"I just looked around to see what had to be done to try to survive. I knew we couldn't go back because we had a lot of people wounded. Most everybody in that platoon was wounded. I am an exception. I got a couple of scratches, a little bit of fragments, and stuff like that, but I didn't get wounded seriously."
Description of Interview:
Ernie Savage grew up in Alabama and enlisted in the Army in 1960. After basic training at Fort Riley, Kansas he deployed with his battle group to Korea as a machine gunner with an infantry company. He later went to the NCO Academy, and in 1964 was assigned to the 11th Air Assault at Fort Benning, Georgia. His unit left, now part of the 1st Cavalry Division, for Vietnam aboard a troop ship in August 1965. He recalls the Panama Canal, a typhoon in the Pacific, and shooting the new M16s at towed targets off the back of the USNS General Maurice Rose (T-AP-126). He remembers sleeping in pup tents at An Khe before getting wooden-floored GP tents, which was good for the termites. He discusses great leadership, the pursuit of the enemy, the battles at LZ X-ray and Bong Son, South Korean soldiers (“the best”), sharing cookies from home, a making a career of the Army.
Key Words: Dien Bien Phu, Fort Riley, Kansas, battle group, Korea, 11 Bravo, Pentomic, NCO Academy, 11th Air Assault, Fort Benning, Georgia, USS Rose, Panama Canal, Cam Ranh Bay, An Khe, pup tents, termites, Combat, Paint Your Wagon, LZ X-ray, Chu Pong Mountain, mortar FO, artillery FO, Bong Son, Starlight scope, M60, Fort McClellan, Alabama
Key Names: President Johnson, Vic Morrow, Colonel harold "Hal" Moore, Captain "Tony" Nadal
Unit:
2nd Platoon, B Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry (Airmobile)
Service Location:
II Corps, An Khe, Ia Drang
Read the Complete Transcript of this Interview.