Graham Boone- We Were Soldiers Once... And Young

I chose to read the book We Were Soldiers Once... And Young because I had seen the movie before and it was excellent. This book gave a very detailed description of the battles at Landing Zone X-ray and Albany during the Vietnam War. The Author of this book was General Harold Moore. He was assisted by Joseph Galloway, a reporter who experienced the heart of the battle at Landing Zone X-ray. In the battles at both X-ray and Albany the American forces were greatly out numbered. Great leadership and planning in the first battle at LZ X-ray led to an American victory, but the Americans were slaughtered at Albany. At Albany the majority of the soldiers were lost and those who survived were generally injured. What made these early battles in the Vietnam War so important was the use of the newly emerging Air Calvary Unit. This consisted of a large group of helicopters used for both transportation and cover fire. Without this new addition to the American military, the overwhelming number of North Vietnamese Soldiers would have quickly exhausted the American forces in battle. Despite the new innovative methods used in the Vietnam War, it was eventually found to be a lost cause. As the Vietnamese Military was able to seek safety in Cambodia the American forces had no chance of winning the war.
Overall, I thought this book was quite interesting but it was very hard to follow at times because of the ridiculous amount of soldier names and locations mentioned.