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Ia Drang Valley and Chu Pong Massif
This is the location of the 1965 battle described in Hal Moore's book "We Were Soldiers Once,
And Young". The Chu Pong Massif was a large mountain chain to the west of the Ia Drang Valley
where several NVA Regiments were camped when Moore's 1st/7th Cavalry landed at LZ Xray.
"Ia", pronounced "ya", is a highland dialect which means "river", so this was the Drang River Valley.
The river. It starts in the area around the Catecka Tea Plantation and picks up tributary streams as it makes
its way into Cambodia and eventually returns to SOuth Vietnam and empties into the Mekong River,
which flows into the South China Sea.
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Creation Date: Monday, November 10, 1997
Last Modified: Sunday, July 18, 1999
Copyright © Ray Smith, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999
www.rjsmith.com/topo_map.html