FIRST EDITION OF WE ARE SOLDIERS STILL, SIGNED BY THE AUTHORS, JOSEPH L. GALLOWAY AND HAROLD G. MOORE

MOORE, Harold G. and GALLOWAY, Joseph L. We Are Soldiers Still. A Journey Back to the Battlefields of Vietnam. (New York): Harper, (2008). Octavo, original black paper boards, original dust jacket.

First edition of this sequel to the acclaimed We Were Soldiers Once And Young, widely regarded as one of the finest Vietnam memoirs, inscribed: "To Charles, Joseph L. Galloway" and signed by his co-author, Harold G. Moore.

"Sometimes a book is so good that it cries out for a sequel. Such is the case for We Were Soldiers Once and Young, a masterpiece that Lt. Gen. Harold Moore and Joe Galloway published in 1992. That book, of course, was subsequently made into a popular film. In this worthy successor, Moore and Galloway describe, in moving detail, the profound effect the Battle of Ia Drang has had on the rest of their lives. Fought in November 1965, it pitted Moore's 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment against several regiments of People's Army of Vietnam regulars. War correspondent Galloway was with Moore's troopers, experiencing the struggle more as combatant than observer. Although both of these men went on to experience many other battles and, in Galloway's case, other wars, Ia Drang was their signal moment… The bulk of this sequel recounts their six trips back to Vietnam, starting in 1990 and culminating in 2005. Along the way, they met with and befriended some former enemies, including the famous Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap and Lt. Gen. Nguyen Ho An, Moore's counterpart at Ia Drang. Moore and Galloway conducted many interviews with these and other North Vietnamese commanders, along with North Vietnam's official historian, adding much to our knowledge about the perceptions and actions of the communist side of the war in 1965… As time unfolds, and the authors return repeatedly to Vietnam, the reader sees Vietnam transition from a weary, stagnant communist satellite to an economically revitalized, post–cold war nation-state. For instance, the first time the authors traveled to Hanoi, there were almost no restaurants. A few years later, after the fall of Soviet Union, Hanoi teemed with restaurants, shops, cafés, and traffic. Such observations make this one of the finest works in English on Vietnam since the cold war. The book concludes with General Moore's ruminations on leadership, combat, war itself, and his long military career, all of which are fascinating. He is quite honest—as is Galloway in an earlier chapter—about his opposition to the Iraq war. Both men are gifted writers. From start to finish the book is well written, with excellent storytelling. I recommend it highly" (John C. MacManus, Military History Quarterly). With 16 pages of photographs.

A fine dual-signed copy.