We Were Soldiers Once… and Young

While it is common nowadays that states are educating their youngsters in favor of nationalism, grasping the bird’s-eye view of the war context is notable for one to not be blind to some’s ideas. Since I am from Vietnam and suppose as a Vietnamese I has been exposed to that educated reality, it is a fair chance to sympathetically look at the soldiers, of both sides, under the same umbrella of a ferocious and relentless war. Four days of battle in nearly 450 pages, Moore and Galloway gave me an in-depth look into the dark heart of war and brought me through diverse miscellaneous sensations of love, hate, self-sacrifice, terror, disgust, and exhilaration.

 

What I found impressed: In the Ia Drang battle specifically and all Vietnam-America warfare generally, NVA’s troops always outnumbered the American’s, yet were inferior to the enemy’s rifle, machine gun, B-52 strikes, and aerial rockets. A number of moments NVA troops are depicted laughing recklessly, running down the hill and pointing their small-arms without shooting. Their silly actions did not save them from instant death. The counterpart recognized this, but there was no place for sympathy. War is no place for humanity. It is brutal.