The Battle of Ia Drang, the Vietnam War's first major engagement, was one of its bloodiest, with a battalion decimated over four days of intense combat. On November 14, 1965, Company B, 2nd Battalion, 1st Cavalry landed at LZ X-Ray, where SP4 Sam Fantino served as the radio operator for 2LT Rick Rescorla. Together, they survived napalm, ambushes, and machine gun fire. “Rick had the ability to help you find strength you didn’t know you had,” Fantino later said. "That stays with you for life." Aft