The American’s began the day with an artillery barrage from Fire Base Charlie making a clearing for landing zone X-Ray in the Ia Drang Valley.  Alpha Squad was the first to be deployed at LZ-Xray encountering a hidden V.C. soldier.  After a brief stand off with the soldier Alpha Squad captured the V.C. and transported him back to HQ for interrogation.

The V.C. guerrilla fighters stood in awe of the artillery strike as the sounds echoed through out the valley.  As the first American soldiers were transported too LZ-Xray the V.C. moved out in silence creeping through the thick tall grass and sporadic pine tree.

At 11:00 am Alpha squad was deployed and every half hour after that the next squad was deployed ending with Delta squad.  By time Delta Squad arrived at the landing zone the American’s were already under heavy fire from the V.C. and taking heavy casualities.  The American’s were spread thin attempting to hold all side of a small hill at the edge of the valley.  Several V.C. made it past the American lines and attempted to kill the U.S. Commander only to be struck down at the last minute.

Heavy fighting lasted through the early afternoon until a short lull in the fighting occurred around 2:00 pm.  The lull was short lived and soon the fighting picked up again around 3:30 pm in a bloody battle in the bottom of the valley.

The American’s in desperate need of supplies called in an air drop but the drop was pushed of course from taking heavy fire.  They then had to leave the confines of their perimeter and trek into the thick woods to gather their dropped supplies.  The soldiers who took this mission took fire from an ambush near the supplies and took heavy causalities but were able to transport the supplies back to the LZ.

The V.C. in attempt to counteract the effectiveness of the American artillery brought a mortar squad down the Ho Chi Min Trail.  The squad was ambushed by an American patrol but suffered little injuries and was reinforced by two other squads.  Shortly after this little skirmish in the woods the V.C. began to rain down mortar rounds onto the hill top.

It was during this time that Alpha Squad became cutoff from the rest of the American’s.  They were located in a hasty fire position between the American LZ and the V.C. Bunker.  Their causalities were high.  The American’s attempted twice too rescue the cutoff squad but each time the V.C. pushed them back.  Finally on the third attempt the American’s pushed through the V.C. counterattack and transported the survivors of Alpha Squad out on stretchers.

At 5:00 pm the American’s made a final stand and pushed the V.C. out of the landing zone.  Seeing the V.C. in retreat the American’s poured from their positions and followed the V.C. across the valley and assaulted their underground bunker.

The smoke was thick during this battle and the body count was drastic on both sides.  Eventually the American’s pushed into the V.C. perimeter and assaulted the underground bunker.  The V.C. stood strong for over an hour but could not hold out against the American’s.  Soon the V.C. retreated out of the underground bunker and fled into the wilderness.