The Ia Drang Battlefield

The Ia Drang Battlefield (HM1YX6)

Location: Carlisle, PA 17013 Cumberland County
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Country: United States of America
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N 40° 12.3', W 77° 9.452'

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Inscription

Ant Hills and Creek Beds

The Ia Drang battlefield was dotted with large dirt art hills of varying sizes. They were generally very hard, baked earth and were home to ants and termites. These features made good defensive positions and LTC Moore used one as the site of his battlefield command post during the fighting at LZ X-Ray.

Another feature that played a pivotal role in the battle was a dry creek bed that wound through the battlefield. It served as a defensive position for the American forces and as an avenue of approach for the North Vietnamese troops attempting to penetrate the American positions.

Mr. Bill Beck, who was serving on a machinegun crew, made several trips through the fighting to obtain ammunition. During one trip he noticed an American Soldier taking cover behind an anthill, while on the opposite side were North Vietnamese Soldiers doing the same thing, neither party aware of the other. Bill tried to warn the American Soldier and then drew his 45 automatic pistol and fired on the Vietnamese soldiers in an attempt to draw them off and warn the American soldier.

Years later Mr. Beck drew a watercolor image of his memory of that ant hill. In 1993 he returned to the Ia Drang battlefield and found and photographed that same ant hill. upon his return home he found that his photograph fit perfectly over the watercolor artwork as if
the artwork had been done from the photograph rather than the other way around. His memories of that moment in time remain as fresh in his mind as the day he lived the reality.
Details
HM NumberHM1YX6
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Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Thursday, June 15th, 2017 at 9:01am PDT -07:00
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Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)18T E 316378 N 4452742
Decimal Degrees40.20500000, -77.15753333
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 40° 12.3', W 77° 9.452'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds40° 12' 18" N, 77° 9' 27.12" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)717
Closest Postal AddressAt or near Army Heritage Trail, Carlisle PA 17013, US
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