In the summer of 1990, U.S. News sent Galloway and Moore to Hanoi to do research with Vietnamese military officials in connection with a story to be written on the 25th anniversary of the Ia Drang Battles – and hopefully to return to the Ia Drang with the PAVN commander. They could not pull off the Ia Drang visit but were able to talk at length with Sr. General Vo Nguyen Giap and Major General Hoang Phuong, Chief of PAVN Military History. Gen Phuong was on the ground in the Ia Drang Battles as a Lt. Col Historian. Also during that visit, they contacted Sr. General Chu Huy Man, who declined to talk with them. They believed that Man was the principal battle commander who was Moore’s PAVN counterpart.
They talked with each officer for 5 hours; 15 hours total. it was not until they got to Hanoi that they learned that Lt. Gen An was the on-the-scene PAVN commander giving the orders at X-Ray and Albany as a “Sr. Lt. Col”; not then-Brigadier General Man.
