LZ Albany: One of the Deadliest Days in the Vietnam War | 7th Cavalry | Jesse "Bud" Alley

Jesse "Bud" Alley earned his U.S. Army commission via the Reserve Officer’s Training Corps (ROTC) at Furman University in his hometown of Greenville, South Carolina. He was selected as one of 1,000 ROTC graduates in 1964 to participate in the Army’s experimental “U2” program, whereby he was assigned as a platoon leader without attending an Officer Basic Course. in 1965, at 23-years-old, Alley would find himself a Communications Officer in South Vietnam gearing up for what would become the first major battle between American and NVA forces, The Battle of Ia Drang. After the pivotal battle at LZ X-Ray, Alley and his men found themselves marching towards LZ Albany, what they did not know was that North Vietnamese soldiers were in hiding, waiting to ambush them. By sunrise the next day, 155 members of the unit lay dead and 124 wounded. It would become one of the deadliest single days in the Vietnam War. Interview recorded on November 7, 2024 ---------------------------------------------------------------- Support the American Veterans Center's mission to preserve the legacy and history of our heroes by making a tax-deductible donation today: https://americanveteranscenter.org/donation-form/ Learn more about the American Veterans Center: http://www.americanveteranscenter.org/ Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/americanveteranscenter/ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AVCupdate Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/americanveteranscenter/ Subscribe to the Veterans Chronicles podcast: https://link.chtbl.com/americanveteranscenter?sid=youtubedescription ---------------------------------------------------------------- Video Credits: Interviewer - Greg Corombos Director of Photography - Jon Hambacker Editor - Daniel Taksas