Compare and Contrast Essay
Patrick Rogers

Patrick Rogers
Compare and Contrast Essay
27 June 2015

The Two books that I have chosen to write about in my compare and contrast essay are “Chickenhawk,” by Robert Mason and “We Were Soldiers Once...and Young: Ia Drang - The Battle That Changed the War in Vietnam,” by BG Harold G. Moore (Ret) and Joseph L. Galloway. These two books focus on the Vietnam War and more importantly the 1st Cavalry Divisions time in the Vietnam war. Both books are autobiographies written from a soldier’s point of view and both offer a unique look at life for different types of soldiers during the Vietnam War during the same period of time (1965) and even during the same Battles (Ia Drang Valley).
Chickenhawk, by Mason, is written from the point of view of a huey “slick” pilot in the army’s first use of air assault or airmobile techniques. The book begins with Mason starting his career in the army and his transition through flight school and eventually making his way to the Vietnam War. The majority of the book focuses on his time in Vietnam and the daily life of an Army Huey pilot in the 1st Cav as well as his transfer to the “Blue Stars”, which occurs at the end of his tour. The last few chapters of the book discuss his time after Vietnam.
“We Were Soldiers Once...and Young: Ia Drang - The Battle That Changed the War in Vietnam,” by Moore and Galloway is written from the point of view of Moore, an army infantry Lieutenant Colonel and Galloway a combat photographer. Moore was the battalion commander of the famed 1/7 Cav, Custer’s unit, for the training and implementation phase of the army’s 1st air assault unit. The book starts with Moore’s arrival at Fort Benning where he trains his soldiers and pilots for air assault operations and eventually war in Vietnam. The majority of the book focuses on the battle of the Ia Drang Valley which was between Moore’s 1/7 Cav and 3 North Vietnamese regiments. Galloway adds his perspective to the battle as seen from the view point of a combat cameraman. Galloway is able to lend a unique perspective to this conflict because he was not tied down to one area of the fight, but transitioned across the battlefield falling in with several companies during the course of the battle of Ia Drang Valley.
The purpose of this is essay is to compare and contrast these two autobiographies. Because of the similarity in time, unit and battles there is a lot to compare between these two books. With the differences in jobs, position and overall point of view of the Vietnam War there is also a fair amount to contrast. Over the body of this paper I will draw out lots of comparisons between the two books, but also lots of contrasting ideas and views as well as just differences in jobs between the two. I will also point out the reasons why I was drawn to these two books and how it relates to me.
When you look at the comparable themes that stand out there are several obvious ones which include the conflict, the overall unit, the battles, training, and so forth. Other similarity’s which may not be so obvious is the work rate and dedication of the soldiers that feature in these autobiographies. The spirit and selfless service described in Moore’s book is almost unbelievable, soldiers placed in the worst possible situations and tasked with nearly impossible orders. These soldiers fought and accomplished what may seem impossible from an outsider’s point of view and they did it without question. In Chickenhawk Mason describes assaulting X-Ray, the LZ in which the battle of Ia Drang Valley takes place in, “As we cruised over the jungles and fields of elephant grass, I had the feeling this was a movie scene: the gentle rise and fall of the Hueys as we cruised, the perspective created by looking along the formation of the ships to the smoke on the horizon, the quiet. None of the crews talked on the radios. We all listened to the urgent voices in the static as they called in air strikes and artillery on their own perimeters, then yelled that the rounds were hitting their position.” Moore’s book gives very similar descriptions of the aircraft coming into the LZ, “As I approached I saw the battle smoke getting heavy, I told Pop Jekel to get on the controls with me. As my skids touched down, my troops leaped out. I saw men lying on the ground.” Both descriptions are very similar in how they describe the LZ and entering it via helicopter. These vivid descriptions give the reader the ability to really feel like they are present at the battle. Moore’s book is by far more descriptive in describing the events that occurred on the ground that day, but Mason’s book is able to complement the overall description of the battle. It does this by giving descriptions of the battle scene from above as well as the circulation of troops from PZ (pickup zone) to LZ (landing zone). Mason’s book describes dropping off the wounded back at the PZ, as well as the logistical chaos involved with getting the troops and equipment into the fight. Overall the gave the reader a very strong and overall understanding of what happened during this battle.
With all of the similarities that there are present between these two books there are also several differences. The biggest being the overall opinions about the wars that was present between the two authors. In Chickenhawk the story of the 1st Air Cav is told from the point of view of a pilot while in We Were Soldiers Once...and Young: Ia Drang - The Battle That Changed the War in Vietnam, the story is told by Hal Moore and Joe Galloway, Moore was a battlefield commander and Galloway a reporter. When you take this into perspective you must think that Moore looks and tells the story from a commander’s point of view and talks about how great and valiant his soldiers were. Galloway similarly tells a story that the people want to read and hear about how great our troops are and so on. On the other hand, Mason tells the story from with nobody in mind but himself. His story tells of daily routine both good and bad. His opinions on the war are honest and raw and give the reader a very relatable and honest perspective on things. This is not saying that what was written in We Were Soldiers Once...and Young: Ia Drang - The Battle That Changed the War in Vietnam wasn’t true, but that it is meant to be viewed in a different light. Mason writes about his pure disdain of being involved in Vietnam, about good and bad commanders, and about good friends and the good and bad memories that they have with each other. Moore writes about the horror of being involved in battle and about the heroics of his soldiers. So while both books are so closely related in the historical framework of this war, they are very dissimilar to each other in the story they tell and the lives they describe. Combined the books really give the reader a great overall perspective on how this war was from varying points of view.
I gravitated toward these two books because of my current career, these books focus on helicopter pilots and the birth of air assault operations in the U.S. Military. My job in the military is a Blackhawk pilot, and I am currently serving in an air assault battalion. I very much enjoyed reading both books and both offered me a great deal of insight into where air assault operations have come from to where it is today. For me though I preferred the story Mason told, probably because it is from a pilots perspective, but also because it comes from the point of view of someone who ended up in a situation and just wanted to survive and get home. I think that most people can find some way to relate to that especially those who have served. Moore’s book gives an overall view of an objective and how our troops were able to bravely and against all odds take that objective, he does this through his and his company commanders personnel accounts of the of the battles. Galloway is also able to give detailed account of the battle from a non-combatants point of view. This gives the reader a very vivid picture of what the battle was like, bu `t it does lack the personnel perspective that mason is able to give about the overall aspects of day to day life in the Vietnam War.

Moore, H. G., & Galloway, J. L. (1992). We were soldiers once -and young: Ia Drang, the battle that changed the war in Vietnam. New York: Random House.
Mason, Robert. (1983) , Chickenhawk. London: First British Publication
Reading Autobiography: A Guide for Interpreting Life Narratives. By Smith, Sidonie, and Julia Watson. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota P, 2010.
Moore, Harold G. "We Were Soldiers Once … and Young" Web. 28 June 2015. <http://www.lzxray.com/>.