Diduryk cited in "We Were Soldiers ..." (03/31/02)

Diduryk cited in "We Were Soldiers ..."

PARSIPPANY, N.J. - Readers are no doubt familiar with the movie "We Were Soldiers," starring Mel Gibson as Lt. Col. Harold G. Moore, which documents the first major battle fought by the U.S. forces in Vietnam: the November 1965 battle of the Ia Drang Valley.

In Ia Drang, U.S. troops, outnumbered seven to one, withstood a relentless attack by the People's Army of Vietnam over three days and two nights. It was a costly victory, as 234 Americans and 2,000 North Vietnamese were killed.

"Fatal Victory," the October 29, 1990, special report in U.S. News & World Report noted that the victory "helped convince the generals in Saigon and the policymakers in Washington that U.S. soldiers, using the air cavalry's search-and-destroy tactics, could hunt down the enemy, grind him up and win the war that America's South Vietnamese allies were losing."

The U.S. forces at Ia Drang comprised the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 7th Cavalry Regiment. Among those who fought in "the valley of death," was a Ukrainian American, Capt. Myron Diduryk, 27, leader of the Bravo Company of the 2nd Battalion, who was later described by Lt. Gen. Moore as the best battlefield commander he had ever known.

Capt. Diduryk's key role in the battle is noted in the best-selling book "We Were Soldiers Once ... And Young," written by Lt. Gen. Moore (ret.) and Joseph L. Galloway, the only journalist on the scene during the battle. The similarly titled movie is based on the book, which was originally published in 1992 and whose paperback edition is now on the best sellers' list, attracting renewed attention thanks to the box office.

Though there are numerous citations for Capt. Diduryk in the book, as well as a photograph of the young soldier and a diagram of the battle on November 16, 1965, titled "Diduryk's Men Hold the Line," movie-goers will not see a Diduryk character. There is a reference to Capt. Diduryk, however, in a line in the movie, as Lt. Col. Moore addresses the departing troops and notes that the unit includes "a captain from the Ukraine."

Maj. Myron Diduryk was born in 1938 in Ukraine and emigrated to the United States at age 12 with his family. Locals remember him as a member of the Plast Ukrainian Youth Organization.

He entered the ROTC at St. Peter's College, Jersey City, N.J., and was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1960. He completed paratrooper and Ranger training, and served in Germany and at Fort Benning, Ga., before Vietnam.

Capt. Diduryk survived the battle of Ia Drang and returned to fight in the Vietnam War as major with the 1st Air Cavalry Division. Assigned as operations officer of the 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry, he was killed by a sniper during his second tour of duty on April 26, 1970, as the Huey helicopter he was in landed at an abandoned fire base near the Cambodian border.

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