5-7Cav Gary Owen Regement
A Veterans Day Thought
The 5th Battalion of the 7th Cavalry Regiment spent late 1967 and early 1968 fully engaged in some of the most difficult combat of the Viet Nam War up until that time. Not the best place and time to be an 11B (infantryman). My brother George sometimes referenced that he was in one of Custer’s old companies and hoped that things would work out better for him. There was a very intense firefight on the 10th (two weeks before he was killed) where their landing zone was over-run by Viet Cong dressed in American Uniforms. Maps found on the dead Viet Cong sappers showed that Vietnamese civilians who had received medical help at the firebase had provided critical information needed for the Viet Cong to overrun the firebase. George always had nice things to say about and a great sympathy for the Vietnamese locals in the area.
You might recognize the accompanying tune. It is called Gary Owen. George’s regiment was the Gary Owen Regement, named after one of Custer’s favorite songs that somehow made it into movie scores related to the 7th Cavalry.
