spectr17
12-09-2001, 07:44 PM
http://www.weweresoldiers.com/images/splash_03.jpg
The movie is base on the book "We Were Soldiers Once...and Young : Ia Drang : The Battle That Changed the War in Vietnam" by Harold G. Moore, Joseph Galloway.
http://www.lzxray.com/cover.jpg
In the first significant engagement between American troops and the Viet Cong, 450 U.S. soldiers found themselves surrounded and outnumbered by their enemy. This book tells the story of how they battled between October 23 and November 26, 1965. Its prose is gritty, not artful, delivering a powerful punch of here-and-now descriptions that could only have been written by people actually on the scene.
In fact, they were: Harold Moore commanded the men of the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, who did most of the fighting, and Joseph Galloway was the only reporter present throughout the battle's 34 harrowing days. We Were Soldiers Once... combines their memories with more than 100 in-depth interviews with survivors on both sides.
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1433603&a=13696121&p=53552584&Sequence=0&res=high
The Battle of Ia Drang also highlights a technological advance that would play an enormous role in the rest of the war: this was perhaps the first place where helicopter-based, air-mobile operations demonstrated their combat potential. At bottom, however, this is a tale of heroes and heroism, some acts writ large, others probably forgotten but for this telling. It was a bestseller when first published, and remains one of the better books available on combat during the Vietnam War. --John J. Miller
Read the book first if you can.
Amazon,com to order the book. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/006...1771250-0662562 (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060975768/o/qid%3D978729367/sr%3D8-1/ref%3Daps%5Fsr%5Fb%5F1%5F1/102-1771250-0662562)
Barnes and Noble to order the book http://shop.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/...erid=6BVNC88RTE (http://shop.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/results.asp?WRD=We+were+Young+Once&userid=6BVNC88RTE)
Quicktime Movie Trailer ###http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/we_were_soldiers/
Film Website ###www.WeWereSoldiersFILM.com (http://www.WeWereSoldiersFILM.com)
LZ Xray website ###http://www.lzxray.com
Lt. Rick “Hard Core” Rescorla, was one of the heroes of the 1965 battle of the Ia Drang Valley in Vietnam.
“Rick was the best combat leader I ever saw in Vietnam,” said Pat Payne, the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment’s reconnaissance platoon leader in Ia Drang.
Featured in book
Rescorla’s role in that battle is recounted in detail in the book “We Were Soldiers Once… And Young,” a searing account of the action by retired Lt. Gen. Harold “Hal” Moore and Joe Galloway. In 1965, Moore was a battalion commander in the center of the battle, and Galloway was a UPI reporter who covered the entire engagement.
Even those only vaguely familiar with the book have seen Rescorla’s image — he is the gaunt soldier on the cover with the 2-day old beard and the bayonet fixed to his M16.
http://www.lzxray.com/18.jpg
When Rescorla showed up for Basic Training at Benning in 1963, he’d already seen more adventure than most soldiers do in a lifetime. Born in Cornwall, England, he joined the British army’s Paratroop Regiment as a teen-ager, then became a military intelligence warrant officer. He served in that position in Cyprus during the violence that wracked that island in the 1950s, then left the British Army for a London police job in Scotland Yard’s famous “Flying Squad” of detectives.
He left England for another military job, this time as a commando in the Rhodesian Colonial security force in Africa. From there he came to seek his fortune in the United States.
After breezing through basic training, Rescorla was picked up for Officer Candidate School. Last year he was inducted into the OCS Hall of Fame.
He graduated as a second lieutenant in 1965, just in time to ship out to Vietnam with the 1st Air Cavalry Division. In November of that year, still a British citizen, he would draw on all his youthful experience in the battle of the Ia Drang.
Headed the ‘Hard Corps’
Ia Drang was the Army’s first major battle in Vietnam, and one of its bloodiest. The battle claimed 305 American lives, soldiers who died in fierce combat with a North Vietnamese regiment that also took heavy losses. Rescorla commanded 1st Platoon, B Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, and was almost worshipped by his soldiers, who called themselves the “Hard Corps” after his nickname. But his courage and infectious optimism resonated beyond those under his immediate command.
Payne remembers Rescorla “leaping off [a] chopper and strutting into our small very beat-up group of survivors” during the night. After placing his men to fill the gaps in Payne’s line and pausing to speak quietly to each soldier, he walked toward Payne.
“I was so amazed to see him walking around because we had all been crawling on our stomachs for eight hours,” Payne said. Speaking in a low, confident voice, Rescorla complimented Payne on establishing good fields of fire.
“Then he looked me in the eye and said, ‘When the sun comes up we are going to kick some ass.’ I will never forget his words or the look in his eye. He said it in a confident, matter-of-fact way. He was not boasting, it was resolve.”
Rescorla earned a Silver Star for his actions at Ia Drang, and, in Moore’s words, “went on to establish himself as a living legend in the 7th Cav in Vietnam.”
PRODUCERS ; Mel Gibson , Bruce Davey , Randall Wallace
Director : Randall Wallace
Screenplay : Randall Wallace
Release Date: Summer 2002 or earlier
Australian Release: Early 2002 (source: THR, 8/16/01)
Distributor: Paramount Pictures (picked up out of turnaround from Revolution Studios)
Production Companies: Icon Productions (Mel Gibson), The Wheelhouse (Randall Wallace)
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1433603&a=13696121&p=53552583&Sequence=0&res=high
Cast overview:
Mel Gibson .... Lt. Col. Hal Moore
Greg Kinnear .... Maj. Bruce 'Snakeshit' Crandall
Madeleine Stowe .... Julie Moore
Sam Elliott .... Sgt-Maj. Basil Plumley
Chris Klein .... Lt. Jack Geoghegan
Josh Daugherty .... Ouelette
Barry Pepper .... Joe Galloway
Keri Russell .... Barbara Geoghegan
Joshua McLaurin .... Greg Moore
Edwin Morrow .... Godboldt
Mike White (IV) .... SFC Haffner
Mark McCracken .... Ed "Too Tall" Freeman
Jsu Garcia .... Capt. Nadal
Tim Abell .... Army Intel Officer
Vincent Angell .... Doc Carrara
Robert Bagnell .... Charlie Hastings
Dan Beene .... Cab Driver
Luke Benward .... David Moore
Marc Blucas .... Lt. Herrick
Sean Bunch .... Trooper #4
Brian Carpenter (I) .... Robert McNamara
Doug C. Cook .... Capt. Ray Lefebvre
Alan Dale (III) .... Westmoreland
Don Duong .... Ahn
Cliff Fleming .... Mills
Brendan Ford .... Jump Coordinator
Michael Giordani .... French Lt.
Clark Gregg .... Capt. Metsker
Jim Grimshaw .... Gen. Kinnard
Jon Hamm .... Capt. Dillon
Desmond Harrington .... Beck
Blake Heron .... Bungum
Joseph Hieu .... NVA Major
Vien Hong .... Mr. Nik
Nicholas Hosking .... French Captain
Ryan Hurst .... Sgt. Savage
Jonathan Parks Jordan .... White Pvt.
Derrell Keith Lester .... Black Pvt.
Simbi Khali .... Alma Givens
Shepard Koster .... Reporter #1
Matthew Lang .... Lt. John Arrington
Maia Lien .... Army Wife
Kate Lombardi .... Reporter #2
Erik MacArthur .... Adams
Sloane Momsen .... Cecile Moore
Taylor Momsen .... Little Julie Moore
Steven Nelson .... Charlie Lose Randy Oglesby .... Lt. Col. List Jay Powell .... Sergeant
Lee Reynolds (III) .... Chopper Crew
John Paul Rice .... Pvt. John Perry
Daniel Roebuck .... Medivac C.O.
Forry Smith .... Sgt. Palmer
Patrick St. Esprit .... General #2
Keith Szarabajka .... Diplomatic Spook
Brian Tee .... Nakayama
Keni Thomas .... Sergeant
Michael Tomlinson (IV) .... Col. Brown
Billinjer C. Tran .... Viet Minh St.
Joseph Tran .... NVA Prisoner
Dylan Walsh .... Capt. Edwards
Devon Werkheiser .... Steve Moore
Bellamy Young .... Cathy Metsker
http://thewall-usa.com/wallpics/goldwall.jpg
More than 600 California Army and Air Guardsmen will have supporting roles in the Vietnam era movie, We Were Soldiers Once and Young. Produced by Icon Productions and Paramount Pictures, movie producers sought Department of Defense and California National Guard support for the movie. In addition to renting an assault vehicle land bridge, hueys, and trucks, producers are paying more than 600 soldiers and airmen to play extras.
The Guardsmen recreate a battle known as the “Valley of Death” in Vietnam. The producers filmed the scene at Ft. Hunter Liggett April 1-June 1, 2001.
Surrounded by more than 2000 North Vietnamese Army soldiers, the movie portrays a force led by Lt. Col. Hal Moore (played my Mel Gibson) that recreates one of the most savage battles in U.S. history. The extras reenacted the uncommon valor, loyalty, and love that the young men displayed that day while fighting in a small clearing near a landing zone.
The Department of Defense sanctioned the movie and producers have contracted the services and equipment from the California National Guard for this film. Department of Defense Instruction 5410.16 allows military personnel in “an off-duty, non-official status” to accept jobs as actors, extras, etc., “provided there is no conflict with any existing service regulation. Contractual arrangements are solely between those individuals and the production company; however, the military encourages the producers to ensure payment is consistent with current industry standards.”
http://www.vvm.com/~firstcav/stamp.jpg
Entertainment Tonight Interview of Mel Gibson about the film….
"Many of them sacrificed themselves..."
April 05, 2001
ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT: You actually had to go through boot camp for this, right?
MEL GIBSON: Yeah, but it wasn't real boot camp, it was like celebrity sort of wimp boot camp. What the real Rangers go through is pretty heavy. They put them through sheer misery.
ET: What was the hardest part?
MEL: Oh, for an old 45-year-old like me, it was trying to keep up with the 24-year-olds.
ET: I would think the wisdom and experience would make a difference.
MEL: No, it doesn't do much for your lungs or limbs. But, it was fun. The effect that it had was that it bonded us a little, because we sort of hung out and accomplished a little something together.
ET: Which of the guys that you have with you in boot camp would you most want to go into battle with?
MEL: The ones with the most jokes. No, they're all good kids. They're great.
ET: THIS IS SUCH AN INTENSE STORY.
MEL: ABSOLUTELY,IT HAS NEEDED TO BE TOLD FOR AWHILE. There's a paragraph in JOE GALLOWAY's book, where this story comes from. It says, "Hollywood got it wrong every time. They were sharpening their twisted political knives on the bones of our dead brothers." That's the aspect that's been overlooked. It's the truth. There's some truth in some of those other films, but they tended to focus on the negative, and not show the other side. Not that there's anything positive about war, I don't think there is, and whether you agree with that conflict or not, and I don't know that I do, it doesn't change the fact that men had to go and deal with it. Many of them sacrificed themselves.
ET: You've gotten to meet Hal Moore, the character you're playing.
MEL: Yeah, I've spent a fair amount of time with him -- a tremendous and extraordinary man. You read the book and you hear about his exploits, and it's phenomenal what he was able to achieve. He was undermanned and outnumbered and he prevailed. But, to meet him, he's more extraordinary than what you would imagine. But there's a simplicity and earnestness, and he's just an ordinary guy, you know. You think he's going to be some big warhorse, and he is a warrior, but he's just a regular family guy.
ET: Do you find that it's a greater responsibility playing a role when the person is standing right there while you're doing a scene?
MEL: Yeah, it doesn't make me edgy or nervous or anything. I kind of feel like I hooked up with him. I kind of know fundamentally what I need to know. I'm sure I don't know everything, and he wasn't going to reveal everything. He doesn't need to; I think I can sort of fill in the blanks a little bit. I think I'm a human being and capable of understanding. Whether I'd be capable of what he did, I have no idea, I will never know, I hope. But I can certainly imagine what that's like.
ET: Can you give us a 15-minute synopsis of what this movie is about?
MEL: There was a new kind of warfare. They had choppers; this was air cavalry which had never been tried before. It was revolutionary, and it was the first major battle of the Vietnam war, in the Ia Drang Valley. They went in, and the landing zone wasn't big enough to accommodate all the choppers. They were in the foot of the mountain in the Ia Drang Valley and they were vastly outnumbered by a big force. They were uniformed and weaponed up and AK-47ed out and they were just way outnumbered. They had just one agenda -- attack and take them out.
http://members.aol.com/Cinderiia/rem2.jpg
The movie is base on the book "We Were Soldiers Once...and Young : Ia Drang : The Battle That Changed the War in Vietnam" by Harold G. Moore, Joseph Galloway.
http://www.lzxray.com/cover.jpg
In the first significant engagement between American troops and the Viet Cong, 450 U.S. soldiers found themselves surrounded and outnumbered by their enemy. This book tells the story of how they battled between October 23 and November 26, 1965. Its prose is gritty, not artful, delivering a powerful punch of here-and-now descriptions that could only have been written by people actually on the scene.
In fact, they were: Harold Moore commanded the men of the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, who did most of the fighting, and Joseph Galloway was the only reporter present throughout the battle's 34 harrowing days. We Were Soldiers Once... combines their memories with more than 100 in-depth interviews with survivors on both sides.
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1433603&a=13696121&p=53552584&Sequence=0&res=high
The Battle of Ia Drang also highlights a technological advance that would play an enormous role in the rest of the war: this was perhaps the first place where helicopter-based, air-mobile operations demonstrated their combat potential. At bottom, however, this is a tale of heroes and heroism, some acts writ large, others probably forgotten but for this telling. It was a bestseller when first published, and remains one of the better books available on combat during the Vietnam War. --John J. Miller
Read the book first if you can.
Amazon,com to order the book. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/006...1771250-0662562 (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060975768/o/qid%3D978729367/sr%3D8-1/ref%3Daps%5Fsr%5Fb%5F1%5F1/102-1771250-0662562)
Barnes and Noble to order the book http://shop.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/...erid=6BVNC88RTE (http://shop.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/results.asp?WRD=We+were+Young+Once&userid=6BVNC88RTE)
Quicktime Movie Trailer ###http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/we_were_soldiers/
Film Website ###www.WeWereSoldiersFILM.com (http://www.WeWereSoldiersFILM.com)
LZ Xray website ###http://www.lzxray.com
Lt. Rick “Hard Core” Rescorla, was one of the heroes of the 1965 battle of the Ia Drang Valley in Vietnam.
“Rick was the best combat leader I ever saw in Vietnam,” said Pat Payne, the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment’s reconnaissance platoon leader in Ia Drang.
Featured in book
Rescorla’s role in that battle is recounted in detail in the book “We Were Soldiers Once… And Young,” a searing account of the action by retired Lt. Gen. Harold “Hal” Moore and Joe Galloway. In 1965, Moore was a battalion commander in the center of the battle, and Galloway was a UPI reporter who covered the entire engagement.
Even those only vaguely familiar with the book have seen Rescorla’s image — he is the gaunt soldier on the cover with the 2-day old beard and the bayonet fixed to his M16.
http://www.lzxray.com/18.jpg
When Rescorla showed up for Basic Training at Benning in 1963, he’d already seen more adventure than most soldiers do in a lifetime. Born in Cornwall, England, he joined the British army’s Paratroop Regiment as a teen-ager, then became a military intelligence warrant officer. He served in that position in Cyprus during the violence that wracked that island in the 1950s, then left the British Army for a London police job in Scotland Yard’s famous “Flying Squad” of detectives.
He left England for another military job, this time as a commando in the Rhodesian Colonial security force in Africa. From there he came to seek his fortune in the United States.
After breezing through basic training, Rescorla was picked up for Officer Candidate School. Last year he was inducted into the OCS Hall of Fame.
He graduated as a second lieutenant in 1965, just in time to ship out to Vietnam with the 1st Air Cavalry Division. In November of that year, still a British citizen, he would draw on all his youthful experience in the battle of the Ia Drang.
Headed the ‘Hard Corps’
Ia Drang was the Army’s first major battle in Vietnam, and one of its bloodiest. The battle claimed 305 American lives, soldiers who died in fierce combat with a North Vietnamese regiment that also took heavy losses. Rescorla commanded 1st Platoon, B Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, and was almost worshipped by his soldiers, who called themselves the “Hard Corps” after his nickname. But his courage and infectious optimism resonated beyond those under his immediate command.
Payne remembers Rescorla “leaping off [a] chopper and strutting into our small very beat-up group of survivors” during the night. After placing his men to fill the gaps in Payne’s line and pausing to speak quietly to each soldier, he walked toward Payne.
“I was so amazed to see him walking around because we had all been crawling on our stomachs for eight hours,” Payne said. Speaking in a low, confident voice, Rescorla complimented Payne on establishing good fields of fire.
“Then he looked me in the eye and said, ‘When the sun comes up we are going to kick some ass.’ I will never forget his words or the look in his eye. He said it in a confident, matter-of-fact way. He was not boasting, it was resolve.”
Rescorla earned a Silver Star for his actions at Ia Drang, and, in Moore’s words, “went on to establish himself as a living legend in the 7th Cav in Vietnam.”
PRODUCERS ; Mel Gibson , Bruce Davey , Randall Wallace
Director : Randall Wallace
Screenplay : Randall Wallace
Release Date: Summer 2002 or earlier
Australian Release: Early 2002 (source: THR, 8/16/01)
Distributor: Paramount Pictures (picked up out of turnaround from Revolution Studios)
Production Companies: Icon Productions (Mel Gibson), The Wheelhouse (Randall Wallace)
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1433603&a=13696121&p=53552583&Sequence=0&res=high
Cast overview:
Mel Gibson .... Lt. Col. Hal Moore
Greg Kinnear .... Maj. Bruce 'Snakeshit' Crandall
Madeleine Stowe .... Julie Moore
Sam Elliott .... Sgt-Maj. Basil Plumley
Chris Klein .... Lt. Jack Geoghegan
Josh Daugherty .... Ouelette
Barry Pepper .... Joe Galloway
Keri Russell .... Barbara Geoghegan
Joshua McLaurin .... Greg Moore
Edwin Morrow .... Godboldt
Mike White (IV) .... SFC Haffner
Mark McCracken .... Ed "Too Tall" Freeman
Jsu Garcia .... Capt. Nadal
Tim Abell .... Army Intel Officer
Vincent Angell .... Doc Carrara
Robert Bagnell .... Charlie Hastings
Dan Beene .... Cab Driver
Luke Benward .... David Moore
Marc Blucas .... Lt. Herrick
Sean Bunch .... Trooper #4
Brian Carpenter (I) .... Robert McNamara
Doug C. Cook .... Capt. Ray Lefebvre
Alan Dale (III) .... Westmoreland
Don Duong .... Ahn
Cliff Fleming .... Mills
Brendan Ford .... Jump Coordinator
Michael Giordani .... French Lt.
Clark Gregg .... Capt. Metsker
Jim Grimshaw .... Gen. Kinnard
Jon Hamm .... Capt. Dillon
Desmond Harrington .... Beck
Blake Heron .... Bungum
Joseph Hieu .... NVA Major
Vien Hong .... Mr. Nik
Nicholas Hosking .... French Captain
Ryan Hurst .... Sgt. Savage
Jonathan Parks Jordan .... White Pvt.
Derrell Keith Lester .... Black Pvt.
Simbi Khali .... Alma Givens
Shepard Koster .... Reporter #1
Matthew Lang .... Lt. John Arrington
Maia Lien .... Army Wife
Kate Lombardi .... Reporter #2
Erik MacArthur .... Adams
Sloane Momsen .... Cecile Moore
Taylor Momsen .... Little Julie Moore
Steven Nelson .... Charlie Lose Randy Oglesby .... Lt. Col. List Jay Powell .... Sergeant
Lee Reynolds (III) .... Chopper Crew
John Paul Rice .... Pvt. John Perry
Daniel Roebuck .... Medivac C.O.
Forry Smith .... Sgt. Palmer
Patrick St. Esprit .... General #2
Keith Szarabajka .... Diplomatic Spook
Brian Tee .... Nakayama
Keni Thomas .... Sergeant
Michael Tomlinson (IV) .... Col. Brown
Billinjer C. Tran .... Viet Minh St.
Joseph Tran .... NVA Prisoner
Dylan Walsh .... Capt. Edwards
Devon Werkheiser .... Steve Moore
Bellamy Young .... Cathy Metsker
http://thewall-usa.com/wallpics/goldwall.jpg
More than 600 California Army and Air Guardsmen will have supporting roles in the Vietnam era movie, We Were Soldiers Once and Young. Produced by Icon Productions and Paramount Pictures, movie producers sought Department of Defense and California National Guard support for the movie. In addition to renting an assault vehicle land bridge, hueys, and trucks, producers are paying more than 600 soldiers and airmen to play extras.
The Guardsmen recreate a battle known as the “Valley of Death” in Vietnam. The producers filmed the scene at Ft. Hunter Liggett April 1-June 1, 2001.
Surrounded by more than 2000 North Vietnamese Army soldiers, the movie portrays a force led by Lt. Col. Hal Moore (played my Mel Gibson) that recreates one of the most savage battles in U.S. history. The extras reenacted the uncommon valor, loyalty, and love that the young men displayed that day while fighting in a small clearing near a landing zone.
The Department of Defense sanctioned the movie and producers have contracted the services and equipment from the California National Guard for this film. Department of Defense Instruction 5410.16 allows military personnel in “an off-duty, non-official status” to accept jobs as actors, extras, etc., “provided there is no conflict with any existing service regulation. Contractual arrangements are solely between those individuals and the production company; however, the military encourages the producers to ensure payment is consistent with current industry standards.”
http://www.vvm.com/~firstcav/stamp.jpg
Entertainment Tonight Interview of Mel Gibson about the film….
"Many of them sacrificed themselves..."
April 05, 2001
ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT: You actually had to go through boot camp for this, right?
MEL GIBSON: Yeah, but it wasn't real boot camp, it was like celebrity sort of wimp boot camp. What the real Rangers go through is pretty heavy. They put them through sheer misery.
ET: What was the hardest part?
MEL: Oh, for an old 45-year-old like me, it was trying to keep up with the 24-year-olds.
ET: I would think the wisdom and experience would make a difference.
MEL: No, it doesn't do much for your lungs or limbs. But, it was fun. The effect that it had was that it bonded us a little, because we sort of hung out and accomplished a little something together.
ET: Which of the guys that you have with you in boot camp would you most want to go into battle with?
MEL: The ones with the most jokes. No, they're all good kids. They're great.
ET: THIS IS SUCH AN INTENSE STORY.
MEL: ABSOLUTELY,IT HAS NEEDED TO BE TOLD FOR AWHILE. There's a paragraph in JOE GALLOWAY's book, where this story comes from. It says, "Hollywood got it wrong every time. They were sharpening their twisted political knives on the bones of our dead brothers." That's the aspect that's been overlooked. It's the truth. There's some truth in some of those other films, but they tended to focus on the negative, and not show the other side. Not that there's anything positive about war, I don't think there is, and whether you agree with that conflict or not, and I don't know that I do, it doesn't change the fact that men had to go and deal with it. Many of them sacrificed themselves.
ET: You've gotten to meet Hal Moore, the character you're playing.
MEL: Yeah, I've spent a fair amount of time with him -- a tremendous and extraordinary man. You read the book and you hear about his exploits, and it's phenomenal what he was able to achieve. He was undermanned and outnumbered and he prevailed. But, to meet him, he's more extraordinary than what you would imagine. But there's a simplicity and earnestness, and he's just an ordinary guy, you know. You think he's going to be some big warhorse, and he is a warrior, but he's just a regular family guy.
ET: Do you find that it's a greater responsibility playing a role when the person is standing right there while you're doing a scene?
MEL: Yeah, it doesn't make me edgy or nervous or anything. I kind of feel like I hooked up with him. I kind of know fundamentally what I need to know. I'm sure I don't know everything, and he wasn't going to reveal everything. He doesn't need to; I think I can sort of fill in the blanks a little bit. I think I'm a human being and capable of understanding. Whether I'd be capable of what he did, I have no idea, I will never know, I hope. But I can certainly imagine what that's like.
ET: Can you give us a 15-minute synopsis of what this movie is about?
MEL: There was a new kind of warfare. They had choppers; this was air cavalry which had never been tried before. It was revolutionary, and it was the first major battle of the Vietnam war, in the Ia Drang Valley. They went in, and the landing zone wasn't big enough to accommodate all the choppers. They were in the foot of the mountain in the Ia Drang Valley and they were vastly outnumbered by a big force. They were uniformed and weaponed up and AK-47ed out and they were just way outnumbered. They had just one agenda -- attack and take them out.
http://members.aol.com/Cinderiia/rem2.jpg