I'm reading the book now, halfway through - Q on reinforcements

Okay, the book is good, I'm enjoying it - although I have to say, it's easier to visualize what's going on having seen the movie first. I doubt that I would have been able to figure some stuff out otherwise.

Anyway, here's my question. Moore's orders are basically to find and engage the enemy, they see they're in the Ia Drang Valley, off they go. But that seems waaay too casual, not thought through enough. It seems as if the very first thing they should be doing is staying near and holding onto the LZ until the entire battallion is there, not gallavanting off like Herrick did. Once the LZ is entirely secure, then they could move out and take positions closer to the mountain, but not before that, right?

Because it seems suicidal not to be able to protect that LZ, both a lifeline and an escape route, at all costs until everybody is there and you've fully evaluated the situation on the ground.

Now, here's my main question, but it ties into the first question. Late in the first day, Moore calls in for reinforcements, and they start to come in, but it's only one company at first. Why so few? He knew he was in a very hot battle, why not call in another entire batallion - which eventually arrives a day late, and to my mind, a dollar short, as well.

Here's my thinking - so, you've landed in part of the first batallion, and things are too hot. But if you had totally secured the LZ before moving out, you could have gotten in the whole reinforcement battallion, and a lot earlier too. That would have saved lives, kept people from being overrun. I think the book says his understrength battallion was facing three full-strength battallions. While Americans may be better than the PAVN, they aren't that much better. This seems ill-conceived to me, not to get a more equal strength on the ground sooner rather than later.

I think that he doesn't call for the reinforcements sooner out of, I dunno, pride or machismo - not wanting to be seen as calling for help too soon. But he already called "Broken Arrow", so why not call for the reinforcements - and the right amount - as well?

What I see as the failures here is that he 1. Didn't have a big enough LZ; 2. Didn't have enough helicopters to get his troops in and together fast enough (instead of it taking multiple trips and many hours); and 3. He didn't call for reinforcements soon enough when faced with an almost untenable situation on the ground in terms of the size of the forces he was facing.

One answer to at least 1 and 2 is the Rumsfeld line: you do what you can with what you've got. Okay, fine, but if you do that, then lots of Americans will die. If he had made sure he held that LZ, and called for reinforcements sooner, and in the proper amount, less Americans would have been killed.

Am I wrong? All I know about the military is what I "learned" in the movies, so go easy on me. I admit I don't know what I'm talking about.





I want the doctor to take your picture so I can look at you from inside as well.