Who was Sergeant Ernie Savage?

Answer 1

Ernie Savage was a soldier in the Vietnam War. 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.
At the beginning of the Battle, 2nd Lt Henry Herrick ordered his platoon to chase after an enemy scout, which led them to cut off from the bulk of their unit. Lt Henry Herrick, and the two highest ranking Sergeants under him were killed minutes into the ambush.

Sgt. Ernie Savage actually not the highest ranking NCO at that point; there was another Sergeant First class, but they had to remain still and prone to avoid fire. Ernie Savage was the closest to Herrick and the platoon's Radio Operator. With support coming from artillery, which never fully knew Savage's position, they survived an against-all-odds-night. They held out until being recovered from a rescue platoon early the next day. The reason they waited was because several other rescue attempts had failed with disastrous results.

Not a single additional man was killed or wounded after Ernie Savage took command.

As far as I know, he continued to fight in the unit. He retired with the rank of Master Sergeant in the US Army in a year I do not know.

He accompanied Lt Gen. Hal Moore when he returned to the Battlefield of Ia Drang in the mid 1990's, along with many others on both opposing sides of the Battle.

His actions are portrayed in the We Were Soldiers (2002). My sources besides the movie was the book We Were Soldiers was based off of, We Were Soldiers Once...And Young (1992), and it's more recent sequel, We Are Soldiers Still (2008).

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