COL Ramon 'Tony' Nadal, U.S. Army, Vietnam, Ia Drang

Ramon "Tony" Nadal continued a proud family legacy when he was accepted into West Point after high school. Nadal's father was one the first Puerto Rican graduates of the U.S. Military Academy back in 1928. After his commissioning and officer training, Nadal quickly pursued special forces training with the Army Rangers and Pathfinders among others. Eventually that elite training made him an ideal choice to be a leader in a brand new type of air mobile warfare, which moved troops by helicopters instead of in trucks or on foot. In Vietnam, the air mobile concept would be put to the test.

In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," Col. Nadal takes us inside this cutting edge approach to warfare in the 1960's. He also takes us into the ferocious battle for Landing Zone X-Ray as part of the Battle of Ia Drang in November 1965, where he served as commander of A Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, 1st Air Cavalry Division. Nadal explains the circumstances leading up to the battle, how then-Col. Hal Moore and the other officers responded to a U.S. platoon being cut off from other forces, being in the midst of intense combat, and how the Americans successfully fought off North Vietnamese forces with much larger numbers.

Don't miss this detailed reflection on a critical engagement in the early months of the Vietnam War.