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Warren
Eskridge
Eskridge
CPL · · 11B10 · Infantryman
KIA
In-Country Service
1968-12-14 –
Home of Record
Tangier, Accomack County, VA
Character of Service
Honorable
Archive Status
Active
Virtual Wall, Honor States, and Wall of Faces, cross-referenced against CPT Henry Colavita's 2016 oral history and his own memoir, "Company Grade: Memoir of an Angry Skipper" (Hellgate Press, 2015, ch. 9, "Chicken Valley") — see events/operation-sheridan-sabre-1969-01-28 and sources/colavita/09-chicken-valley/. If you served with or knew Warren Eskridge, please use the contribute form to share what you remember.
1968-12-14
Arrived
Arrived in Vietnam — December 14, 1968
CPL Warren Eskridge began his tour in the Republic of Vietnam with 1st Cavalry Division, 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry, D Company.
1969-01-28
Incident
Killed in action — January 28, 1969
CPL Eskridge was killed by hostile action (small arms fire) on a search-and-destroy patrol in Binh Long Province, Republic of Vietnam (casualty records list Tay Ninh — see admin notes), while serving with D Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry. He and SP4 Carl Pipher died in the same engagement, walking into a prepared enemy bunker complex on a three-platoon front; the fight continued through the night, with the enemy staying in their bunkers rather than pressing the attack. Company commander CPT Henry Colavita has given two independent firsthand accounts of this fight — a 2016 oral history and his own memoir, which names Eskridge directly. CPL Eskridge was 21 years old. Full account: events/operation-sheridan-sabre-1969-01-28.
1969-01-28
Casualty record
Binh Long Province, III Corps, RVN — War Zone C (Fishhook area / Saigon River corridor); operating base FSB Rita (LZ Rita)
post-1983
Remembered
A postwar visit to Tangier Island
CPT Henry Colavita and two fellow "Angry Skipper" veterans, Ed Regan and Mike McGhie, made a postwar visit to Eskridge's home, Tangier Island, Virginia, hitching a mail/supply boat ride from Crisfield, Maryland. They laid a wreath at his grave and met his family, including his twin brother, then serving as the island's mayor. During the visit, Eskridge's sister showed Colavita a condolence letter that carried his own unsigned signature block but had actually been ghostwritten by the company's XO, Lt. Karl Derums — standard practice for the role at the time. Colavita disputed a claim in the letter that Eskridge had "walked into an ambush," a characterization he says doesn't match how Delta Company operated. Exact date not given in the source; placed here only as sometime after Colavita's 1983 retirement. See soldiers/derums-karl.
Did You Know Warren, or Serve Alongside Warren?
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