COL Bob Edwards, U.S. Army, Vietnam, Ia Drang

Bob Edwards went through the Army ROTC program at Lafayette College and was commissioned as an officer in 1960. Soon, he was on his way to Germany at a very sensitive time in the Cold War as Berlin was divided in 1961 and became a focal point of the Cold War once again. Shortly after that deployment, Edwards was assigned to a new unit testing whether air assets could move troops and equipment as well or better than wheeled vehicles. He was also named company commander in what would become the 1st Battaltion of the 7th Cavalry within the 1st Air Mobile Division.Edwards and the other men of the air mobile division arrived in Vietnam in the summer of 1965. Just a couple of months later, in November 1965, they were involved in the heaviest fighting the U.S. would see in the early years of the war - the battle for Landing Zone X-Ray in the Ia Drang Valley.In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," Edwards details the events that led up to the battle, how the mission unfolded, and what the intense fighting was like right up until he was wounded and forced to evacuate.Edwards also describes his recovery, his subsequent assignments, why the battalion's commanding officer, Hal Moore, was such a great leader and why Moore's wife, Julia was such a powerful force back at home.