,
but theywon't letyou wash your colored things in their machines.
- At a public laundromat? - Didn't make sense to me either.
But I'm telling you, they have a big sign right in the window
says "Whites Only. "
- What? - Honey, they mean white people only.
That's awful.
Your husband is wearing the uniform of a country that allows a place
to say that his laundry's not good enough, when he could die for...
- I'm sorry. I just... - That's all right, honey.
But I knowwhat my husband's fighting for, and that's why I can smile.
My husband will never ask for respect,
and he'll give respect to no man who hasn't earned it.
The rest of his family is the same way.
And anybodywho doesn't respect that
can keep his goddamn washing machine
'cause my baby's clothes are gonna be clean anyway.
Well, I guess that takes care of item numbertwo.
Are you all right?
I think... I think mywaterjust broke.
Okay. Okay!
We're all calm. We're all calm.
A car! A car!
- Colonel. - At ease. At ease.
I heard one of my new lieutenants just became a father.
- I came to say congratulations. - Thank you, sir.
So, I didn'twanna disturb you.
No, no, it's fine. It's all right. Please.
- Well, how's yourwife? - She's okay. She's okay. She's sleeping.
So is my daughter.
I justwanted to be here for a while before I held her.
Well, tag her already? What's that say?
Camille. Yeah, I'm sorry about this, sir.
No, don'tyou take that off. You leave that on where it is.
That's an order.
- Colonel, may I ask you a question? - Sure.
What do you think about being a soldier and a father?
I hope that being good at the one makes me better at the other.
Why? What aboutyou?
I don't know, sir.
Between college and here,
Barbara and I spent a year in Africa.
We helped build a school for orphans.
Theywere orphans because the warlord across the border
didn't like theirtribe.
I know God has a plan for me.
I just hope it's to help protect orphans,
not make any.
Well, why don'twe ask him?
Come on. Let's go ask him.
Our Father in heaven, before we go into battle,
every soldier among us will approach you, each in his own way.
Our enemies, too, according to their own understanding,
will ask for protection and for victory.
And so we bow before your infinite wisdom.
We offer our prayers as bestwe can.
I pray you watch overthe young men, like Jack Geoghegan,
that I lead into battle.
You use me as your instrument in this awful hell ofwar
to watch overthem.
Especially ifthey're men like this one beside me
deserving of a future in your blessing and good will.
- Amen. - Amen.
Yes, and one more thing, dear Lord.
About our enemies,
ignore their heathen prayers
and help us blow those little bastards straight to hell.
Amen again.
Amen.
Thank you.
There's one about the kid with the apple tree, orthe flying horse,
orthe fairy tales with the deer and stuff in them.
Daddy, what is a war?
Awar is a...
Well, it's...
It's something that shouldn't happen, but it does.
And it's when
some people in another country or any country
try to take the lives of other people.
And then soldiers like your daddy have to, you know...
It's my job to go overthere and stop them.
Are they gonna try to take your life away, Daddy?
Well, yes, Cecile, they're gonna try.
But I'm not gonna let them.
Okay?
Can't sleep?
No.
The men are so young,
and now they sent me a new crop even greener.
When I look at them,
I see our boys.
Well, then you'rejust the man to lead them.
I guess.
The Massacre
We intend to convince the Communists
that we cannot be defeated by force of arms.
I have asked the commanding general, General Westmoreland,
what more he needs to meet this mounting aggression.
He has told me
and we will meet his needs.
I have today ordered to Vietnam the Air Mobile Division
and certain otherforces which will raise ourfighting strength
from 75,000 to 125,000 men
almost immediately.
Additional forces will be needed later.
Get outyour best dresses, ladies.
They're gonna want to celebrate.
Don't you ever be sad
Lean on me when the times are bad
I didn't hearthe President mention a state of emergency.
No, he didn't.
Well, without that declaration it means our enlistments won't be extended.
I'm sorry, Hal.
Forgive me, sir, but let me get this straight.
We form a division using techniques that have never been attempted in battle
against an enemywith 20 years of combat experience on his ground
12,000 miles away from our ground.
And right before the Army sends us into the fight,
they take away a third of my men,
the most experienced third, including the officers.
I don't like it any betterthan you do, Hal.
Hell, no, sir.
You saw this coming, didn'tyou?
Yes. That's why you gave me that new crop of platoon leaders.
Korea didn't teach them anything.
- Politicians? - Politicians.
Hold me, Hold me
Never let me go
Until you've told me, told me
What I want to know and then just hold me
Hold me
Make me tell you
I'm in love with you
Thrill me, thrill me
Thank you, sir.
By the way, Hal,
since we're being deployed they're renumbering the units.
You're now the commanding officer ofthe 1st Battalion ofthe 7th Cavalry.
The 7th.
The same regiment as Custer.
Thank you, sir.
Be sensible with your new love
Don't be fooled
Thinkin' this is the last you'll find
But they never stood in the dark
With you, love
When you take me in your arms
And drive me slowly out of my mind
Kiss me, kiss me
And when you do
I know that you will miss me
Miss me
Ifwe ever say adieu
So kiss me, kiss me
Make me tell you I'm in love with you
Look around you.
In the 7th Cavalry
we got a captain from the Ukraine.
Anotherfrom Puerto Rico.
We've got Japanese, Chinese,
Blacks, Hispanics, Cherokee Indians.
Jews and Gentiles.
All Americans.
Now, here in the States,
some men in this unit
may experience discrimination because of race or creed.
But foryou and me now,
all that is gone.
We're moving into the valley ofthe shadow of death,
where you will watch the back ofthe man next to you
as he will watch yours.
And you won't care what color he is,
or by what name he calls God.
They say we're leaving home.
We're going to what home was always supposed to be.
So let us understand the situation.
We are going into battle
against a tough and determined enemy.
I can't promise you
that I will bring you all home alive.
But this I swear,
before you and before Almighty God,
that when we go into battle
I will be the first to set foot on the field
and I will be the last to step off.
And I will leave no one behind.
Dead or alive,
we will all come home together.
So help me God.
I love you.
- Hal. - Sir.
Last night the enemy hit our camp at Plei Mei.
- How many casualties? - None.
The enemy forces withdrew toward this mountain
nearthe Cambodian border.
How many men do you have battle-ready, give ortake?
- Sergeant Major? - Three hundred and ninety-five, sir.
Exactly.
What do you estimate the enemy strength?
We appraise their numbers as manageable, Colonel.
You have no idea.
We have no idea. Simple orders, Hal.
Find the enemy and kill him.
They attack us, no casualties. They run and hide in the mountains.
So naturallywe chase them, of course.
Smell like an ambush to you?
They get close enough to kill us, we'll be close enough to kill them.
Round trip by chopper, 30 minutes.
That means the first 60 men on the ground
will be there a half hour alone.
Son of a bitch.
I think maybe you ought to getyourselfthat M-16.
Time comes I need one, sir,
there'll be plenty ofthem lying on the ground.
Well, let's go do whatwe came here to do.
Yes, sir.
Garry Owen!
It was a Sunday.
November 14, 1965.
Before that day, the soldiers of North Vietnam
and those of America
had never met each other in a major battle.
Two miles out. Dropping to map ofthe earth.
First Platoon, let's move!
This is Trojan-Two.
All units maintain perimeter contact. Over.
It's a scout! Let's take him prisoner!
Hey! Lieutenant!
Lieutenant!
There he goes! Come on!
Come on!
Captain, I wantyou to keep in contact with all patrols.
Every five minutes I wantyou to update me...
Hey. Hey. Hey, I got something here. I got a boy!
Boy, hell. That ain't no boy.
- He say he deserter. - Bullshit, he's a lookout.
Ask him where his friends are.
He say this is base camp forwhole division.
- Fourthousand men. - Where?
That mountain.
Same army destroyed French.
And he say theywant kill American very badly.
Just not been able to find any yet.
Captain Metsker, tell all patrols to hold their positions.
You, take the radio!
- Where the hell are they? - Sir, we gotta get that guy!
Captain, you call in all the patrols.
We have to regroup and engage the enemy
as far away from the LZ as possible!
Net call, net call, this is Trojan-Two.
Grab the wounded! Break contact!
Fall back! Get to high ground!
Coverfire! Get to high ground!
Come on!
Watch your back!
Come on!
Come on! Get up here! Bring the wounded up to the middle!
Move it, move it!
Coverfire! Coverfire!
Everybody down! Down!
Check your ammo! Everybody check ammo!
Come on! I'll get us out of here!
Grab the wounded! We'll make a run...
- Sarge! - We gotta get out of here!
Stay down! Don't anybody move!
Bungum, stay down!
You're gonna be okay.
Stay down.
Form a perimeter!
Conserve your am
What's happening with those patrols?
I'm trying to reach them, sir!
This is Trojan-Two! Come in! Over!
Hey! Hey! Calm down!
Understand the situation and communicate clearly!
Pull the chain on all the firepower you can get onto that mountain!
Alert Crandall! We have a hot LZ!
Agent Serpent-Six, this is Trojan-Two.
You're coming into a hot LZ. We are taking fire.
Repeat. We are taking fire.
No shit.
This is Too Tall going down and dirty.
Rogerthat! Trojan-Two, out!
Herrick's platoon is cut off and under attack!
Bravo Company's holding!
They're gonna try and flank us.
On the ground now! Move!
- Watch him! - We gotta go.
We're out of here.
They're coming at us from the back now!
Move!
Savage.
All right, all right, I gotyou.
Sir?
Don't let them get the signal codes.
Rogerthat, sir. Rogerthat.
I'm glad I could die for my country.
Doc.
Bungum.
Sarge?
Tell mywife
I love her.
This is Savage.
I need artillery to these coordinates, niner-3-3-0-1.
Ernie! Ernie, help! We got more coming!
We are cut off. Copy? We are cut off.
- Fire! - Fire!
They're getting closer!
A hundred more, sir!
They're right on top of us, sir! Bring it in close!
It's a hot LZ! We'll bejumping! We will not touch down!
They're trying to break right through us!
I wantyou to reinforce Alpha Company there! Now! Move!
Follow me! Charlie Company, up on the ridge!
Doc, the wounded are over by that termite mound! Go!
Sir, ifyou don't find some cover, you're gonna go down!
Ifyou go down, we all go down! Come on!
Grenades!
I want the M60 right here!
Radio!
Sir, it's Captain Edwards on the ridge, sir!
- Bob! - Colonel, these guys are regulars!
Heavily armed! AK-47s and pouches of grenades!
Heavy machine guns and shoulder-fired rockets!
Captain Nadal!
That creek bed is vital. Vital!
Now, they'll be coming right atyou! Do not let them flank!
I repeat, do not let them flank!
Secure the creek bed!
Tom, I wantyou to keep trying to raise those medevac boys.
Tom. Tom.
I'm all right.
Charlie, come here.
I wantyou to give me all the air support you can get me on that mountain! Now!
Requesting immediate close air support!
I need you to burn them out on hilltop
Alpha, shift to Alpha Bravo!
Coordinates, golf-4-5-0-9!
- Get me something higher up! - Shifting to hilltop Bravo!
Golf-4-5-7-2!
I say again, 4-5-7-2!
Medevac Command ofthe 7th Cavalry, are you inbound?
Looks pretty hot down there.
Yeah, it's a little hot. You can make it, though.
Justwatch our approach, follow us in.
Copy that, 7th Cav. We will follow your approach.
I wantyou to get overthere and reinforce Charlie Company there!
Medevac, abort! Abort! This is a hot LZ!
You see that?
My medevac guys are bugging out and leaving the wounded!
We're going down!
- Snake, get out of here! - Bring me the wounded!
Wounded! Get the wounded!
Come on! Come on!
Okay, here!
They're still trying to flank us! Stretch out along the line!
Radio!
Trojan-Six! We are in heavy contact! In danger of being overrun!
Ifthey get into that LZ, we've all had it. Can you hold?
We're spread thin, sir, butwe'll give them hell!
Crandall, this is Trojan-Six. It's too hot down here.
- I'm closing the LZ. You copy that, Too Tall?
Copy that, Snake.
All 7th Cav air units, LZX-Ray is closed.
I don't like it. First time out, a whole battalion massacred?
You think this is a massacre?
I call losing a load of draftees a bad week.
Losing a colonel is a massacre.
Moore is still fighting.
He's under strength against more men than he can count.
- He's got a whole platoon lost. - They're not lost.
They're only cut off and surrounded.
Then they're lost.
- Sergeant Major! - Sir!
We need to carve out an emergency LZ right overthere.
- Sir! - Blow the trees down!
Fire in the hole!
Colonel, this is Snakeshit and Too Tall.
We're coming in with two full loads of ammo.
Crandall, we've blown a new LZ.
When you come in, come in from the east! Out!
Colonel, it's Brigade Headquarters. Theywantyou out.
- Well, we can't get out, damn it! - Not all of us. Justyou.
Saigon wants to debriefyou.
- That doesn't make any sense. - Say again.
Will you repeat that order?
Too Tall, follow the Colonel to the new LZ.
I see him, Snake.
Right here! Let's go! Move!
Let's move! Move!
- Oh, shit. - Come on! Come on!
- Grab him, I'll give you a hand! - Get the wounded onboard!
All right, get that ammo out and get the wounded on!
Come on, bring them on! Get them on, boys!
Come on!
No, no, we're overloaded!
- Leave him! - I'll get out! It's Ray!
He's hurtworse than me!
You hang on! I'll see you back there, Ray!
You, me and Ouellette are all we have in reserve.
Yeah, but it's slacking up a little.
No, they'rejust regrouping for another assault.
Distribute that ammo.
Ouellette, you tell Crandall he's got time to get one more flight in here.
Yes, sir.
Doc, you give this water to the wounded.
Running out ofwater. Must be terrible forthem.
Those guys are cut off out there.
Running low on ammo, Sarge!
Pick yourtarget. One shot, one kill. All right?
- Rogerthat, Sarge. - Howwe doing, Doc?
What? Ernie, we're out ofwater.
That's the last of it.
My face is on fire! Help!
It's phosphorus! Hold still! Hold still!
I'll cutyourface! Hold still!
Doc, Doc, it's phosphorus!
Okay!
Does anybody have any more bandages?
Ernie!
Ernie, you hit, too?
- You hit? - No, no, I'm okay.
Our guys are gonna come for us, aren't they?
Yeah.
When?
Plug his wound.
That's the main LZ, but it's closed.
Go! Move!
- Go, Parker! Get up in there! - This is Too Tall. I'm clear.
Crandall's clear.
Colonel!
I wantyou to go overthere and reinforce that company!
- On that ridge there! Look! - Yes, sir!
Okay! Keep your head down!
To the top ofthe ridge! Move it!
Come on, let's move! Move!
Run! Come on!
Captain Nadal, we've got to break through to that cut off platoon!
We got an American platoon out there.
An Air Cav platoon cut off out there!
Air Cav! Air Cav!
Garry Owen!
He said, "Really? Me, too. "
I said, "I know. Your mama asked me to give you $600."
Hey! Good luck to you.
Hey, you got enough room for one more?
- Ifyou're crazy enough, get in. - Yes, sir.
Hey, what are those lights down there?
Enemy soldiers.
They use candles on the trail.
They're moving into position to attack.
Here we go!
Unload that shit! Let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go!
You and your boys have done a hell of ajob today, Snake.
It's the last flight forthe night, Colonel,
but you need us, you call us.
- Who the hell are you? - I'm a reporter, sir.
Yeah.
Joe Galloway, UPI. How's it going, Colonel?
Well, we've been flat to the boards since last night,
and we're greatly outnumbered.
You got more enemy coming, too, sir.
I saw a whole chain of lights
coming down the mountain on the way in.
- Is that so? - Yes, sir.
Well, I can't guarantee your safety.
Yes, sir, I know.
- Where you from, son? - Refugio, Texas, sir.
Well, that's the first thing I heard all day that makes any sense.
Captain Dillon, do you see those lights
coming down the trails on the mountain?
- On it right now, sir. - You fry them sons of bitches.
Whiskey-Six, this is Trojan-Three. Fire mission.
Tango Foxtrot, 4-niner-6-5-6-niner.
All operations are suspended forthe evening.
Morning operations will be scheduled for 0530 hours.
Where's Crandall?
- Where's Crandall? - He's right there, sir.
Crandall, you led my men into a hot LZ.
Yeah, somebody had to fly out the wounded.
No, no, don'tyou play hotshotwith me.
Now, you know the rules. You suckered us in there.
Ifyou ever do it again, I'm gonna have you busted!
You got the balls to face me, but not the balls to face the enemy?
Hey, hey, hey!
- Get out of here. - Whoa!
I ever see you again, I'll kill you.
That's right.
Hey.
Quite a day, huh?
Tomorrowwill be worse.
Ifthey make it to tomorrow.
Ernie, it's pitch black.
I can't see anything, but I can smell them.
Dead bodies stink, Bungum.
No, it's not the dead ones. I can smell them crawling up on us.
I'm telling you.
I need illumination, 6-5-0-1-5-0.
I need artillery on previously established targets!
Alpha, Bravo and Charlie! Fire for effect!
Save your ammo! Cease fire!
Is anybody hit?
Captain, ifyou guys are coming, you gotta let us know.
It's pitch black out here.
I don'twanna shoot any of our own guys. Copy?
Savage,
we can't make it tonight.
Don't worry. You're gonna make it.
We'll come get you in the morning.
Yes, sir.
Out.
You're doing a finejob, son.
Don'tworry. We gave them more than they gave us today.
Keep it up.
- How you boys doing? - Fine, sir.
You keep doing whatyou're doing, we'll be fine.
Your men have done a hell of ajob today, Lieutenant Geoghegan.
Theywon't get through us, sir. You can count on it.
I know that, Jack.
Keep it up, son.
It's Rear Headquarters.
How is it out there, Colonel?
We're surrounded, butwe're holding on, sir.
Sir, I need a confirmed count of our dead and wounded.
I got to knowwhere all my boys are.
You'll get it, Hal.
Here they come.
Captain Edwards.
We need illumination on the perimeter.
Whiskey-Five, this is Hot Wire-Six-Alpha.
We need illumination now.
Cathy?
A telegram.
A cab delivers a telegram.
"The Secretary ofthe Army
"regrets... "
Mrs. Moore?
Colonel Moore's wife?
Yes.
I need help finding an address.
- I'm looking for... - You jackass!
Do you knowwhat this is? Do you knowwhatyou just did to me?
I don't like thisjob, ma'am.
I'm just trying to do it.
Wait.
I'll take it to her.
And tell the cab company,
ifthere are any others, just bring them to me.
Julie.
I justwent by to see Catherine.
Everybody knows.
No chaplains or counselors? Cab drivers?
The Armywasn't ready.
I'll go with you.
- Thanks. - Who's it for?
Mmm-mmm.
No.
Mmm-mmm.
I thought she would hate me.
Your husband didn't start the war.
They all knew this could happen, and so did we.
I'll take care ofthis.
I'll go with you.
We'll do one at a time. Okay?
- We won't look. - Okay.
Julie, do you think there'll be more telegrams tomorrow?
Ifthere are, come and get me.
In the name ofthe Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, amen.
"Out ofthe depths I cry unto thee, O Lord.
"Lord, hear my voice:
"let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.
"Ifthou, O Lord, shall mark our iniquities,
"Lord, who can abide them?
"Butwith thee there is mercy. "
Grant them eternal rest, O Lord,
and may perpetual light shine upon them.
And through the mercy of God, may they rest in peace. Amen.
In the name ofthe Father, and the Son and the Holy Ghost.
You got a death wish, Galloway?
No, sir.
Well, then why are you here?
'Cause I knew these dead boys would be here, sir.
Why aren'tyou a soldier? You got the guts for it.
My daddywas a soldier.
My granddaddy,
two of my great-granddaddies were soldiers.
Hell, that's how I came to be.
See, each ofthem lost a leg in the Civil War.
My Great-Granddaddy Galloway, he lost his left,
and my Great-Granddaddy Reid lost his right.
They met in a shoe store in Galveston.
Every year afterthat, same date, same store, they'd get together
and pick out a brand new pair of shoes forthe two ofthem.
- You are shitting me. - No, sir.
I swearto God.
Anyway, one had a daughter, one had a son, my grandparents.
What the hell do you suppose the odds
ofthem having the same shoe size was?
I don't know, Colonel. Itwas meant to be, I guess.
Yeah.
Meant to be.
You know, sir, Galloways have been in everywarthis country's everfought.
When it came to this one, I didn't think I could stop a war.
You know,
I just thought maybe I might try and understand one.
Maybe help folks back home understand.
I just figure I could do that better
shooting a camera than I could shooting a rifle.
Well...
I sure hope you make it through this one.
You, too, Colonel.
Right 20!
Put it right on them!
Colonel, sir.
- Captain Nadal. - Sir.
What is it, sir?
Nothing's wrong, except there's nothing wrong.
Best get back to the termite mound. You'll be fine. Go on.
Rogerthat, sir. Come on!
All right, pass the word on.
Every man fire three rounds at anything that looks suspicious to him.
On my signal.
They're gonna hit us like this along the whole perimeter.
We gotta get back to that termite mound.
Better hang here a minute, sir!
Shit.
We need a medic!
Sir! Sir!
Captain Edwards, Charlie Company, on the ridge.
Bob.
They're inside the artillery!
I need...
Bob. Bob!
Godboldt, I need a grenade!
Go, Willie! Come on, let's go!
Godboldt's down!
I'll get him!
Willie!
Get those guys some help overthere!
Captain Dillon, I wantyou to get Bravo Company
to send a platoon across the LZ and support Charlie Company.
Bravo-Six, this is Trojan-Three. Bravo-Six, this is Trojan-Three.
And tell Charlie Company to get real small in their holes.
I'm gonna drop some artillery right on top ofthem!
Charlie Company, get small.
We gotAT coming right on top ofyour position.
We're being overrun!
Nah, boys! We're gonna win this fight.
Yes, sir, they brought a main force VC battalion against us, too.
Colonel, I request thatyou dispatch another company of reinforcements
for movement as soon as it can be accomplished
without undue risk.
Done. How bad is it, Hal?
It's getting pretty sporty down here, sir.
Get out ofthe way!
Medic! Get a medic over here!
- Hey, what's your name, soldier? - Jimmy Nakayama.
I got a baby being born today.
- Oh, wow! Congratulations! - Thanks!
Medic!
Can't take no pictures lying down there, sonny.
Down, right there.
Sir, how... I'm a noncombatant, sir.
Ain't no such thing today, boy.
Shit.
Why aren't those mortars firing?
What's the problem here?
These tubes are red hot, sir.
I'm afraid we're gonna cook a round off and blow us all up.
And we can't cool them off 'cause we're all out ofwater.
Come on! What are you waiting for?
Jimmy, come on.
Go, go, go.
Yeah, come on.
Gentlemen,
prepare to defend yourselves.
Grenade!
Negative! Negative! Stand by!
My pilots do not see the enemy.
They cannot pick out ourfriendlies.
Bravo-Six, say again. Do you read?
You gotta tell your company commander to pop smoke now.
- They need to mark the lines right now! - We have no lines!
We have enemies and friendlies mixed in all overthe place right now.
Sir, our perimeter is collapsing.
Alpha Company and Bravo Company cannot hold.
Charlie Company is being overrun.
Net call! Net call!
Keep this net clear!
Hastings!
Broken arrow!
I say again! Broken arrow!
Broken arrow!
Confirm. Broken arrow.
Broken arrow confirmed.
Broken arrow?
That means that an American unit has been overrun.
It calls in every combat aircraft for support.
My God, there's no hiding it now.
- Charlie Company, report! - Signal is out!
Bravo Company, report!
Rogerthat! Planes are on theirway, Colonel!
Sir!
Rogerthat!
We have planes stacked up at every 1,000 feet
from 7,000 to 35,000. We'll get them, sir!
Advancing north on our position at 1-5-0.
9-6-2-5-0-7...
Bring it in closer in on 3-1-5 degrees!
That's 0-5-0! Repeat, 0-5-0!
Goddamn it.
Company sights enemy in the open, advancing north on our position.
They're advancing on 5 degrees at 1-5-0.
Bring it in closer in on 315 degrees at 0-5-0...
Charlie, call that son of a bitch off!
Call an abort now!
Pull up!
Get down!
Charlie!
Charlie, listen to me. You're keeping us alive now.
You forget about that one and you keep them coming in.
You're doing well, son.
7-0-2, attack against the tree line.
Medic! Medic!
Medic!
- Oh, God! Jimmy. - You know this guy?
You know him? Talk to him. Just talk to him!
Jimmy, do you hear me?
It's Joe. It's Joe Galloway.
Doc's giving you morphine. We're gonna getyou out of here.
We gotta get him to the landing zone. Grab his legs!
You gotta get him out of here. Hey! Hey!
I can't help you! You gotta do it by yourself!
- Get him on that chopper, okay? - Yes, sir.
Tell mywife I love her
and my baby!
You tell them!
- Captain Nadal. - Sir.
Now thatwe put them back on their heels and we got us a lull,
I wantyou to attack.
I want you to go overthere and rescue that cut off platoon.
Yes, sir! First Squad, move out!
Come on, guys. Move it!
Add 50.
Keep moving the artillery forward!
Keep walking the artillery forward!
Spread it out!
Move it!
Move it! Keep moving forward!
Sergeant Savage, you guys still here?
We have 40 KIA, we have two MIA.
Those are the latest numbers. Over.
That's a nice day, Sergeant Savage.
Forty dead, two unaccounted for, sir.
Right.
All right, boys, let's get them up and get them out.
Let's get them out of here and get them on the chopper!
Since most ofthe men being loaded on the choppers
are from Charlie Company, I wantyou to take their place.
I'll show you where after dark. Follow me.
Yes, sir! Let's go!
Captain, you ought to have your men dig some firing steps in these holes.
Throw some dirt on those bodies, keep the smell down.
Roger, Sergeant Major.
Kind of makes you wish you'd signed up for submarines, don't it?
Colonel, Brigade Headquarters wants you lifted out
on the first chopper at dawn.
Now, what idiotwould keep ordering that in the middle of a goddamn battle?
General Westmoreland wants a briefing.
Give me the horn.
I am in a fight
and I object to this order to return to Saigon.
Now, I will not leave my men.
Is that clear? Out.
There's two of my men unaccounted for out there
and it's where the worst ofthe fighting was,
so I figure they'll be out there someplace.
Let's go out and get them. What do you say?
- I'm with you, sir. - All right.
Let's go.
Julie?
They brought another.
- Oh, God. Julie. Julie, it's yours. - No.
He died keeping my promise.
Sir, they're ordering us all out.
All of us.
They're gonna march reinforcements in.
They don't understand a damn thing, do they?
Can't get out.
He's waiting up there in a cave, and that's what he wants.
The minute he sees live soldiers hopping on a helicopter,
he'll be all over us and then he'll getwhat he wants.
He'll get his massacre.
Requesting permission to rejoin the line, sir.
All right, son.
Garry Owen, sir.
I wonderwhatwas going through Custer's mind
when he realized he'd led his men into a slaughter.
Sir, Custerwas a pussy.
You ain't.
Goddamn.
Hell.
Right now they're planning theirfinal attack,
the one that's gonna finish us off.
They'll nibble at us all night,
then come dawn, they'll hit us with everything they got.
I know that's what I'd do if I was him.
Sergeant Major, hand out the last ofthe ammunition.
Yes, sir.
Fix bayonets.
You were wondering how Custerfelt, sir.
You ought to ask him.
Sergeant Savage!
Checking the dead enemies for documents
and I found this on the guy that tried to bayonetyou.
Translated some of it, mostly personal.
Thoughtyou mightwanna have a look at it.
- Joe! - Joe!
- Whatwas that? - It's American artillery.
Friendly fire.
Hey, how many casualties?
What the hell happened here, Joe?
- Hey, Joe. - Hey, Joe.
Colonel Moore! Colonel Moore!
Colonel! Colonel Moore!
Colonel!
Whatwas the key to your victory, Colonel?
Sir, tell us how you feel.
Do you feel the United States will be forced
to take the North Vietnamese more seriously now?
How do you feel about the loss ofyour men, sir?
Have you notified the families, sir?
I'm glad you made it, son.
Thank you, sir. You, too.
Yeah.
I'll neverforgive myself.
Forwhat, sir?
That my men...
That my men died and I didn't.
Sir, I don't...
I don't know how to tell this story.
Well, you got to, Joe.
You tell the American people what these men did here.
You tell them how my troopers died.
Yes, sir.
Thank you.
All of our men, living and dead, are offthe field, sir.
Well done, Sergeant Major.
In Saigon, Hal Moore's superiors congratulated him
for killing over 1,800 enemy soldiers.
Then ordered him to lead the men ofthe 7th Cavalry
back into the Valley of Death.
He led them and fought beside them
for 235 more days.
Kids, go to bed.
- Isn't there someone at the door? - Go to bed!
Children, your daddy's home!
Daddy! Daddy!
Some had families waiting.
For others, their only family would be the men they bled beside.
There were no bands, no flags,
no Honor Guards to welcome them home.
They went to war because their country ordered them to.
But in the end they fought not fortheir country ortheirflag.
They fought for each other.
Dear Barbara,
I have no words to express to you my sadness at the loss of Jack.
The world is a lesser place without him.
But I know he is with God and the angels.
And even heaven is improved by his presence there.
I know you, too, are sure ofthis
and yet this knowledge can't diminish his loss
and your grief.
With abiding respect and affection, Hal Moore.
We who have seen war, will never stop seeing it.
In the silence ofthe night, we will always hearthe screams.
So this is our story,
forwe were soldiers once,
and young.