Maps of Movies

We Were Soldiers (2002)

Where We Were Soldiers says it takes place, and where it was really shot.

The Vietnam battle of Ia Drang was filmed in California, on an army base that doubled for the Central Highlands

Scenes and places

The 1954 French ambush (1954)

A French patrol is ambushed by Viet Minh forces, and their commander Nguyen Huu An gives the order to kill all they send so that they stop coming. The scene sets the Highlands up as ground where armies have been cut down before.

Set in Mang Yang Pass area, Central Highlands — Where the French 100th Mobile Group is ambushed in 1954, eleven years before the main story. Google Maps · Apple Maps

A mountain road through the Central Highlands, site of a 1954 battle between French and Viet Minh forces.

Moore trains his battalion at Fort Benning (1965)

Lt. Col. Hal Moore is picked to train and lead a new battalion. He drills his men and builds a unit meant to fight with helicopters, knowing the war is coming for them.

Set in Fort Benning, Georgia — The army base where Lt. Col. Hal Moore is chosen to train and lead a battalion before shipping out. Google Maps · Apple Maps

A large US Army training base in Georgia, since renamed Fort Moore.

Filmed at Fort Benning (now Fort Moore), Georgia (Fort Benning (now Fort Moore), Columbus, Georgia, United States) — The film shot the Fort Benning scenes at the installation itself; the exact buildings are not named in the sources. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there:

The attacked base at Plei Me (1965)

After arriving in Vietnam, Moore learns an American base has been attacked. He is ordered to take his 400 men after the attackers, with no idea how many enemy troops are out there.

Set in Plei Me Camp, Central Highlands — The American base whose attack sends Moore's battalion after the attackers. Google Maps · Apple Maps

A remote camp in the Central Highlands that came under siege in 1965.

Helicopters drop into the Ia Drang Valley (1965)

Moore leads the new air cavalry unit by helicopter into the Ia Drang Valley. A captured North Vietnamese scout tells them they have landed on the base camp of a veteran division of 4,000 men.

Set in Ia Drang Valley (LZ X-Ray area) — The valley where Moore's air cavalry lands and learns it has landed on a North Vietnamese base camp. The point is the battle's centre, not the exact landing zone. Google Maps · Apple Maps

A remote river valley in the Central Highlands near the Cambodian border, where the real 1965 battle was fought.

Filmed at Fort Hunter Liggett, California (Fort Hunter Liggett, Jolon, California, United States) — California's Fort Hunter Liggett stood in for the Central Highlands; the exact landing-zone spot is not named. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there:

Herrick's platoon is cut off (1965)

Lt. Herrick chases an enemy scout and orders his reluctant men to follow, and the scout lures them into an ambush. Sgt. Savage takes command of the survivors, surrounded and cut off from the battalion.

Set in Ia Drang Valley, inside the jungle — The ravine where a lured platoon is ambushed and cut off from the battalion. The coordinate is the battle's representative point, not this spot. Google Maps · Apple Maps

Dense valley terrain where the American platoon is separated from its battalion.

Filmed at Fort Hunter Liggett, California (Fort Hunter Liggett, Jolon, California, United States) — The battle scenes were shot at Fort Hunter Liggett; no source names a spot for this scene. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there:

Telegrams delivered by taxi (1965)

At the base, the Army starts having taxi drivers deliver telegrams about deaths. Julia Moore takes the job over herself and asks to be brought every one that comes.

Set in Fort Benning housing area, Georgia — The home front, where Julia Moore takes over the delivery of the telegrams that tell families of deaths. Google Maps · Apple Maps

Family housing on a US Army base in Georgia.

Filmed at Fort Benning (now Fort Moore), Georgia (Fort Benning (now Fort Moore), Columbus, Georgia, United States) — Part of the film was shot at Fort Benning, and part in Pasadena; which of the two is the telegram scene is not documented. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there:

Broken Arrow on the perimeter (1965)

With the perimeter collapsing and enemy and friendly troops mixed together, Moore has his air controller call "Broken Arrow". It calls every available combat aircraft to attack, even close to his own men.

Set in Landing zone perimeter, Ia Drang Valley — The ring of defence where American companies are overrun and Moore calls in every aircraft. The coordinate is the battle's representative point. Google Maps · Apple Maps

The thin defensive ring around a helicopter landing zone.

Filmed at Fort Hunter Liggett, California (Fort Hunter Liggett, Jolon, California, United States) — The climactic battle sequences were shot at Fort Hunter Liggett; no source names a spot for this scene. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there:

Overrunning the enemy command center (1965)

Moore's men overrun the enemy force sent to make a final assault and approach the command centre. Helicopter gunships hit what is left, and Huu An orders the headquarters evacuated.

Set in North Vietnamese base camp, Ia Drang Valley — The enemy command centre the Americans approach in the closing fight; no coordinate for it exists in the sources.

A base camp in the jungle, with no known exact position.

How to get there:

The memorial in Washington (1965)

Years later, a retired Moore stands in front of a memorial listing the names of those who died in Vietnam.

Set in Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C. — The wall in Washington where the film's last scene takes place. Google Maps · Apple Maps

A black granite wall on the National Mall engraved with the names of US service members who died in the war.

Characters

Hal Moore — A US Army lieutenant colonel chosen to train and lead a battalion into Vietnam.
Julia Moore — Moore's wife, who becomes the leader of the wives on the base.
Sgt. Savage — A sergeant who takes command of a cut-off platoon.
Nguyen Huu An — The Viet Minh and North Vietnamese commander who orders his soldiers to kill all they send.

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