Battle of the Ia Drang Valley Continues at Landing Zone Albany

In the wake of the battle at Landing Zone X-Ray in the Ia Drang Valley, Soldiers of the 2d Battalion, 5th Cavalry and 2d Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiments, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), depart the battlefield on foot and in columns, headed for extraction points and to occupy adjacent landing zones. The men of the 2d Battalion, 7th Cavalry head toward Landing Zone Albany, a few miles away.

As the cavalrymen arrive at LZ Albany, officers halt the column in place in order to coordinate troop placement at the landing zone. The spread-out Americans are immediately ambushed by several North Vietnamese Army battalions, which have set up hidden positions to the northeast. The North Vietnamese unleash a barrage of mortar, machine gun, and rifle fire into the column, and the cavalrymen dissolve “into confusion,” in the later words of one U.S. captain who is present. The firefight at Albany rages through most of the day. Several American units manage to form small perimeters, and air support from A-1 Skyraiders assists by striking North Vietnamese positions. During the night, the North Vietnamese withdraw, most likely into Cambodia. Casualties on both sides are high, and of 400 Americans caught in the fight, 151 are killed and 121 are wounded.

Both the North Vietnamese and the United States claim victory in the battles in the Ia Drang Valley at LZs X-Ray and Albany. MACV commanders, including General William C. Westmoreland, argue that the battle also vindicates the concept of airmobile operations.¹