But Not Forgotten

Published in January of this year, I present this under the "better late than never" principle. It's a tribute to Command Sergeant Major Basil Plumley, penned by his friend Joe Galloway. If you've seen the excellent 2002 movie "We Were Soldiers," you'll remember Sam Elliot's wonderful portrayal of the Sergeant Major, with Barry Pepper as war correspondent Galloway. Plumley and Galloway remained close friends until the Sergeant Major passed on in October of last year. Writes Galloway:

[In] January of 1966 I got word from [Hal] Moore, now wearing the eagles of a colonel and commanding the 3rd Brigade, to hotfoot it to 1st Cav's home base at An Khe. There he briefed me on an upcoming operation into the Bong Son area along the central coast. Then he said something that froze my blood: "By the way, Sgt. Maj. Plumley has a bone to pick with you, so you best see him and make it right." Soon enough I was with the sergeant major, and he was telling me how one of my stories about that flare incident had frightened Mrs. Plumley back home in Columbus, Ga. My boss at the United Press International (UPI) bureau in Saigon had been given sketchy information about Plumley's actions through radio reports reaching U.S. headquarters there. He had taken some liberties and blown the story out of proportion with lines like: "Sgt. Maj. Plumley will wear the scars on his hands for the rest of his life." I was still on the battlefield when that story moved on the wires. I told Plumley, "I did NOT write that story!" His response: "It had YOUR name on it, Joe."

I gave up and asked, "What will it take to make it right with you, Sergeant Major?" He grinned and said that he really admired the Smith & Wesson short-barrel .38 Special on my belt. I told him he could not have my belt gun, but I would see that he got a brand-new pistol just like mine. The erring UPI boss brought a new pistol back from home leave, and I delivered it to a delighted Plumley. Nearly 40 years later, I was sitting at the dinner table at Plumley's home in Columbus as he gave a couple of movie stars a tour of his gun collection. He opened his sock drawer, pulled out that .38 and waved it around, telling them, "Joe Galloway gave me this gun!" He called it a peace offering; I called it a peacemaker.