CNY Heroes Archive

CNY Heroes, Episode 16 – Vietnam Veteran Blaine Fleming, Part 1

by Ron Lombard

January 31, 2024

Retired Army Colonel Blaine Fleming served as a helicopter pilot and operations officer in Vietnam. In this edition of CNY Heroes, Fleming tells host Dan Cummings how the helicopter support unit was essential to U.S. forces fighting the intense battle of Ia Drang Valley in November 1965, the first large-unit battle of the war. The battle became the subject of the 1992 book, “We Were Soldiers Once and Young,” adapted 10 years later into a major motion picture starring Mel Gibson.