Earnie Savage was a young buck sergeant, an E5, when he met Plumley in 1964. Command ultimately fell to Ernie Savage, who led the platoon through the rest of the battle. Plumley believed in training to standard, then raising the standard, said Steve Hansen, who served with Plumley in the Ia Drang. By early November 1965 three PAVN regiments the 32nd, 33rd and 66th and the H15 Local Force Battalion had been assembled in the area. Perhaps it wasn't believable enough to pass muster with the masses. I can't see a thing, but I can smell them. No one should have survived all that," said Joe Galloway, who co-authored the book with retired Lt. Gen. Hal Moore in 1992. The lights of Hanoi sparkled around the dark lake. Savage assumes command, calls in the artillery, and uses the cover of night to keep the Vietnamese from overrunning their defensive position. It was hard to square the image of this small, amiable gray-haired former schoolteacher with the fact that this was the man who, along with the former waiter Nguyen Ai Quoc, a.k.a. Command had fallen to a 21-year-old buck sergeant, Ernie Savage of Birmingham, Alabama. Specialist Galen Bungum -Excerpt from We Are Soldiers Still by Lt. Gen. Harold G. Moore (USA Ret.) When we walked up the ramp we were stunned to be welcomed by a large table of Vietnamese war veterans who regularly gather there to talk of old times over a good meal. He knew it because he trained most of them himself. WebSergeant Savage was serving as squad leader in the 2d Platoon, Company B, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), on 14 November 1965, when it was attacked by a hostile force which consisted of approximately two companies. WebSelect this result to view Ernie Roy Savage's phone number, address, and more. He became "almost loquacious -- a chatterbox," swapping old Army stories (but never war stories!) To say he is a legend is not an exaggeration. I called off the attack, Giap told us. It has now been 43 years since those bloody battles of our youth, and yet the memories of the killing and dyinglittle more than a footnote in the schoolbooks of both the United States and Vietnamare as fresh as yesterday in our hearts and minds. (ret.) Matt Dillon Clark Gregg Capt. I thanked them for the opportunity for such a historic visit by old enemies. I held my breath, because I knew Plumley hated the limelight, no matter how "little" the light. Former A Company 1-7 Cavalry commander Col. We sent a cable back asking for this. Ernie Savage (left) and Dennis Deal talked about their time in the Ia Drang Valley as members of the 7th Cavalry Medal of Honor Recipient retired Col. Walter Joseph Joe Marm, Jr. shared his recollections of the battle and how he continued to battle despite being shot through the jaw. "Too much Hollywood," he said of the movie. He knew that the French commander was betting everything he had on a victory at Dien Bien Phu. Ernie Savage, after retiring from the Army, had remained at Fort Benning, Georgia, as a civilian employee helping train Army Reserve soldiers. Within minutes he had ringed the perimeter with well-placed concentrations, some as (He) jerked the flare free, reared back, and heaved it out into the open clearing. The airportstill surrounded by the big water-filled craters that American bombs had dug in the rice paddieshad been expanded and was jam-packed with humanity, where just months before it had been smaller and much sleepier. "He was all about PT and conditioning, but he'd do everything he expected us to do. Former B Company 1-7 Cavalry Sgt. I was in the check-out line with my daughter and a friend, both 10-year-olds who had experienced first-hand the sensation that surrounded the presence of Hollywood royalty on post since their moms worked in the Public Affairs Office. Former B Company 1-7 Cavalry Sgt. Why would anyone who had somehow survived the bloodiest and costliest fighting of the entire Vietnam War want to return to the birthplace of his nightmares and walk that blood-soaked red earth on a remote plateau in the Central Highlands? WebThe President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Clyde E. Savage (RA14746198), Sergeant, U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations involving conflict with an armed hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam. Matt Dillon Clark Gregg Capt. '", Elliot and Plumley were "two peas in a pod," Galloway said, but "the sergeant major, in life, was bigger than Sam Elliott. These terrible things happen in the confusion of war, and not just on our side.. Former A Company 1-7 Cavalry assistant machine gunner Bill Beck, after completing his two-year tour as a draftee, went back to being a commercial artist. A hundred privately owned restaurants had sprung up where once there had been fewer than half a dozen. He trained us to be the best," Hansen said. There are those who claim, but cannot prove, that he was the only man to claim five combat jumps behind enemy lines. Four hundred men. John Herren were both West Point graduates and professional Army officers. At the end of that first day, eight of the platoons 27 men were dead. Oddly enough, that scene never made it into the movie. : This is not very easy for me. Beck, whose memory of those terrible hours alone on that machine gun mowing down waves of attacking North Vietnamese is photographic, and whose nightmares linger to this day, responded simply and quietly: It isnt very easy for me either.. At the end of that first day, eight of the platoons 27 men were dead. leaving Sgt. Moore requires assistance these days, but he paid a visit to Plumley's bedside before his death. The meeting was held outdoors on the shores of one of Hanois seven lakes. Former A Company 1-7 Cavalry assistant machine gunner Bill Beck, after completing his two-year tour as a draftee, went back to being a commercial artist. Release Dates Galloway said the best lines in the movie were Plumley's own words, including his response to a Soldier who greeted the sergeant major with a "good morning.". Originally published in the December 2008 issue of Vietnam Magazine. Ernie Savage was a soldier in the Vietnam War. Command passed to Sergeant Ernie Savage who called in multiple air strikes around the platoons position. Tom Metsker Desmond Harrington Sp4 Bill Beck Blake Heron Sp4 Galen Bungum Erik MacArthur Sp4 Russell Adams Director Randall Wallace Writers During WWII, he fought in the Allied invasion at Salerno and the D Day invasion at Normandy, and he made four combat jumps with the 320th Glider Field Artillery Battalion. The situation on that ground was very difficult. ", https://www.historynet.com/back-ia-drang/, Jerrie Mock: Record-Breaking American Female Pilot. "I carried the bucket in that conversation. "He was the very essence of a command sergeant major. WebSgt. Ernie Savage Robert Bagnell 1st Lt. Charlie Hastings Marc Blucas 2nd Lt. Henry Herrick Josh Daugherty Sp4 Robert Ouellette Jsu Garcia Capt. Ernie Savage, after retiring from the Army, had remained at Fort Benning, Georgia, as a civilian employee helping train Army Reserve soldiers. The death of Communism and the old Soviet Union had clearly had a salutary effect on a nation that had once been an important client state and the recipient of much Soviet assistance. Maj. Michael Weimer selected as 17th Sergeant Major of the Army, MIA-Medal of Honor recipient and WWII Army pilot laid to rest, U.S. Army STAND-TO! Ernie Savage (left) and Dennis Deal talked about their time in the Ia Drang Valley as members of the 7th Cavalry Medal of Honor Recipient retired Col. Walter Joseph Joe Marm, Jr. shared his recollections of the battle and how he continued to battle despite being shot through the jaw. Instead he ordered his artillery pieces pulled back to the reverse slopes of the mountaintops, and the laborers began burrowing through the earth and rock to construct impregnable gun positions where they could fire on the French below and then swiftly pull the guns back into the mountain itself. The Vietnamese officer gasped and turned pale: You and your machine gun killed my battalion! The three became fast friends and remained close for nearly 50 years. WebSergeant Ernie Savage's precise placement of artillery throughout the siege of the "Lost Platoon" enabled the platoon to survive the long ordeal. We headed back to our rooms at the sparkling new five-star Hotel Metropole with its modern amenitiessuch a contrast to our old quarters at the Defense Ministry with rats and huge spiders on our first two trips. I had always urged my men never to celebrate the killing of an enemy remember that he has a mother tooand to respect them as worthy opponents. Hal Moore, told me that we had to return to Vietnam and to the Ia Drang battlefields. Even more puzzling was the fact that we Americans had paid the tuitionby the end of the French war in Indochina, the United States was financing about 70 percent of the cost of that warbut had not learned the right lessons. WebSergeant Savage was serving as squad leader in the 2d Platoon, Company B, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), on 14 November 1965, when it was attacked by a hostile force which consisted of approximately two companies. We landed at Hanois airport on October 13, 1993, an hour behind schedule, and were met by our Vietnamese minders as we stepped off the plane. He didn't brag, he just told you like it was. Plumley received the Doughboy Award in 1999. Now there was real traffic to contend with on the highway and the streets of Hanoimore cars and a plague of small, noisy, smoky motorbikes had joined the quiet stream of bicycles that had owned those streets before. Across the room at another table a stunning conversation was unfolding between a Vietnamese army colonel, machine gunner Bill Beck and George Forrest. I disobeyed my orders. Basil Plumley retired after 32 years in the Army, then worked as a civilian employee at Martin Army Hospital at Fort Benning for another 15 years. I never knew him to be mean.". WebSelect this result to view Ernie Roy Savage's phone number, address, and more. Sgt. But we want you to know that we never gave such orders. Command had fallen to a 21-year-old buck sergeant, Ernie Savage of Birmingham, Alabama. By early November 1965 three PAVN regiments the 32nd, 33rd and 66th and the H15 Local Force Battalion had been assembled in the area. Former B Company 1-7 Cavalry Sgt. As an offensive measure, Sergeant Savage led his squad and attacked one of the hostile squads. We met and talked with other Ia Drang veterans of the other side during our days in Hanoi before beginning the long trip south. (ret.) (ret.) After nearly four decades of rigid party control Hanoi residents were now experimenting big-time with capitalism and a more free market. Without a lot of what we got from him and the colonel, I know some of us wouldn't be here today. and Joseph L. Galloway. Sam would tell you the same thing. You wrote that our soldiers fought and died bravely in battle, and for that we thank you. "I am so blessed to have had two such men as best friends, as mentors and as role models for almost half a century," said Galloway, who has done more than any other to inspire new generations of Soldiers with the stories of old Soldiers, like Moore and Plumley. The passage wasn't very clear, just mentioned (Plumley) and something about a German tank," Hansen said. No it's not the dead ones! These and the firm stand made by the remaining men pinned down on the knoll, lead to the death of scores of North Vietnamese troops, who never managed to wipe out the platoon. I am glad I did not kill you. Stunned, all I could do was nod and think to myself: Me, too, colonel. "We all thought he was hatched a sergeant major, and here he was in black and white, a first sergeant. We have had your book translated into Vietnamese and I have read it twice already and will read it again, Phuong told the two of us. Ernie Savage Without hesitation, Sergeant Major Plumley ran to the stacks and with his bare hands reached into the grenade boxes and grabbed the flare. He thoroughly enjoyed hosting reunions that brought together dwindling numbers from that 'original' battalion of young studs who fought their way through hell together in the bloody Ia Drang Valley. Ernie Savage was a soldier in the Vietnam War. Sergeant Major Basil Plumley : How do you know what kind of goddamn day it is? Snatching the artilleryman's radio, he began calling in and adjusting artillery fire. | Nov 15, 1992 WASHINGTON Ernie Savage, sergeant 1st class, U.S. Army, retired, was having a hard time of it. But when I approached him in person, after the screening of We Were Soldiers at the theater on Main Post, he offered this much. More than 300 American troopers of the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) and thousands of North Vietnamese Army regulars had perished on that ground in November 1965 in the battles that opened a war that would drag on for 10 long years. Ernie is related to Mitchell Ernest Sawasy and Ernie Orest Sawasy as well as 2 additional people. Ernie Savage, after retiring from the Army, had remained at Fort Benning, Georgia, as a civilian employee helping train Army Reserve soldiers. Sergeant Savage, the 3d Squad leader, now took command. "I don't do interviews. Sergeant Ernie Savage Savage, who was a squad leader with 2nd Platoon, B Co., 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, told the students how he had gone from a squad leader to leading the platoon during the battle. And that was all there was to it.". The legendary war correspondent met Plumley in the Ia Drang Valley of Vietnam -- a place neither thought they would survive. After a series of studio interviews in New York, a number of Ia Drang veterans were chosen to make the trip to Vietnam with me and Joe Galloway. [At night] Specialist Galen Bungum : I can't see a thing, but I can smell them. WebSergeant Ernie Savage assumed command after Sergeant's Palmer and Stokes were killed. Twelve were wounded. And at 6 feet, 6 inches, Plumley towered over the young Soldier. General Giap is waiting for you at the museum, one of them explained. The meeting outdoors in the sweltering heat was mercifully brief. WebBy 1964 North Vietnam had established the B3 Front in the central highlands of South Vietnam. He'd step in and speak up and tell the colonel when the men had all they could take. WebThe President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Clyde E. Savage (RA14746198), Sergeant, U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations involving conflict with an armed hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam. Tucked between pages 220 and 221 of a dog-eared copy of "We Were Soldiers Once and Young" is a receipt from the Fort Benning commissary dated 2001. He was one of only 324 Soldiers to claim that honor. Ernie Savage was a soldier in the Vietnam War. Savage assumes command, calls in the artillery, and uses the cover of night to keep the Vietnamese from overrunning their defensive position. Command passed to Sergeant Ernie Savage who called in multiple air strikes around the platoons position. It was clear to us that our book about the battles had opened the hearts of these Vietnamese generals and it was that, and our determination to get and tell their side of the story as honestly as we could, that had opened the door to this journey back to our old battlefields. Dead bodies smell, Bungum. Savage didn't frighten easily, but he tended to be overly deferential to anyone "above" him. For his "gallantry under relentless enemy fire on an otherwise insignificant knoll in the valley of the Ia Drang," Ernie Savage received the Distinguished Service Cross. Savage didn't frighten easily, but he tended to be overly deferential to anyone "above" him. Sergeant Major Basil Plumley : How do you know what kind of goddamn day it is? We had asked for this briefing because of the importance of Dien Bien Phu and the defeat of the French in setting the stage for Americas beginning involvement in the affairs of the two Vietnams. After being refused permission to journey to our old battlefields in the Ia Drang on two previous visits to Vietnam, suddenly in the spring of 1993 the official government objections on grounds of safety and security vanished. Nov 15, 1992 WASHINGTON Ernie Savage, sergeant 1st class, U.S. Army, retired, was having a hard time of it. Ernie Savage Robert Bagnell 1st Lt. Charlie Hastings Marc Blucas 2nd Lt. Henry Herrick Josh Daugherty Sp4 Robert Ouellette Jsu Garcia Capt. ", As a Soldier, Plumley defied convention as he defied death. WebSgt. After a good Vietnamese meal of spring rolls, fish, chicken and rice washed down by cold beers, we turned to the obligatory preliminary conversations about families and work and life in general as the hot tea was poured. Former B Company 1-7 Cavalry Sgt. It is just like mine. His dedication paid off, when Plumley staffed the 7th Cav's 1st Battalion with Soldiers he knew to be highly skilled, well- trained and disciplined. Sergeant Major Basil Plumley : How do you know what kind of goddamn day it is? From those same conversations and our book, the generals knew something about our families as well. Giap greeted Joe and me as old friends in token of our two previous meetings and shook hands with the rest of our traveling squad during a brief stop in a museum reception room. That evening, I tucked it into the book for safe keeping, and there it stayed until last week, when I learned that Plumley died Oct. 10 at the Columbus Hospice after a short battle with cancer. Just one paragraph out of 430 pages -- a succinct account, unembellished, that encapsulates the character of a man who was larger than life long before his character hit the big screen. It was just grunts and growls for the first hour and a half, but then they got to talking," Galloway said. You killed my best friend. He fought with then-Lt Col. Hal Moore in the Battle of Ia Drang, which was the first major Battle of the Vietnam War involving US Troops. In April 2001, the smoke had finally settled from the exodus of the film crew, the stars and cameras and hangers on who descended on Fort Benning earlier that year to film Hollywood's adaptation of We Were Soldiers. At the outset of the Peloponnesian War the Athenian-allied city-state came under attack from the same Greek forces that a half century earlier had driven off Persian invaders. Most of the Americans would find peace on this journey. The fighting was hand-to-hand, and our wounded and your wounded were mixed together. WebThe President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Clyde E. Savage (RA14746198), Sergeant, U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations involving conflict with an armed hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam. "He said the (1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment) was the best unit he'd ever been in, the best trained," Savage said. Meanwhile, with helicopters constantly dropping off units, Moore manages to secure weak points before the North Vietnamese can take advantage of them. He was huge, and when you saw him, you knew you better get your stuff straight," said Savage, who spent the better part of Monday standing post at Plumley's casket at a funeral home in Columbus. Company Credits The general, speaking through an interpreter, told us he made one daring decision that changed the course of the siege and history, a decision that he said could have cost him his life. Twelve were wounded. These were all crippled war veterans, men missing arms, legs, eyes. "You'd hear him up front yelling, 'Awright dammit, pick it up back there,'" Savage said. Shortly after publication of We Were Soldiers Onceand Young in the fall of 1992, we were approached by a producer at ABC Televisions Day One program. Any serious study of our war in Vietnam has to begin with the French war; and those were the books I read on the troopship that brought my battalion to South Vietnam in the summer of 1965. He fought in more than 20 military operations during his 32-year military career, having enlisted on March 31, 1942, as a private after two years of high school. Some, like former-soldier-turned-journalist Jack Smith, expressed their feelings in the early discussions with the enemy commanders. Sergeant Major Basil Plumley But Plumley proved more of a challenge, even to Galloway. | WebBy 1964 North Vietnam had established the B3 Front in the central highlands of South Vietnam. Published by arrangement with Harper Collins Publishers. So was he. Savage didn't frighten easily, but he tended to be overly deferential to anyone "above" him. Savage assumes command, calls in the artillery, and uses the cover of night to keep the Vietnamese from overrunning their defensive position. Over the past few years, Plumley's personality changed noticeably, Galloway said. There were the murmurs of a dozen other conversations at the small tables, and the clatter of dishes in the nearby kitchen, which gave off the enticing scents of the next course. Change did not end there. His troops were ordered to keep digging the trenches ever nearer the French lines. Technical Specs. Within minutes he had ringed the perimeter with well-placed concentrations, some as That's what he always said -- I don't do interviews," Galloway said. Command Sergeant Major (ret.) Beautiful morning, Sergeant! Sgt. I didn't introduce the girls to the Plumleys; they were on their way in and we were on our way out. Command ultimately fell to Ernie Savage, who led the platoon through the rest of the battle. At one point, my seatmate on the bus, Colonel Thuoc, tapped me on the chest and told me through the interpreter: You have the heart of a soldier. (ret.) Sergeant Ernie Savage : Dead bodies smell, Bungum. Sergeant Ernie Savage : Dead bodies smell, Bungum. Former A Company 1-7 Cavalry assistant machine gunner Bill Beck, after completing his two-year tour as a draftee, went back to being a commercial artist. There I was with the two most monosyllabic men in the world in the same room, and I sat there between them. "He's a real hero, not an actor," I said. The highway to the capital had been widened, potholes had been repaired, and new homes and shops were being built along the roadside. In walked retired Command Sgt. The following day, our group of Ia Drang veterans met with Gen. Nguyen Huu An and seven of his commanders who had fought against us at X-Ray and Albany. : Tony Nadal Jon Hamm Capt. We always knew the value of prisoners. Ten-mile foot marches were the norm, and Plumley regularly ran long distances with his men, leading from the front. History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. "He was the very essence of a command sergeant major. Others listened quietly but tensely to the explanations of the North Vietnamese officers that their troops had no choice but to kill wounded Americans they found as they searched the battlefield at night for their own wounded and dead. His soldiers tunneled and trenched and burrowed in the red earth, drawing the noose ever tighter around the French strongpoints and positions, while the big howitzers were set into positions on the forward slopes of the mountains surrounding the doomed French garrison. Official Sites : When everything was ready, then, and only thenon March 13, 1954Giap signaled the attack, and this time he would use his tactics, designed for a Vietnamese army, first cutting French supply and reinforcement lines and the vital airstrip with his artillery while the Viet Minh troops closed in on and overran the surrounding French hilltop strongpoints one by one. For most, on both sides, this was their first time to sit down across from each other. Sgt. You are the first serious historians to come here and ask us for our version of what happened, and you quoted us accurately. After retiring from the Army, Herren continued to work at the Pentagon as a civilian employee, while Nadal worked as a human resource officer in several large corporations. Former helicopter commander Lt. Col. HistoryNet.com is brought to you by HistoryNet LLC, the worlds largest publisher of history magazines. A state-owned shop that once displayed four cans of evaporated milk in a dusty window had been transformed into the Hong Kong Kung Fu Video and Coffee Shop, and its tiny tables were jammed with young Vietnamese watching Bruce Lee movies. This ancient Red River Delta capital was bustling and busy where it had been quiet and somnolent on our previous two trips. By early November 1965 three PAVN regiments the 32nd, 33rd and 66th and the H15 Local Force Battalion had been assembled in the area. To subscribe, click here. Sgt. Terry Wrong told us he would like to make a documentary on the battles and the veterans that would involve taking a group of us back to Vietnam and to the battlefields. For his "gallantry under relentless enemy fire on an otherwise insignificant knoll in the valley of the Ia Drang," Ernie Savage received the Distinguished Service Cross. Through an interpreter the colonel asked where Bill had been during the fight at LZ X-Ray. I can smell them creeping up on us. Ernie Savage : Good morning, Sergeant Major. What are you a fucking weatherman now? I fared no better. "He didn't have to say a lot -- he just had to show up, and people paid attention. He welcomed them as fellow soldiers to a Vietnam now at peace. The West Virginia native, who was born on the first day of 1920, earned the Combat Infantryman Badge in World War II, Korea and Vietnam (where he served two tours.) Tom Metsker Desmond Harrington Sp4 Bill Beck Blake Heron Sp4 Galen Bungum Erik MacArthur Sp4 Russell Adams Director Randall Wallace Writers (He was awarded the Bronze Star for helping rescue wounded American Soldiers under fire at Landing Zone X-Ray.). At our first meeting in 1982 to map out the research that would consume a decade and result in the publication of We Were Soldiers Onceand Young, my coauthor and best friend, Lt. Gen. Some of the others in our group of veterans were less comfortable with the idea; they were still angry at those who tried to kill them so long ago, and had in fact killed many of their friends. Maj. Plumley, but he isn't nearly as tough on sins small or large," or some version there of, is commonly used in any discussion involving the man, and it was so long before his death and long before the movie. He fought with then-Lt Col. Hal Moore in the Battle of Ia Drang, which was the first major Battle of the Vietnam War involving US Troops. These and the firm stand made by the remaining men pinned down on the knoll, lead to the death of scores of North Vietnamese troops, who never managed to wipe out the platoon. A couple of years back, as his health declined, he relinquished his "reign" on the reunions. The lives of professional military officers are not all that different, no matter what country they soldier for. Savage, who was a squad leader with 2nd Platoon, B Co., 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, told the students how he had gone from a squad leader to leading the platoon during the battle. Snatching the artilleryman's radio, he began calling in and adjusting artillery fire. "I think he came to regret that decision, but once he made it, he stuck with it, and no one could talk him off it, not me and not Hal Moore.". The Vietnamese officer gasped and turned pale: you and your wounded were mixed together Vietnam.., men missing arms, legs, eyes now at peace -- chatterbox. 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Command ultimately fell to Ernie Savage, who led the platoon through the rest of the battle. Plumley believed in training to standard, then raising the standard, said Steve Hansen, who served with Plumley in the Ia Drang. By early November 1965 three PAVN regiments the 32nd, 33rd and 66th and the H15 Local Force Battalion had been assembled in the area. Perhaps it wasn't believable enough to pass muster with the masses. I can't see a thing, but I can smell them. No one should have survived all that," said Joe Galloway, who co-authored the book with retired Lt. Gen. Hal Moore in 1992. The lights of Hanoi sparkled around the dark lake. Savage assumes command, calls in the artillery, and uses the cover of night to keep the Vietnamese from overrunning their defensive position. It was hard to square the image of this small, amiable gray-haired former schoolteacher with the fact that this was the man who, along with the former waiter Nguyen Ai Quoc, a.k.a. Command had fallen to a 21-year-old buck sergeant, Ernie Savage of Birmingham, Alabama. Specialist Galen Bungum -Excerpt from We Are Soldiers Still by Lt. Gen. Harold G. Moore (USA Ret.) When we walked up the ramp we were stunned to be welcomed by a large table of Vietnamese war veterans who regularly gather there to talk of old times over a good meal. He knew it because he trained most of them himself. WebSergeant Savage was serving as squad leader in the 2d Platoon, Company B, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), on 14 November 1965, when it was attacked by a hostile force which consisted of approximately two companies. WebSelect this result to view Ernie Roy Savage's phone number, address, and more. He became "almost loquacious -- a chatterbox," swapping old Army stories (but never war stories!) To say he is a legend is not an exaggeration. I called off the attack, Giap told us. It has now been 43 years since those bloody battles of our youth, and yet the memories of the killing and dyinglittle more than a footnote in the schoolbooks of both the United States and Vietnamare as fresh as yesterday in our hearts and minds. (ret.) Matt Dillon Clark Gregg Capt. I thanked them for the opportunity for such a historic visit by old enemies. I held my breath, because I knew Plumley hated the limelight, no matter how "little" the light. Former A Company 1-7 Cavalry commander Col. We sent a cable back asking for this. Ernie Savage (left) and Dennis Deal talked about their time in the Ia Drang Valley as members of the 7th Cavalry Medal of Honor Recipient retired Col. Walter Joseph Joe Marm, Jr. shared his recollections of the battle and how he continued to battle despite being shot through the jaw. "Too much Hollywood," he said of the movie. He knew that the French commander was betting everything he had on a victory at Dien Bien Phu. Ernie Savage, after retiring from the Army, had remained at Fort Benning, Georgia, as a civilian employee helping train Army Reserve soldiers. Within minutes he had ringed the perimeter with well-placed concentrations, some as (He) jerked the flare free, reared back, and heaved it out into the open clearing. The airportstill surrounded by the big water-filled craters that American bombs had dug in the rice paddieshad been expanded and was jam-packed with humanity, where just months before it had been smaller and much sleepier. "He was all about PT and conditioning, but he'd do everything he expected us to do. Former B Company 1-7 Cavalry Sgt. I was in the check-out line with my daughter and a friend, both 10-year-olds who had experienced first-hand the sensation that surrounded the presence of Hollywood royalty on post since their moms worked in the Public Affairs Office. Former B Company 1-7 Cavalry Sgt. Why would anyone who had somehow survived the bloodiest and costliest fighting of the entire Vietnam War want to return to the birthplace of his nightmares and walk that blood-soaked red earth on a remote plateau in the Central Highlands? WebThe President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Clyde E. Savage (RA14746198), Sergeant, U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations involving conflict with an armed hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam. Matt Dillon Clark Gregg Capt. '", Elliot and Plumley were "two peas in a pod," Galloway said, but "the sergeant major, in life, was bigger than Sam Elliott. These terrible things happen in the confusion of war, and not just on our side.. Former A Company 1-7 Cavalry assistant machine gunner Bill Beck, after completing his two-year tour as a draftee, went back to being a commercial artist. A hundred privately owned restaurants had sprung up where once there had been fewer than half a dozen. He trained us to be the best," Hansen said. There are those who claim, but cannot prove, that he was the only man to claim five combat jumps behind enemy lines. Four hundred men. John Herren were both West Point graduates and professional Army officers. At the end of that first day, eight of the platoons 27 men were dead. Oddly enough, that scene never made it into the movie. : This is not very easy for me. Beck, whose memory of those terrible hours alone on that machine gun mowing down waves of attacking North Vietnamese is photographic, and whose nightmares linger to this day, responded simply and quietly: It isnt very easy for me either.. At the end of that first day, eight of the platoons 27 men were dead. leaving Sgt. Moore requires assistance these days, but he paid a visit to Plumley's bedside before his death. The meeting was held outdoors on the shores of one of Hanois seven lakes. Former A Company 1-7 Cavalry assistant machine gunner Bill Beck, after completing his two-year tour as a draftee, went back to being a commercial artist. Release Dates Galloway said the best lines in the movie were Plumley's own words, including his response to a Soldier who greeted the sergeant major with a "good morning.". Originally published in the December 2008 issue of Vietnam Magazine. Ernie Savage was a soldier in the Vietnam War. Command passed to Sergeant Ernie Savage who called in multiple air strikes around the platoons position. Tom Metsker Desmond Harrington Sp4 Bill Beck Blake Heron Sp4 Galen Bungum Erik MacArthur Sp4 Russell Adams Director Randall Wallace Writers During WWII, he fought in the Allied invasion at Salerno and the D Day invasion at Normandy, and he made four combat jumps with the 320th Glider Field Artillery Battalion. The situation on that ground was very difficult. ", https://www.historynet.com/back-ia-drang/, Jerrie Mock: Record-Breaking American Female Pilot. "I carried the bucket in that conversation. "He was the very essence of a command sergeant major. WebSgt. Ernie Savage Robert Bagnell 1st Lt. Charlie Hastings Marc Blucas 2nd Lt. Henry Herrick Josh Daugherty Sp4 Robert Ouellette Jsu Garcia Capt. Ernie Savage, after retiring from the Army, had remained at Fort Benning, Georgia, as a civilian employee helping train Army Reserve soldiers. The death of Communism and the old Soviet Union had clearly had a salutary effect on a nation that had once been an important client state and the recipient of much Soviet assistance. Maj. Michael Weimer selected as 17th Sergeant Major of the Army, MIA-Medal of Honor recipient and WWII Army pilot laid to rest, U.S. Army STAND-TO! Ernie Savage (left) and Dennis Deal talked about their time in the Ia Drang Valley as members of the 7th Cavalry Medal of Honor Recipient retired Col. Walter Joseph Joe Marm, Jr. shared his recollections of the battle and how he continued to battle despite being shot through the jaw. Instead he ordered his artillery pieces pulled back to the reverse slopes of the mountaintops, and the laborers began burrowing through the earth and rock to construct impregnable gun positions where they could fire on the French below and then swiftly pull the guns back into the mountain itself. The Vietnamese officer gasped and turned pale: You and your machine gun killed my battalion! The three became fast friends and remained close for nearly 50 years. WebSergeant Ernie Savage's precise placement of artillery throughout the siege of the "Lost Platoon" enabled the platoon to survive the long ordeal. We headed back to our rooms at the sparkling new five-star Hotel Metropole with its modern amenitiessuch a contrast to our old quarters at the Defense Ministry with rats and huge spiders on our first two trips. I had always urged my men never to celebrate the killing of an enemy remember that he has a mother tooand to respect them as worthy opponents. Hal Moore, told me that we had to return to Vietnam and to the Ia Drang battlefields. Even more puzzling was the fact that we Americans had paid the tuitionby the end of the French war in Indochina, the United States was financing about 70 percent of the cost of that warbut had not learned the right lessons. WebSergeant Savage was serving as squad leader in the 2d Platoon, Company B, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), on 14 November 1965, when it was attacked by a hostile force which consisted of approximately two companies. We landed at Hanois airport on October 13, 1993, an hour behind schedule, and were met by our Vietnamese minders as we stepped off the plane. He didn't brag, he just told you like it was. Plumley received the Doughboy Award in 1999. Now there was real traffic to contend with on the highway and the streets of Hanoimore cars and a plague of small, noisy, smoky motorbikes had joined the quiet stream of bicycles that had owned those streets before. Across the room at another table a stunning conversation was unfolding between a Vietnamese army colonel, machine gunner Bill Beck and George Forrest. I disobeyed my orders. Basil Plumley retired after 32 years in the Army, then worked as a civilian employee at Martin Army Hospital at Fort Benning for another 15 years. I never knew him to be mean.". WebSelect this result to view Ernie Roy Savage's phone number, address, and more. Sgt. But we want you to know that we never gave such orders. Command had fallen to a 21-year-old buck sergeant, Ernie Savage of Birmingham, Alabama. By early November 1965 three PAVN regiments the 32nd, 33rd and 66th and the H15 Local Force Battalion had been assembled in the area. Former B Company 1-7 Cavalry Sgt. As an offensive measure, Sergeant Savage led his squad and attacked one of the hostile squads. We met and talked with other Ia Drang veterans of the other side during our days in Hanoi before beginning the long trip south. (ret.) (ret.) After nearly four decades of rigid party control Hanoi residents were now experimenting big-time with capitalism and a more free market. Without a lot of what we got from him and the colonel, I know some of us wouldn't be here today. and Joseph L. Galloway. Sam would tell you the same thing. You wrote that our soldiers fought and died bravely in battle, and for that we thank you. "I am so blessed to have had two such men as best friends, as mentors and as role models for almost half a century," said Galloway, who has done more than any other to inspire new generations of Soldiers with the stories of old Soldiers, like Moore and Plumley. The passage wasn't very clear, just mentioned (Plumley) and something about a German tank," Hansen said. No it's not the dead ones! These and the firm stand made by the remaining men pinned down on the knoll, lead to the death of scores of North Vietnamese troops, who never managed to wipe out the platoon. I am glad I did not kill you. Stunned, all I could do was nod and think to myself: Me, too, colonel. "We all thought he was hatched a sergeant major, and here he was in black and white, a first sergeant. We have had your book translated into Vietnamese and I have read it twice already and will read it again, Phuong told the two of us. Ernie Savage Without hesitation, Sergeant Major Plumley ran to the stacks and with his bare hands reached into the grenade boxes and grabbed the flare. He thoroughly enjoyed hosting reunions that brought together dwindling numbers from that 'original' battalion of young studs who fought their way through hell together in the bloody Ia Drang Valley. Ernie Savage was a soldier in the Vietnam War. Sergeant Major Basil Plumley : How do you know what kind of goddamn day it is? Snatching the artilleryman's radio, he began calling in and adjusting artillery fire. | Nov 15, 1992 WASHINGTON Ernie Savage, sergeant 1st class, U.S. Army, retired, was having a hard time of it. But when I approached him in person, after the screening of We Were Soldiers at the theater on Main Post, he offered this much. More than 300 American troopers of the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) and thousands of North Vietnamese Army regulars had perished on that ground in November 1965 in the battles that opened a war that would drag on for 10 long years. Ernie is related to Mitchell Ernest Sawasy and Ernie Orest Sawasy as well as 2 additional people. Ernie Savage, after retiring from the Army, had remained at Fort Benning, Georgia, as a civilian employee helping train Army Reserve soldiers. Sergeant Savage, the 3d Squad leader, now took command. "I don't do interviews. Sergeant Ernie Savage Savage, who was a squad leader with 2nd Platoon, B Co., 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, told the students how he had gone from a squad leader to leading the platoon during the battle. And that was all there was to it.". The legendary war correspondent met Plumley in the Ia Drang Valley of Vietnam -- a place neither thought they would survive. After a series of studio interviews in New York, a number of Ia Drang veterans were chosen to make the trip to Vietnam with me and Joe Galloway. [At night] Specialist Galen Bungum : I can't see a thing, but I can smell them. WebSergeant Ernie Savage assumed command after Sergeant's Palmer and Stokes were killed. Twelve were wounded. And at 6 feet, 6 inches, Plumley towered over the young Soldier. General Giap is waiting for you at the museum, one of them explained. The meeting outdoors in the sweltering heat was mercifully brief. WebBy 1964 North Vietnam had established the B3 Front in the central highlands of South Vietnam. He'd step in and speak up and tell the colonel when the men had all they could take. WebThe President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Clyde E. Savage (RA14746198), Sergeant, U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations involving conflict with an armed hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam. Tucked between pages 220 and 221 of a dog-eared copy of "We Were Soldiers Once and Young" is a receipt from the Fort Benning commissary dated 2001. He was one of only 324 Soldiers to claim that honor. Ernie Savage was a soldier in the Vietnam War. Savage assumes command, calls in the artillery, and uses the cover of night to keep the Vietnamese from overrunning their defensive position. Command passed to Sergeant Ernie Savage who called in multiple air strikes around the platoons position. It was clear to us that our book about the battles had opened the hearts of these Vietnamese generals and it was that, and our determination to get and tell their side of the story as honestly as we could, that had opened the door to this journey back to our old battlefields. Dead bodies smell, Bungum. Savage didn't frighten easily, but he tended to be overly deferential to anyone "above" him. For his "gallantry under relentless enemy fire on an otherwise insignificant knoll in the valley of the Ia Drang," Ernie Savage received the Distinguished Service Cross. Savage didn't frighten easily, but he tended to be overly deferential to anyone "above" him. Sergeant Major Basil Plumley : How do you know what kind of goddamn day it is? We had asked for this briefing because of the importance of Dien Bien Phu and the defeat of the French in setting the stage for Americas beginning involvement in the affairs of the two Vietnams. After being refused permission to journey to our old battlefields in the Ia Drang on two previous visits to Vietnam, suddenly in the spring of 1993 the official government objections on grounds of safety and security vanished. Nov 15, 1992 WASHINGTON Ernie Savage, sergeant 1st class, U.S. Army, retired, was having a hard time of it. Ernie Savage Robert Bagnell 1st Lt. Charlie Hastings Marc Blucas 2nd Lt. Henry Herrick Josh Daugherty Sp4 Robert Ouellette Jsu Garcia Capt. ", As a Soldier, Plumley defied convention as he defied death. WebSgt. After a good Vietnamese meal of spring rolls, fish, chicken and rice washed down by cold beers, we turned to the obligatory preliminary conversations about families and work and life in general as the hot tea was poured. Former B Company 1-7 Cavalry Sgt. It is just like mine. His dedication paid off, when Plumley staffed the 7th Cav's 1st Battalion with Soldiers he knew to be highly skilled, well- trained and disciplined. Sergeant Major Basil Plumley : How do you know what kind of goddamn day it is? From those same conversations and our book, the generals knew something about our families as well. Giap greeted Joe and me as old friends in token of our two previous meetings and shook hands with the rest of our traveling squad during a brief stop in a museum reception room. That evening, I tucked it into the book for safe keeping, and there it stayed until last week, when I learned that Plumley died Oct. 10 at the Columbus Hospice after a short battle with cancer. Just one paragraph out of 430 pages -- a succinct account, unembellished, that encapsulates the character of a man who was larger than life long before his character hit the big screen. It was just grunts and growls for the first hour and a half, but then they got to talking," Galloway said. You killed my best friend. He fought with then-Lt Col. Hal Moore in the Battle of Ia Drang, which was the first major Battle of the Vietnam War involving US Troops. In April 2001, the smoke had finally settled from the exodus of the film crew, the stars and cameras and hangers on who descended on Fort Benning earlier that year to film Hollywood's adaptation of We Were Soldiers. At the outset of the Peloponnesian War the Athenian-allied city-state came under attack from the same Greek forces that a half century earlier had driven off Persian invaders. Most of the Americans would find peace on this journey. The fighting was hand-to-hand, and our wounded and your wounded were mixed together. WebThe President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Clyde E. Savage (RA14746198), Sergeant, U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations involving conflict with an armed hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam. "He said the (1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment) was the best unit he'd ever been in, the best trained," Savage said. Meanwhile, with helicopters constantly dropping off units, Moore manages to secure weak points before the North Vietnamese can take advantage of them. He was huge, and when you saw him, you knew you better get your stuff straight," said Savage, who spent the better part of Monday standing post at Plumley's casket at a funeral home in Columbus. Company Credits The general, speaking through an interpreter, told us he made one daring decision that changed the course of the siege and history, a decision that he said could have cost him his life. Twelve were wounded. These were all crippled war veterans, men missing arms, legs, eyes. "You'd hear him up front yelling, 'Awright dammit, pick it up back there,'" Savage said. Shortly after publication of We Were Soldiers Onceand Young in the fall of 1992, we were approached by a producer at ABC Televisions Day One program. Any serious study of our war in Vietnam has to begin with the French war; and those were the books I read on the troopship that brought my battalion to South Vietnam in the summer of 1965. He fought in more than 20 military operations during his 32-year military career, having enlisted on March 31, 1942, as a private after two years of high school. Some, like former-soldier-turned-journalist Jack Smith, expressed their feelings in the early discussions with the enemy commanders. Sergeant Major Basil Plumley But Plumley proved more of a challenge, even to Galloway. | WebBy 1964 North Vietnam had established the B3 Front in the central highlands of South Vietnam. Published by arrangement with Harper Collins Publishers. So was he. Savage didn't frighten easily, but he tended to be overly deferential to anyone "above" him. Savage assumes command, calls in the artillery, and uses the cover of night to keep the Vietnamese from overrunning their defensive position. Over the past few years, Plumley's personality changed noticeably, Galloway said. There were the murmurs of a dozen other conversations at the small tables, and the clatter of dishes in the nearby kitchen, which gave off the enticing scents of the next course. Change did not end there. His troops were ordered to keep digging the trenches ever nearer the French lines. Technical Specs. Within minutes he had ringed the perimeter with well-placed concentrations, some as That's what he always said -- I don't do interviews," Galloway said. Command Sergeant Major (ret.) Beautiful morning, Sergeant! Sgt. I didn't introduce the girls to the Plumleys; they were on their way in and we were on our way out. Command ultimately fell to Ernie Savage, who led the platoon through the rest of the battle. At one point, my seatmate on the bus, Colonel Thuoc, tapped me on the chest and told me through the interpreter: You have the heart of a soldier. (ret.) Sergeant Ernie Savage : Dead bodies smell, Bungum. Sergeant Ernie Savage : Dead bodies smell, Bungum. Former A Company 1-7 Cavalry assistant machine gunner Bill Beck, after completing his two-year tour as a draftee, went back to being a commercial artist. There I was with the two most monosyllabic men in the world in the same room, and I sat there between them. "He's a real hero, not an actor," I said. The highway to the capital had been widened, potholes had been repaired, and new homes and shops were being built along the roadside. In walked retired Command Sgt. The following day, our group of Ia Drang veterans met with Gen. Nguyen Huu An and seven of his commanders who had fought against us at X-Ray and Albany. : Tony Nadal Jon Hamm Capt. We always knew the value of prisoners. Ten-mile foot marches were the norm, and Plumley regularly ran long distances with his men, leading from the front. History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. "He was the very essence of a command sergeant major. Others listened quietly but tensely to the explanations of the North Vietnamese officers that their troops had no choice but to kill wounded Americans they found as they searched the battlefield at night for their own wounded and dead. His soldiers tunneled and trenched and burrowed in the red earth, drawing the noose ever tighter around the French strongpoints and positions, while the big howitzers were set into positions on the forward slopes of the mountains surrounding the doomed French garrison. Official Sites : When everything was ready, then, and only thenon March 13, 1954Giap signaled the attack, and this time he would use his tactics, designed for a Vietnamese army, first cutting French supply and reinforcement lines and the vital airstrip with his artillery while the Viet Minh troops closed in on and overran the surrounding French hilltop strongpoints one by one. For most, on both sides, this was their first time to sit down across from each other. Sgt. You are the first serious historians to come here and ask us for our version of what happened, and you quoted us accurately. After retiring from the Army, Herren continued to work at the Pentagon as a civilian employee, while Nadal worked as a human resource officer in several large corporations. Former helicopter commander Lt. Col. HistoryNet.com is brought to you by HistoryNet LLC, the worlds largest publisher of history magazines. A state-owned shop that once displayed four cans of evaporated milk in a dusty window had been transformed into the Hong Kong Kung Fu Video and Coffee Shop, and its tiny tables were jammed with young Vietnamese watching Bruce Lee movies. This ancient Red River Delta capital was bustling and busy where it had been quiet and somnolent on our previous two trips. By early November 1965 three PAVN regiments the 32nd, 33rd and 66th and the H15 Local Force Battalion had been assembled in the area. To subscribe, click here. Sgt. Terry Wrong told us he would like to make a documentary on the battles and the veterans that would involve taking a group of us back to Vietnam and to the battlefields. For his "gallantry under relentless enemy fire on an otherwise insignificant knoll in the valley of the Ia Drang," Ernie Savage received the Distinguished Service Cross. Through an interpreter the colonel asked where Bill had been during the fight at LZ X-Ray. I can smell them creeping up on us. Ernie Savage : Good morning, Sergeant Major. What are you a fucking weatherman now? I fared no better. "He didn't have to say a lot -- he just had to show up, and people paid attention. He welcomed them as fellow soldiers to a Vietnam now at peace. The West Virginia native, who was born on the first day of 1920, earned the Combat Infantryman Badge in World War II, Korea and Vietnam (where he served two tours.) Tom Metsker Desmond Harrington Sp4 Bill Beck Blake Heron Sp4 Galen Bungum Erik MacArthur Sp4 Russell Adams Director Randall Wallace Writers (He was awarded the Bronze Star for helping rescue wounded American Soldiers under fire at Landing Zone X-Ray.). At our first meeting in 1982 to map out the research that would consume a decade and result in the publication of We Were Soldiers Onceand Young, my coauthor and best friend, Lt. Gen. Some of the others in our group of veterans were less comfortable with the idea; they were still angry at those who tried to kill them so long ago, and had in fact killed many of their friends. Maj. Plumley, but he isn't nearly as tough on sins small or large," or some version there of, is commonly used in any discussion involving the man, and it was so long before his death and long before the movie. He fought with then-Lt Col. Hal Moore in the Battle of Ia Drang, which was the first major Battle of the Vietnam War involving US Troops. These and the firm stand made by the remaining men pinned down on the knoll, lead to the death of scores of North Vietnamese troops, who never managed to wipe out the platoon. A couple of years back, as his health declined, he relinquished his "reign" on the reunions. The lives of professional military officers are not all that different, no matter what country they soldier for. Savage, who was a squad leader with 2nd Platoon, B Co., 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, told the students how he had gone from a squad leader to leading the platoon during the battle. 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