Remembering our Korean and Vietnam War veterans.
I’m not sure if everyone caught this, but General Hal Moore passed away on February 10, 2017. In 1965, then Lt. Colonel Hal Moore was in command of the 1st Battalion, 7th Calvary Regiment (the same regiment that that Lt. Colonel George Armstrong Custer was in command of at Little Big Horn) during the Battle of Ia Drang Valley, Vietnam.
The Battle of Ia Drang Valley was first major engagement between the United States Army and the People’s Army of Vietnam (the NVA). The critically acclaimed book “We Were Soldiers Once…And Young”, which documents the two-day battle, was written by Hal Moore and Joseph Galloway in 1992. Mel Gibson portrayed Lt. Colonel Moore in the movie, “We Were Soldiers”, which was based on the book.
Command Sergeant Major Basil Plumley passed away on October 10, 2012. Sergeant Plumley was a combat veteran of both WWII and Vietnam, and was Colonel Moore’s NCOIC during the Ia Drang Battle. In this scene, Sergeant Plumley, who is portrayed by the incomparable Sam Eliot, interacts with newspaper correspondent and photographer Joseph Galloway.
Joe Galloway would later co-write the book “We Were Soldiers Once…and Young” with Hal Moore about the Ia Drang Valley battle. Joe Galloway was awarded the Bronze Star with “V” device in 1998 for risking his life trying to save wounded soldiers during this engagement. He is a consultant on Ken Burns Vietnam documentary that is supposed to air later this year. He is currently residing in Concord, North Carolina.
Over the past few years, a lot of attention has been paid to the surviving WWII veterans. This is as it should be, because there are so few of them left and a little piece of history disappears as each one them passes away. But the Korean and even the Vietnam veterans aren’t all that behind the WWII vets in age. The Korean war started just 5 years after the end of WWII. The first military advisors to Vietnam deployed in 1955.
Consider that the United States ended combat operations in Vietnam in 1973. If a hypothetical Vietnam vet who turned 18 and was deployed to Vietnam that year, he or she was born in 1955. That means the youngest Vietnam vet is now eligible for Social Security this year. How many of the stories from these two wars are being lost each day?
MSgt John H. Hickey, Da Nang Air Base, Vietnam, circa 1965-66.
Joseph Galloway was interviewed for the History Channel’s “Vietnam in HD” documentary. He said something that really hit home for me. He said “they say the WWII generation was the Greatest Generation. Those who fought in America’s wars since then were the greatest of their generation”.
If you know a veteran from either the Korean war or the Vietnam war, take some time out of your day and ask them about their experiences. Let us also not forget those who kept the home fires burning. If you know a spouse, sibling, children or even just friend of those who deployed, ask them about their stories as well. They are all living pieces of history and should be treasured as such.
