"I can't promise you that I will bring you all home alive. But this I swear, before you and before…read moreAlmighty God, that when we go into battle, I will be the first to set foot on the field, and I will be the last to step off, and I will leave no one behind."-Lt. Gen. Harold G. "Hal" Moore Jr.
Hal Moore was a native of Bardstown and one of the most celebrated soldiers of the war in Vietnam. He survived Pork Chop Hill in Korea and Ia Drang in Vietnam, where his bravery and selflessness led to his being played by Mel Gibson in the 2002 film, "We Were Soldiers," based off a book written by Moore, "We Were Soldiers Once,...And Young."
Moore was a 1945 graduate of West Point who had fought in Korea before he was sent to Vietnam in 1965 as commander of a battalion of the 7th Cavalry. The Battle of Ia Drang, in 1965, was the first major U.S. engagement of North Vietnamese Army troops. The 43-year-old lieutenant colonel, saved the lives of most of his men despite being greatly outnumbered (10 to 1) by the NVA.
Before the Battle of la Drang was over, 305 Americans had been killed along with an estimated 2,000 North Vietnamese troops. American officials declared the Battle of the la Drang Valley a victory.