Like you, we love our soldiers., The small, bespectacled Phuonga lieutenant colonel when he arrived on the Ia Drang battlefields in 1965 to write the Vietnamese armys report and lessons learned on the battle, and now a major general and chief historian of the Vietnamese armyalso had something else to say. The legendary war correspondent met Plumley in the Ia Drang Valley of Vietnam -- a place neither thought they would survive. Subscribe to receive our weekly newsletter with top stories from master historians. Whether they produced battlefield images of the dead or daguerreotype portraits of common soldiers, []. : I called off the attack, Giap told us. 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. Filming & Production These were all crippled war veterans, men missing arms, legs, eyes. 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. Giap was under orders from the Politburo to launch human wave attacks on the French in the late afternoon of January 26, 1954. 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. In 1964 an Ohio woman took up the challenge that had led to Amelia Earharts disappearance. Sergeant Ernie Savage : Dead bodies smell, Bungum. The Defense of Plataea Proved a Textbook Example of How to Survive a Siege. Within minutes he had ringed the perimeter with well-placed concentrations, some as 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. "I carried the bucket in that conversation. In our earlier inter views we had learned something about their familiesGeneral An had a daughter who was an army doctor and a major; General Man had a son who was an engineer and later would study in the United States; General Phuong lived with a daughter and her family. I pulled the book off the shelf and turned to page 220 to review the brief account of an incident that happened on the second day of that bloody three-day battle between the Soldiers of the 7th Cavalry Regiment and 2,000 North Vietnamese forces: "In the midst of this bedlam a blazing flare streaked across the sky and plunged into the ammunition dump near the battalion command post. Plumley's bravery in Vietnam was probably a mixture of inherent character and confidence gained on the battle field. Former A Company 1-7 Cavalry commander Col. 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. pow vietnam brace ernie dies staff december report 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. He welcomed them as fellow soldiers to a Vietnam now at peace. As an offensive measure, Sergeant Savage led his squad and attacked one of the hostile squads. 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. We like your book. Sergeant Ernie Savage : Dead bodies smell, Bungum. drang symposium savage ernie recalls intense talked 7th The girls bounded back smiling, with Plumley's signature scrawled across the back of my register receipt. Plumley was witty without effort and never long-winded, Savage said. For us this was research, capturing the words and thoughts of these men for history. You killed my best friend. The dinner ended early, since we had a 4:15 a.m. wake-up call to catch our flight from Hanoi south to Danang, where our road journey to the Central Highlands would begin. As an offensive measure, Sergeant Savage led his squad and attacked one of the hostile squads. 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. Earnie Savage was a young buck sergeant, an E5, when he met Plumley in 1964. I asked him, 'What's the story about you and a German tank and he just grunted and said, 'Obviously I won.' 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. Ernie Savage The legendary war correspondent met Plumley in the Ia Drang Valley of Vietnam -- a place neither thought they would survive. This led to some remarkable exchanges. | The lives of professional military officers are not all that different, no matter what country they soldier for. Oddly enough, that scene never made it into the movie. Former B Company 1-7 Cavalry Sgt. Command ultimately fell to Ernie Savage, who led the platoon through the rest of the battle. The meeting outdoors in the sweltering heat was mercifully brief. At the end of that first day, eight of the platoons 27 men were dead. Hal Moore, told me that we had to return to Vietnam and to the Ia Drang battlefields. Tom Metsker Desmond Harrington Sp4 Bill Beck Blake Heron Sp4 Galen Bungum Erik MacArthur Sp4 Russell Adams Director Randall Wallace Writers Bill explained that he had been way out front, guarding the American flank next to the dry creek bed. He was 92. Ernie Savage was a soldier in the Vietnam War. It lodged in a box of hand grenades, burning fiercely. The second best result is Ernie Sawasy age 80+ in Woodland Hills, CA in the Woodland Hills neighborhood. Ho Chi Minh, had built an army out of an unarmed gaggle of peasant boys and girls and led them with great skill against the Japanese, the French colonialists, the United States and, more recently, against their former ally and neighbor, Communist China. WebSgt. Before we left the United States for Hanoi, the Vietnamese government Foreign Press Office asked if there was anything else we wanted to do or anyone else we wanted to see on our trip. How do you know what kind of goddamn day it is? Moore was the lieutenant colonel who led the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, into the Ia Drang, and Galloway was a UPI journalist assigned to the unit. "He said the (1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment) was the best unit he'd ever been in, the best trained," Savage said. Specialist Galen Bungum 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. On the sidewalk in front, four new businesses were in operation selling trinkets, tea and cakes, tins of Russian caviar, and bottles of brandy. 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 was the very essence of a command sergeant major. You are the first serious historians to come here and ask us for our version of what happened, and you quoted us accurately. I fared no better. Originally published in the December 2008 issue of Vietnam Magazine. "He didn't have to say a lot -- he just had to show up, and people paid attention. Ernie is related to Mitchell Ernest Sawasy and Ernie Orest Sawasy as well as 2 additional people. "Being second at anything didn't count. He was laid to rest with Deurice in the Main Post Cemetery. "He was the very essence of a command sergeant major. Savage assumes command, calls in the artillery, and uses the cover of night to keep the Vietnamese from overrunning their defensive position. Command had fallen to a 21-year-old buck sergeant, Ernie Savage of Birmingham, Alabama. But we want you to know that we never gave such orders. As an offensive measure, Sergeant Savage led his squad and attacked one of the hostile squads. 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. Good morning, Sergeant Major. "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 refrain "God may look like Sgt. Matt Dillon Clark Gregg Capt. Sergeant Ernie Savage 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. 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. Gen. Nguyen Huu An, the enemy battlefield commander; and Colonels Vu Dinh Thuoc and Tran Minh Hao, who had fought there as lieutenants. But he said he had grown increasingly worried that such an attack would play into the hands of the French; that his artillery was vulnerable to the big guns of the French, and to launch human-wave attacks would destroy much of the force so carefully built and trained over the last 10 years, with no hope of replacements for the terrible losses he would suffer in such an attack. Official Sites Ernie Savage, after retiring from the Army, had remained at Fort Benning, Georgia, as a civilian employee helping train Army Reserve soldiers. "You'd hear him up front yelling, 'Awright dammit, pick it up back there,'" Savage said. Over the past few years, Plumley's personality changed noticeably, Galloway said. 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. It was quiet on the bus as each of us turned to his own thoughts about the dinner and our trip south to the Ia Drang in the morning. The second best result is Ernie Sawasy age 80+ in Woodland Hills, CA in the Woodland Hills neighborhood. Earnie Savage was a young buck sergeant, an E5, when he met Plumley in 1964. Ours was not the only fascinating talk going on that evening. Release Dates No it's not the dead ones! Matt Dillon Clark Gregg Capt. He'd step in and speak up and tell the colonel when the men had all they could take. WebSergeant Ernie Savage assumed command after Sergeant's Palmer and Stokes were killed. John Herren were both West Point graduates and professional Army officers. "We thought he was the dragon, but looking back, I know he was the moderator. WebSergeant Ernie Savage assumed command after Sergeant's Palmer and Stokes were killed. Command ultimately fell to Ernie Savage, who led the platoon through the rest of the battle. Savage assumes command, calls in the artillery, and uses the cover of night to keep the Vietnamese from overrunning their defensive position. Their wheelchairs were crude and decrepit, as were the prosthetics replacing their missing arms and legs. 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. 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. The men chosen to make this trip were all old friends and comrades. Without a lot of what we got from him and the colonel, I know some of us wouldn't be here today. He then stomped out the grass fires touched off by the flares in and around the ammo crates.". Sergeant Major Basil Plumley After nearly four decades of rigid party control Hanoi residents were now experimenting big-time with capitalism and a more free market. So was he. (ret.) Tony Nadal and former B Company 1-7 Cavalry commander Col. I never knew him to be mean.". 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. They met at Plumley's house and chatted over coffee and Deurice's pie. They have also lived in Altadena, CA and Pasadena, CA. WebSgt. 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. 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. Earnie Savage was a young buck sergeant, an E5, when he met Plumley in 1964. His troops were ordered to keep digging the trenches ever nearer the French lines. Sgt. Earnie Savage was a young buck sergeant, an E5, when he met Plumley in 1964. 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. 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. I had nothing to worry about. Tony Nadal Jon Hamm Capt. Snatching the artilleryman's radio, he began calling in and adjusting artillery fire. All this he told us quietly, matter-of-factly, with no hint of bragging or boasting. Technical Specs. Hansen said he was intrigued, some years back, when he came across a mention of "first sergeant" Plumley in a historical book about World War II. 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