Major Myron Diduryk
S-3 from February 19 to April 24, 1970
Bertrand Schreibstein
HHC, 2/12th Cavalry
Major Diduryk was the Operation Officer of the 2/12 Cav for only a short time. I believe he was assigned to the battalion when I was in the field as a Rifle Platoon leader with B Co. When LTC Ianni learned that his Commo Officer was in the field as Rifle Platoon leader, he ordered me back to the Battalion HQ.
It was then that I met Major Diduryk, a "Cav Sandwich", because he had served a previous tour with the 1st Cav Division. I do remember that we were at LZ Tim when Diduryk and I had one very lively discussion regarding communications one evening. Our first of many LZ hoppings toward the Cambodian border had not gone well for the communications platoon (my fault). I recalled the conversation ended with my promise that the next move would go better.
One evening
after we had moved into LZ Marisa (named for LTC Ianni's daughter), I was in the
Commo tent with my communications section when Major Diduryk walked in, put his
arm around my shoulder and said boasted that the Communication section was the
best he had seen. The next day Major Diduryk was killed.
It was only many years later that I learned that Major Diduryk was a company
commander under LTC Hal Moore during the Battle for the Ia Drang Valley.
Webmaster Note: In November 1965, during the battle of the Ia
Drang Valley, Captain Myron Diduryk was the
commander of Company B, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry. You can read about him in the book "We Were Soldiers Once ... And
Young" by Hal Moore and Joe Galloway. Hal Moore wrote "...over the next three
days and nights he would emerge as the finest battlefield company commander I
had ever seen, bar none."