A novel about the men of the First Air Cavalry in Vietnam and the bloody battle of the la Drang Black, white, rich, poor, southerner, and northerner--in Vietnam they became brothers, brothers beyond blood. Men like Vinny, Blake, Eugene, and tough old Flynn had nothing in common--except the raw courage that was their greatest weapon during the fierce thirty-five-day conflict of the la Drang, the first battle to pit a U.S. Army division against a regular North Vietnamese Army division. This is their story, and the story of the men who fought with them--and the 304 who didn't return. Their lives and deaths are etched in the horror and agony of day-to-day combat and nights of exhaustion and mortars. In a hard and dirty war, it was easy to find selfless courage and respect for one another. "Military fiction buffs looking for immersion in authentic renderings of infantry combat will appreciate [The Expendables]."--Publishers Weekly