Fight or Die is a television show produced for the Discovery Channel

Discovery Channel

Discovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...

.

Plot summary

The first episode, Valley of Death, tells the real-life story of a group of American soldiers whose lives were made famous in Randall Wallace

Randall Wallace

Randall Wallace is an American screenwriter, director, producer, and songwriter who came to prominence by writing the screenplay for the 1995 film Braveheart. His work on the film earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay and a Writers Guild of America award for Best...

's motion picture We Were Soldiers

We Were Soldiers

We Were Soldiers is a 2002 American war film that dramatizes the Battle of Ia Drang on November 14, 1965. The film was directed by Randall Wallace and stars Mel Gibson. It is based on the book We Were Soldiers Once… And Young by Lieutenant General Hal Moore and reporter Joseph L...

starring Mel Gibson

Mel Gibson

Mel Colm-Cille Gerard Gibson, AO is an American actor, film director, producer and screenwriter. Born in Peekskill, New York, Gibson moved with his parents to Sydney, Australia when he was 12 years old and later studied acting at the Australian National Institute of Dramatic Art.After appearing in...

. On November 14, 1965 in the Ia Drang Valley

Ia Drang Valley

The Ia Drang Valley is a valley located about 32 miles south west of Pleiku in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. It is mostly known for the Battle of Ia Drang that happened there during the early days of the Vietnam War....

 of Vietnam

Vietnam

Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

, in a small clearing called Landing Zone

Landing Zone

A Landing Zone or "LZ" is a military term for any area where an aircraft can land.In the United States military, a landing zone is the actual point where aircraft land...

 X-Ray

X-ray

X-radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation. X-rays have a wavelength in the range of 0.01 to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 petahertz to 30 exahertz and energies in the range 120 eV to 120 keV. They are shorter in wavelength than UV rays and longer than gamma...

, 2,000 enemy soldiers surrounded 400 United States Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 troopers. The ensuing battle was one of the most savage in U.S. history. Fight or Die is a tribute to the nobility of those men under fire, their common acts of uncommon valor, and their loyalty to and love for one another.

See also

• Battle of Ia Drang
  Battle of Ia Drang
  The Battle of Ia Drang was the first major battle between the United States Army and the People's Army of Vietnam The Battle of Ia Drang was the first major battle between the United States Army and the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) The Battle of Ia Drang was the first major battle between the...
  
  
• We Were Soldiers Once… And Young
• Hal Moore
  Hal Moore
  Harold Gregory "Hal" Moore, Jr. is a retired lieutenant general in the United States Army and author. Moore is a recipient of the Distinguished Service Cross, which is the second highest military decoration of the United States Army, and was the first of his West Point class to be promoted to...
  
  
• Basil L. Plumley
  Basil L. Plumley
  Basil L. Plumley was born January 1, 1920 in Shady Spring, West Virginia, the second son and fifth child of coal miner Clay Plumley and his wife Georgia , both of West Virginian stock. He is most famous for his actions as a Sergeant-Major of the US Army's 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, at...
  
  
• John Geoghegan
  John Geoghegan
  John Lance "Jack" Geoghegan, was an infantry lieutenant in the U.S. Army, who was killed during the Battle of Ia Drang during the Vietnam War.-Early Life:...
  
  
• 1st Cavalry Division