joseph galloway, a former war correspondent for united press international moderates and he was there and called it the worst and bloodiest of the entire vietnam war. this conversation was part of a three-day conference at the lbj presidential library in austin, texas, that organizered calls the vietnam war summit. it is about 55 minutes. >>> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome mr. jim knotts, president and ceo of the vietnam veterans memorial fund. [ applause ] >> after the gulf of tonkin resolution was passed in the fall of 1964, 1965 saw a dramatic increase in the number of american ground troops in vietnam. the battle of the ia drang valley was the first major battle between the u.s. army and the peoples army of north vietnam. the two-part battle in the central highlands took place from november 14th to 18th, 1965. it was thanksgiving day back at home that most americans first red the headlines about the battle which was a turning point of sorts with single week casualty numbers exceeding those of the worse weeks of the korean war. americans had to face the fact that we really we