Ia Drang Valley Veterans Memories Deeply Etched

Ia Drang veterans recall bloody battle 
Victoria Advocate 
By Jon Wilcox March 6, 2016 

PORT LAVACA - Despite graying beards and wrinkled faces, the veterans honored their flag with rigid salutes and straight backs.

March 6, 2016 Photo By: Leslie Boorhem-Stephenson From left to right, Joe Pena, Jo Rivera, Elias Cuevas, Robert Saucedo, Arturo Villareal, Anastacio Lara, Nathan Harvey and Martin Latigue pose for a photo at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 4403 in Port Lavaca. They all fought in the Vietnam War, specifically the battle of Ia Drang.

From across the state and beyond, veterans from the Vietnam War and other conflicts gathered Saturday at Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4403 outside Port Lavaca. They traveled from their homes to remember the Battle of Ia Drang and those they had lost in that faraway Vietnamese valley in November 1965.

The men, forever linked by their shared experiences from the battle, visited with each other throughout the day. They shared lunch, pleasant conversation and deeply etched memories of the fateful days they had endured in the Ia Drang Valley.

"It's important so that they are not forgotten," said Jacque Rudd, honorary member at the post. "It keeps them alive."
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