Information

Casualties



North Vietnamese:

Killed (body count) = 1,519
Killed (estimated but couldn't be counted) = 2,042
Total = 3,561

Wounded = 1,178
Captured = 157

1st Cavalry:

Killed = 304
Wounded = 524
Captured = 0

The entire campaign lasted 35 days.


Day 1

At 10:48 AM, on November 14, Hal Moore was the first man out of the lead helicopter to hit the landing zone. He was in command of the under strength 450 man 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry air assault. Within an hour, a fierce battle was under way between the American Air Cav troopers and the 9th Battalion of the 66th Regiment of the Peoples Army of Vietnam. The American Commander, Lt.Col Moore, was faced with three on-going tasks to be accomplished:

Shuttle in the rest of his men from 14 miles to the south, on 16 Huey helicopters.

Hold onto the clearing so that the Hueys can land and take off.

Push the North Vietnamese as far into the jungle as possible to maintain control of the edges of the clearing.

The afternoon was exhausted by a dangerous fire-storm battle for survival in 100 degree heat. In the action, a 29 man Cavalry platoon was surrounded by 200 enemies. Massive air and artillery fire support occured and the diciplined Cavalrymen held onto the landing zone clearing against 7-1 odds and caused the PAVN units to fall back and break contact by late afternoon. During the fighting, brave Huey pilots landed their choppers under fire during the action to bring in ammo and water and carry out the wounded. During the first day of fighting, the 1st battalion, 7th Cavalry is reduced to approximately 340 officers and men; none missing. PAVN had many more casualties than America, due to awesome American fire support.
Day 2
Before morning, Moore ordered his company commanders to meet with him, prior to an attack, to rescue the still cut-off platoon. Before this meeting took place, the PAVN launched a heavy attack which shattered the early morning like a huge explosion. C Company of the Cavalry Battalion bore the brunt of the assault and was soon involved in hand to hand combat. The code word "Broken Arrow" was sent out over the radio and within minutes, all available fighter bombers in South Vietnam were headed for landing zone X-ray to help with close air support of "an American unit in grave danger of being overrun". A 3 hour battle ensued that featured non-stop 105mm artillery and aerial rockets. At the end of the battle, C company held its ground, but 42 officers were killed and 20 were wounded. No officers were left behind and 49 men were unhurt. Many North Vietnamese and their weapons littered the bloody battleground. At noon, reinforcements (2nd Bn,5th Cav) arrived from a landing zone 2 miles away. They joined with the 7th cavalry that was cut off. Of the 29 man platoon, 9 were killed and 13 wounded. The cut off platoon was then replaced by B company 2nd battalion, 7th cavalry. The new battalion then formed a strong perimeter and prepared for the night.
Day 3
The commander of the PAVN knew that C company was very weak but he did not know that the fresh B company of the 2nd battalion had taken over. Prior to the battle the new company had dug new fox holes, fired in artillery concentrations, placed their machine guns and piled up ammo. The PAVN attacked an additional four separate times but were stopped each time, loosing over 200 men. Finally, a sweep outward was made which resulted in more enemy dead and the position secured.

Information

Casualties

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

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