The war that still haunts America

During the Battle of the Ia Drang Valley in South Vietnam, a wounded soldier is helped by a comrade as he arrives at Landing Zone X-Ray on Nov 15, 1965. — Neil Sheehan/The New York Times

A SCRATCHY prerecorded message crackled over American Armed Forces radio in Saigon 50 years ago, announcing the temperature was “105 degrees and rising”, before playing a snippet of White Christmas.

It was a covert signal – the emergency evacuation had begun.