neutral way to illustrate a serious point... To have censored myself would, in my view, have been an insult to the viewers' intelligence." November 14, 1965 (Sunday) The Battle of the Ia Drang, the first major engagement of the war between regular United States and North Vietnam forces in the Vietnam War, began in the Ia Drang Valley of the Central Highlands in Vietnam. Over the next seven days, until the battle was concluded on November 20, there were 305 American soldiers killed in the battle, and 3,561 from the numerically superior North Vietnamese Army. The battle marked the first time that U.S. forces used B-52 bombers (and their 36,000 pounds of explosives) in a tactical role. It has been written that the battle "was of critical importance, as it set the precedent for the conduct of the war in Vietnam. The air mobility concept had proved its worth. In addition, [General William] Westmoreland believed that the Ia Drang validated his strategy of attrition... that it would not take many more such victories to push the Communists to the brink of defeat." On the other hand, the General Vo Nguyen Giap of the NVA felt that the battle was "something of a victory because they learned that they could in fact fight the Americans." The North Vietnamese also concluded "that direct, prolonged exposure in firefights was not a sound strategy" and that guerrilla warfare would be more effective than large scale battles. In 2002, the battle would be dramatized in the film We Were Soldiers. The recently formed coalition government of Congolese Prime Minister Évariste Kimba failed a vote of confidence in the Congo Parliament, losing 72-76 in the lower house and 49-58 in the upper house, despite the inclusion of 16 political parties in the cabinet. Interior Minister Victor Nendaka Bika was asked to form a new government, but before he could do so, Major General Joseph Mobutu overthrew the government on November 24. November 15, 1965 (Monday) The United States Supreme Court ruled, 8-0, that the 1950 Subversive Activities Control Act was unconstitutional, and struck down a requirement that members of the Communist Party must register with the U.S. Department of Justice. With Justice Byron White abstaining, the Court held unanimously that the law violated the protections within the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination. The Sprint (Solid propellant rocket interceptor), a short-range anti-ballistic missile intended to intercept an incoming