We Were Soldiers is based on a true story about the first major battle in Vietnam. The movie has an extensive cast including Mel Gibson, Madeleine Stowe, Greg Kinnear, Chris Klein, and Sam Elliot. Director and writer Randall Wallace, known for Braveheart, puts together a fairly accurate portrayal of the battle. The motion picture illustrates the battle of Ia Drang, located in Northern Vietnam. That battle is said to be one of the most gory and fierce battles of the war. The United States was facing a new enemy and did not know quite how to fight it. Hidden by massive jungles and ravines, the Vietcong, known as VC, had a different way of fighting than the US had experienced. To accommodate this, the U.S. used Huey Helicopters to transport men and supplies to the front-line. Colonel Hal Moore (Mel Gibson) leads the first Battalion, 7th Cavalry (along with 400 men) into what is said to be the “Valley of Death.” Unaware of what he is up against, Col. Moore and his men exit the helicopters and begin to patrol the area. Minutes later, they find out base-headquarters of the North Vietcong is directly in front of them. The North Vietcong was estimated to be 4000 men strong; this compared to Moore’s 400 men. Almost immediately, intense shooting and bomb-bardment broke. For many of Moore’s men, that was the first combat situation they had experienced. US soldiers are pushed to the brink of annihilation in order
to hold their ground and keep the VC from overrunning them. The
