Lt. Gen. Harold Moore | Led troops in Vietnam, 94

Retired Lt. Gen. Harold G. "Hal" Moore, 94, the American hero known for saving most of his men in the first major battle between the U.S. and North Vietnamese armies, died Friday in his sleep at his home in Auburn, Ala.

Joseph Galloway, who with Gen. Moore wrote the book We Were Soldiers Once ... and Young, said that his friend of 51 years died two days shy of his 95th birthday.

Gen. Moore was best known for his actions at the 1965 Battle of Ia Drang, where he was a lieutenant colonel in command of the First Battalion, Seventh Cavalry Regiment. His actions were later reflected in the movie We Were Soldiers in which actor Mel Gibson portrayed Gen. Moore. The book tells what happened to virtually every trooper involved in the 34-day campaign and the climactic four-day battle in which 234 Americans died at landing zones X-Ray and Albany in November 1965.

Galloway, a former war correspondent for United Press International, said Gen. Moore was "without question, one of the finest commanders I ever saw in action."

"Those of us who survived Landing Zone X-Ray survived because of his brilliance of command. I think every one of us thought we were going to die at that place except Hal Moore. He was certain we were going to win that fight and he was right," Galloway recalled.

Before serving in Vietnam, Gen. Moore graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point and then commanded a battalion in the newly formed air mobile 11th Air Assault Division at Fort Benning.

Born in Bardstown, Ky., he served in the U.S. military for 32 years. - AP