26. “Gentlemen, Prepare to Defend Yourselves“
By 1965, Basil Plumley had risen through the ranks to become Sergeant Major of the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment. The unit was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Hal Moore, when it ran into and was surrounded by two North Vietnamese regiments. In the ensuing Battle of the Ia Drang Valley, Plumley shone. At one point, when he was surrounded by enemy soldiers, he pulled out his .45, hollered to his soldiers “Gentlemen, prepare to defend yourselves,” and rallied them into beating off the foe. Hal Moore praised him to the skies, as an outstanding leader and NCO.
After 32 years in uniform, by which point he had become an Army legend, Plumley retired as a Command Sergeant Major in 1974. He gained wider fame with the 1992 publication of Hal Moore’s We Were Soldiers Once… And Young, in which Plumley was prominently featured. His legend grew, even more, when the book was adapted by Mel Gibson into a 2002 movie, in which Plumley was portrayed masterfully by Sam Elliot. Command Sergeant Major Basil Plumley passed away in 2012, in Columbus, Georgia.