We Were Soldiers Historical Analysis
Elijah Fox
Dragos
Global 2
Due: 1/7/16
Historical Accuracy of “We Were Soldiers”
In 1955 a profusely nervous America feared the global spread of communism. This raging fear led them to interfere and attempt to stop Viet Cong’s attempt of a communist takeover of South Vietnam. However the first major U.S. conflict with the Viet Cong didn’t take place until 1965. This conflict was a milestone in a growing timeline of important historic U.S. battles. Named after the location of the battle, La Drang was also one of the bloodiest battles of the Vietnam War, and foreshadowed what was in store for the rest of the war. In all about 4,500 men were killed, 1,000 American, and the other 4,500 were Viet Cong. Despite losing many men, Lt Col. Hal Moore led the American soldiers to victory. The movie “We Were Soldiers” is based off a book on true recollections of the events that took place in both the La Drang Valley, and back at Hal Moore’s neighborhood during the 34 day conflict. Told through the eyes of Hal Moore, his wife, and a brave reporter named Joseph Galloway, the movie “We Were Soldiers” although dramatised at points, is very accurate in
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One of the most relevant examples, is when Moore advises his men to shoot a few rounds into the bushes, despite not seeing any visible enemies. This was a foreign idea to the soldiers, as they were portrayed being confused when given this order. As soon as the soldiers fired, the enemies charged forward, and made themselves visible to be shot. The logic used by Moore proved to be successful, as he had hoped the rounds fired would trick the hidden Viet Cong to leave their hiding places and charge, by making them think they had already been spotted. In both the movie and real life, had this tactic been successful, but it was also the first known use of this trick in both the movie and in reality as
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