Unbelievable man...unreal.. Mr.Gwin explained it all to a point that he made you feel the closest to war without being there... The man is bad ass as far as I'm concerned...
When I was with the 25th Infantry Division back in 1984, we had an older guy join the unit. He was 37 years old, a farmer from Iowa. He lost his farm and had to rejoin the Army to support his family. He had a CIB on his uniform even though he was just an E3, so we knew he was a Vietnam vet just didn't know what he had seen. His right hands middle finger was mangled to where it looked like a pretzel. Me and a few platoon mates asked him, what happened? He was in the IaDrang valley in 1965 at LZ Albany, he was shot in the hand and the 7.62mm round from an AK struck his hand and hit him in the magazine well of his M16. He didn't even know what had happened until his weapon jammed, as the mag couldn't feed the weapon due to the AK round. Thats when he realized his hand had been shot. He picked up another M16 from a fellow GI who had been shot and killed. That soldier made E5 within 6 mos., I remember when he came out for his promotion in his Class A uniform the amount of ribbons and awards he had looked like he won the war all by himself. In 1984 we still used alot of Vietnam era equipment. We still had M16A1s, still used UH1 Huey's and the 25th was in Hawaii with the jungle. We had a couple of guys who served in Vietnam, I remember when we went to the Phillipines SSGT Belim who also served in the Nam, we got off the C141 at Clark AirBase and he had this look on this face...for a few moment SSgt Belim was back in the Nam, we just left him alone and let him get his composure. It brought home to what my father saw, as he was a Marine who did 3 tours in Nam.
Larry Gwin alongside his colleague Jim Lawrence also participated in many other battles in the northern part of Vietnam especially in Bong Son near the DMZ.
In hindsight, this was on Colonel McDade for stopping the column and dilly dallying with the P.O.W.’s along the trail instead of reaching LZ Albany first, then questioning the enemies.
my question, why not exit from the somewhat secure lz at xray as opposed to walking 5 miles through jungle when the powers that be know there was a significant chance there were still large groups of the enemy in the area, why bait
Division, Brigade and Battalion commands should have known an ambush was set. That's what the Viet Minh and PAVN do. During an evacuation on foot PAVN sets ambushes as they did with the evacuation of the border outposts of Cao Bang and Lao Cay in the French-Indochina War. McDade should have countermanded orders, insisted on helicopter extraction or he should have insisted on following Tully's march to LZ Columbus instead of LZ Albany. All the brass had to do was study history. Doc Shucart had it right: 'We got our asses kicked and when survivors got back to An Khe the band greets us as victors'.
I'm sick of this battle being described as a "Loss" It was no loss. Those men held on and were reinforced. They policed the Battle field and left with their dead and wounded. Hal Moore went back and mopped up the mess a few months later recovering the 4 men who were MIA.
You might want to try convincing the guy telling the story. Is it just me or does he seem to downplay the notion of this being a win? th-cam.com/video/QVxRSD6Y5qg/w-d-xo.html
@@mcdonaldjc I'm not calling it a "win" but it wasn't a loss. I read his book (Baptism) and he doesn't call it a loss. Conversely the NVA thought they won battle at X-Ray despite a 12:1 kill ratio. Albany wasn't an open and shut case, hard to call it a win, definitely not a loss.
I can barely imagine what the hell of LZ Albany was like but any 1st Cav men who fought there have my respect.
Unbelievable man...unreal.. Mr.Gwin explained it all to a point that he made you feel the closest to war without being there... The man is bad ass as far as I'm concerned...
When I was with the 25th Infantry Division back in 1984, we had an older guy join the unit. He was 37 years old, a farmer from Iowa. He lost his farm and had to rejoin the Army to support his family. He had a CIB on his uniform even though he was just an E3, so we knew he was a Vietnam vet just didn't know what he had seen. His right hands middle finger was mangled to where it looked like a pretzel. Me and a few platoon mates asked him, what happened? He was in the IaDrang valley in 1965 at LZ Albany, he was shot in the hand and the 7.62mm round from an AK struck his hand and hit him in the magazine well of his M16. He didn't even know what had happened until his weapon jammed, as the mag couldn't feed the weapon due to the AK round. Thats when he realized his hand had been shot. He picked up another M16 from a fellow GI who had been shot and killed. That soldier made E5 within 6 mos., I remember when he came out for his promotion in his Class A uniform the amount of ribbons and awards he had looked like he won the war all by himself. In 1984 we still used alot of Vietnam era equipment. We still had M16A1s, still used UH1 Huey's and the 25th was in Hawaii with the jungle. We had a couple of guys who served in Vietnam, I remember when we went to the Phillipines SSGT Belim who also served in the Nam, we got off the C141 at Clark AirBase and he had this look on this face...for a few moment SSgt Belim was back in the Nam, we just left him alone and let him get his composure. It brought home to what my father saw, as he was a Marine who did 3 tours in Nam.
Gwin's "Baptism" is an excellent read.
Larry Gwin alongside his colleague Jim Lawrence also participated in many other battles in the northern part of Vietnam especially in Bong Son near the DMZ.
If they had made a movie about LZ Albany, it would've been a horror / slasher flick. Too nightmarish.
LMAO!
They could sure make a movie about LZ Albany
A shame they never included this battle in the movie “We Were Soldiers”.
In hindsight, this was on Colonel McDade for stopping the column and dilly dallying with the P.O.W.’s along the trail instead of reaching LZ Albany first, then questioning the enemies.
Don't know if i understand you correctly but are you pinning this on McDade?
passingFable unless you read the “we were soldiers, and young” book, you wouldn’t be asking that question.
@@passingFable YES. McDade was a supply guy with no clue. We don't have to pin this on McDade. His own men did.
Rogers rangers still has service, god bless our brothers
my question, why not exit from the somewhat secure lz at xray as opposed to walking 5 miles through jungle when the powers that be know there was a significant chance there were still large groups of the enemy in the area, why bait
Reading gwins book now
Division, Brigade and Battalion commands should have known an ambush was set. That's what the Viet Minh and PAVN do. During an evacuation on foot PAVN sets ambushes as they did with the evacuation of the border outposts of Cao Bang and Lao Cay in the French-Indochina War. McDade should have countermanded orders, insisted on helicopter extraction or he should have insisted on following Tully's march to LZ Columbus instead of LZ Albany. All the brass had to do was study history. Doc Shucart had it right: 'We got our asses kicked and when survivors got back to An Khe the band greets us as victors'.
Gary Owen!!
I'm sick of this battle being described as a "Loss" It was no loss. Those men held on and were reinforced. They policed the Battle field and left with their dead and wounded. Hal Moore went back and mopped up the mess a few months later recovering the 4 men who were MIA.
You might want to try convincing the guy telling the story. Is it just me or does he seem to downplay the notion of this being a win? th-cam.com/video/QVxRSD6Y5qg/w-d-xo.html
@@mcdonaldjc I'm not calling it a "win" but it wasn't a loss. I read his book (Baptism) and he doesn't call it a loss. Conversely the NVA thought they won battle at X-Ray despite a 12:1 kill ratio. Albany wasn't an open and shut case, hard to call it a win, definitely not a loss.