19 (song) recorded in French, Spanish, German and Japanese. The song received the Ivor Novello award for Best-selling single of 1985. The song's English-language release came in three different 12" versions - "Extended Version", "Destruction Mix" and "The Final Story", all with an alternative cover design. Hardcastle was inspired to create the song after watching "Vietnam Requiem", and comparing his own life at 19 to those of the soldiers featured: "...what struck me was how young the soldiers were: the documentary said their average age was 19. I was out having fun in pubs and clubs when I was 19, not being
1966 in the Vietnam War soldiers in South Vietnam at nearly 280,000 by June 1966, including part-time guerrillas. A pause in the bombing of North Vietnam by U.S. warplanes had been announced by President Johnson on December 24 and remained in effect. The PAVN bombarded a Special Forces Civilian Irregular Defense Group camp at Khe Sanh Combat Base near the DMZ of South Vietnam with 120mm mortars, the heaviest weapon they had used in the War. Defending the combat base were American and South Vietnamese Special Forces, Nung and Bru (Montagnard) irregulars, and Ruff-Puff militia. Operation Crimp (also known as the Battle of the Ho