We Knew They Weren’t Coming Back: Vietnam’s Brutal ‘Nine Days in May’
by Susan Katz KeatingThe soldiers proceeded cautiously through the jungle highlands west of Pleiku, near the Cambodian border, on the morning of May 18, 1967. The men were part of Operation Francis Marion, aimed at stopping the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) from seizing the Ia Drang Valley. The Americans belonged to B Co., 8th Inf., …