Army command sergeant major basil plumley biography

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. It serves two purposes; first, to mark the account of a remarkable incident that occurred in November 1965 during a battle between American forces and the North Vietnamese in the Ia Drang Valley; and second, to remind me that for a time, a giant walked among us.

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. 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.

In walked retired Command Sgt. Major Basil Plumley and his wife Deurice.

I didn't introduce the girls to the Pluml

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We Were Soldiers: Sergeant Major Basil L. Plumley – Veteran of WWII, Korea & Vietnam

Basil L. Plumley was a soldier as well as an airborne combat infantryman in the US Army. He eventually reached the rank of Command Sergeant Major, from beginning as a Private. Plumley is most well-known for his actions whilst being Sergeant Major of the United States Army’s 1st battalion, the regiment of 7th Cavalry during the Battle of la Drang at Vietnam, 1965.

Lt. General Hal Moore, Plumley’s commander of the battalion during this battle praised Plumley as being ‘an outstanding NCO and leader’ in the book published in 1992 regarding this battle. This book was named ‘We Were Soldiers Once…And Young’. This book was later used to create the 2002 movie ‘We Were Soldiers’ where Sam Elliott played Plumley. Plumley’s soldiers affectionately called him ‘Old Iron Jaw’.

The Battle of la Drang was the very first major battle to occur between United States Army regulars and the People’s Army

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Command Sergeant Major Basil Plumley of the United States Army passed away almost exactly one month ago today. In his 50+ years of service to the American military both in a combat and civilian role, he was decorated 40 times for bravery by at least fem different countries, fought in three continent-spanning wars against global Fascism and Communism, participated in a couple dozen of the bloodiest and most vicious battles this country has ever seen, and once pulled out his .45-caliber Colt 1911 service pistol and led a bayonet charge through a bullet-strewn jungle against a force of AK-47-toting soldiers that outnumbered him 5-to-1.

I figure Veteran's Day weekend is as good a time as any to mention him on this website.

Basil Plumley was born in Blue Jay, West Virginia on New Years' Day 1920. One of six children of a hard-working WVA coal miner (Derek Zoolander-style), Plumley was a big, strong, no-bullshit kid who dropped out of high school to be a truck driver