Thick smoke chokes the horizon, rising from the sea of green jungle speeding past below. Explosions flash up again and again as ordinance shells pummel the landscape, heralding the arrival of the US forces. Leading his squadron of unarmed Huey aircraft towards the target of the artillery, the area surrounding landing zone (LZ) X-Ray, Major Bruce Crandall gives the order to drop altitude to just above the treetops as they draw closer to their destination. The passengers of the Hueys, clinging on for dear life as they skim across the surface of the forest, are the men of the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment (1/7 CAV). They are here to pick a fight, to confront the enemy on their own doorstep. Though they know this won’t be easy, neither they, Major Crandall, nor the operation’s commanding officer Lt Col Harold Moore know just what horrors await them in the Ia Drang Valley.
Known by his call sign ‘Ancient Serpent 6’, or simply ‘Snake’, Major Crandall was already a respected leader, as well as a formidable pilot by the outbreak of the Vietnam War. He was also at ease in fixed-wing aircraft, as well as helicopters. During the Battle of Ia Drang, he was forced to call upon all his experience and skill to keep his fellow Americans alive.