LZ Albany Anniversary.

The History Junkie noticed that We Were Soldiers (Widescreen Edition) is again making a run through the movie channels.  It reminded HJ that it’s that time of year again–the battle’s anniversary.

The movie portrays the three-day engagement at LZ X-ray.  But what it leaves out is the subsequent battle at LZ Albany.  Forty-five years ago today, the already battle-weary 2nd Battalion of the 7th Cavalry lumbered from LZ X-ray to LZ Albany on foot.

Joel Sugdinis commanded Company A.  “In moving into the clearing, our recon platoon was on the point,” he said. “I sent 1st Platoon around to the right and 2nd Platoon around to the left of the clearing to secure the perimeter.  But then, they hit.  It started out with just a few shots, then hours of hell!”

The fighting quickly deteriorated into  hand-to-hand combat.  Outnumbered, the 2nd Battalion was soon overrun, awash in enemy attackers.  In We were Soldiers Once…And Young: Ia Drang–The Battle That Changed The War In Vietnam, Moore and Galloway described the exchange as the “most savage one-day battle of the Vietnam War.”

Later in the day, air support helped stabilize the once desperate situation.  But for most, the assistance came too late.  In bearing the brunt of the early battle, Alpha Company’s 1st and 2nd Platoons suffered massive losses, with only eight known survivors.  The rest of the brave lot, including Albion, Indiana’s Dennis Black, died fighting.

The 2nd of the 7th, which entered the encounter at nearly 400 men strong, sustained a shocking 70% casualty rate, with 155 dead and 124 wounded.  Black’s mother, Evelyn received the news of her son’s death via a taxi-delivered Western Union telegram.

For “extraordinary heroism” in action during the Pleiku Campaign, the 1st Air Cavalry Division received the Presidential Unit Citation.  Each year, the survivors of the Ia Drang River Valley Campaign congregate to renew old acquaintances and pay tribute to faces gone, but never forgotten.

One Response to “LZ Albany Anniversary”

1. Bear says:

   January 22, 2012 at 1:25 am

   I learned of Dennis’ death in December, 1965 while reading a local Churubusco newspaper standing in the chow line at the US Army post at Fort Sill, Okla. Friend of Dennis Black from the Class of 62.

   Reply