"The American grunts were drawn to the Ia Drang by fate. There was that moment when someone sat at headquarters in the Central Highlands and pointed at a spot on a map, a landing zone was chosen and the Hueys were geared up. That was fate. That battle became, for the Americans at least, about survival and about loyalty to one another and honoring one another. To this day when the Ia Drang veterans meet, it is a celebration not so much of a cause but of one another and their bravery and the fact that they were there."

David Halberstam