We Were Soldiers

Watched most of We Were Soldiers, the movie about the Battle of Ia Drang, the first major engagement of US force in the Vietnam War. I say most because the DVD we had was messed up and parts of it were unwatchable or without sound (including the ending). An interesting movie, worth while if you like period war pieces. Very good in its depiction of the effect of modern weaponry on the human body. In other words, if you do not like blood in your movie, do not watch this once. It does not glamorize violence but lets it speak for itself. STill, one of the better movies on America's involvement in Vietnam, it had no real political axes to grind, just showed what happed to the US forces that fought in the Ia Drang Valley in November 1965.

I felt the book it was based on We Were Soldier Once . . . and Young was better as it gave you a better grasp on the context of the deployment of the unit, how the battle was fought and what the aftermath was.