<P> Eleven years later, the United States is fighting the Vietnam War . U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Hal Moore (Mel Gibson) is chosen to train and lead a battalion . After arriving in Vietnam, he learns that an American base has been attacked, and is ordered to take his 400 men after the enemy and eliminate the North Vietnamese attackers, despite the fact that intelligence has no idea of the number of enemy troops . Moore leads a newly created air cavalry unit into the Ia Drang Valley . After landing in the "Valley of Death", the soldiers capture a North Vietnamese soldier and learn from him that the location they were sent to is actually the base camp for a veteran North Vietnamese army division of 4,000 men . </P> <P> Upon arrival in the area with a platoon of soldiers, 2nd Lt. Henry Herrick spots an enemy scout, runs after him, and orders reluctant soldiers to follow . The North Vietnamese scout lures them into an ambush, resulting in several men being killed, including Herrick and his subordinates . The surviving platoon members are surrounded with no chance of retreat and are cut off from the rest of the battalion . Sgt . Savage assumes command, calls in artillery, and uses the cover of night to keep the Vietnamese from overrunning their small defensive position . Meanwhile, with helicopters constantly dropping off units, Moore manages to secure weak points before the North Vietnamese can take advantage of them . </P> <P> On the second day, despite being trapped and desperately outnumbered, the main U.S. force manages to hold off the North Vietnamese with artillery, mortars, and helicopter airlifts of supplies and reinforcements . Eventually, Nguyen Huu An, the commander of the North Vietnamese division, orders a large - scale attack on the American position . </P> <P> At the point of being overrun by the enemy and with no options left, Moore orders 1st Lt. Charlie Hastings, his Forward Air Controller, to call in "Broken Arrow" (a call for all available combat aircraft to assist and attack enemy positions, even those close to the U.S. troops' position, because a position is being overrun and can no longer be defended). The aircraft attack with bombs, napalm, and machine guns, killing many PAVN and Viet Cong troops; but a friendly fire incident also results in American deaths . The second North Vietnamese attack is repelled, and the surviving soldiers of Herrick's cut off platoon, including Savage, are rescued . </P>

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