We Were Soldiers is a 2002 war film directed by Randall Wallace and starring Mel Gibson. It is based on the book 'We Were Soldiers Once… and Young' (1992) by Lieutenant General (Ret.) Hal Moore and reporter Joseph L. Galloway. The film dramatizes the Battle of Ia Drang on November 14, 1965, depicting the first major battle of the American phase of the Vietnam War.