We Were Soldiers Once. . .

And Young.

That was the title of the book written by General Hal Moore and reporter Joe Galloway. It described the combat in the Ia Drang valley between the  First and Second Battalions of the 7th Cavalry Regiment and the North Vietnamese. It was the first large unit combat of that war. Prior engagements had been squad and platoon sized engagements.

Galloway was born in Bryan Texas on November 13, 1941. After majoring in journalism at Victoria college, Joe started his career at the Victoria Advocate in Victoria Texas, later moving to UPI. While working for UPI, Galloway was assigned to cover the growing conflict in Vietnam.

His experiences in the Ia Drang with then LtCol Hal Moore made their way into print in 1992 with the publication of We Were Soldiers Once. . . And Young.

In 1998, Joe was awarded the Bronze Star with V for his actions on LZ XRay on 15 November 1965. 24 year old Galloway repeatedly put himself into harm’s way trying to get wounded soldiers much needed medical care. He was the only civilian in US military history to be awarded any medal for Valor.

“I was somebody when I went to Vietnam. I was somebody else when I came out,” he said. “Eighty young American Soldiers laid down their lives so I could survive to tell their story. I have felt an incredible obligation and weight to tell their stories. I have done my best to live up to that obligation every day since then.“

Joseph L Galloway died of a heart attack yesterday at the age of 79.

Requiescat in pace.