Anyone who would use this story for political gain would most certainly sh!t their pants if they actually had to endure a battle such as this.

Notable Awards

Pilots Major Bruce Crandall and Captain Ed Freeman were each awarded on February 26, 2007, the Medal of Honor for their numerous volunteer flights (22 and 14, respectively), into LZ X-Ray while enemy fire was so heavy that medical evacuation helicopters refused to approach. With each flight, Crandall and Freeman delivered much needed water and ammunition, and extracted wounded soldiers, saving countless lives.[6][7]

Journalist Joseph Galloway would be the only civilian awarded the Bronze Star Medal for valor for actions in Vietnam. Taking up arms alongside the overwhelmed men he was covering, he repeatedly disregarded his own safety to rescue wounded soldiers under fire.[8]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ia_Drang

If I was born a few years earlier......

Edit:
I was aware of some of this stuff as a kid and it ripped my heart out.
I can remember the grainy satellite feeds with Peter Jennings reporting live from the battlefields.