Don - Vietnam war Armoured Cavalry Platoon Leader (143)

Cold War Conversations - "vivid & compelling" The NY Times

Ian Sanders

Documentary, History, Society & Culture

4.8 • 865 Ratings

🗓️ 9 October 2020

⏱️ 60 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This is the first of two episodes we have following Don Snedeker’s experiences through the Cold War. In this episode, we hear about his time in Vietnam and the book he has written entitled "The Blackhorse in Vietnam: The 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment in Vietnam and Cambodia, 1966–1972”. Don was born in Brooklyn New York but followed his Father’s postings around the globe as an ‘Army brat’. Don was commissioned into the Armour branch of the US Army in February 1969 and by December he had been posted to Vietnam initially assigned to the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment (Blackhorse) but later joining the 1st Armoured Cavalry Regiment (Blackhawks) serving as an armoured cavalry platoon leader and as a Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol platoon leader. He was awarded a Bronze Star with ‘V’ for Valour, a Purple Heart, and the Combat Infantryman’s Badge. Buy Don's book and support the podcast here https://amzn.to/3nAj7Ra If you can spare it I’m asking listeners to contribute at least $3 USD per month to help keep us on the air (larger amounts are welcome too) plus you can get a sought after CWC coaster as a monthly financial supporter of the podcast and you bask in the warm glow of knowing you are helping to preserve Cold War history. Just go to https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/ Co-host James conducts our chat and I am delighted to welcome Don Snedeker to our Cold War conversation… There is further information and a book giveaway in our show notes, which can also be found as a link in your podcast app here. https://coldwarconversations.com/episode143/ If you can’t wait for next week’s episode do visit our Facebook discussion group where guests and listeners continue the Cold War Conversation. Just search Cold War Conversations in Facebook. Thank you very much for listening. It is really appreciated. Support the project! https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/ Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/ColdWarPod Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/coldwarpod/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/coldwarconversations/ Youtube https://youtube.com/@ColdWarConversations 0:00 Introduction and historical context 1:29 Don Snedeker's early life, military career, and family history 7:35 Reflection on preparedness for war and the role of armored cavalry in Vietnam 15:48 Long range reconnaissance missions and jungle warfare 25:20 Tactics used in combat and earning military honors 27:19 Writing the book "The Black Horse in Vietnam" and its impact 35:06 Experience returning home from Vietnam and personal memories 39:38 Visiting Vietnam post-war and personal reflections 43:57 Unique characteristics and advantages of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment in Vietnam 55:17 End of interview and closing remarks by Ian Sanders Chapters powered by PodcastAI✨ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Cold War Conversations, the home of real stories of the Cold War.
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0:36.0	We had a lot of firepower. We had a lot of firepower.
0:39.4	When we went out looking for trouble and we found it, we could usually take care of the
0:46.7	trouble ourselves.
0:50.9	This is Cold War Conversations. If you're new here, you've come to the right place to listen to first-hand Cold War history accounts.
1:01.0	Do make sure you follow us in your podcast app or join our emailing list at Cold Warconversations.com.
1:09.8	This is the first of two episodes we have following Don Snedekar's experiences through the Cold War.
1:17.4	In this episode we hear about his time in Vietnam and the book he has written entitled The Black Horse in Vietnam,
1:24.3	the 11th Armoured Cavalry Regiment in Vietnam and Cambodia, 1966 to 1972.
1:32.5	Don was commissioned into the armour branch of the US Army in February 1969 and by December he had
1:39.0	been posted to Vietnam, initially assigned to the 11th Armoured Cavalry Regiment, the Black Horse,
1:45.8	serving as an Armoured Cavalry Platoon Commander and as a long-range reconnaissance
1:51.0	patrol platoon leader.
1:53.1	He was awarded the Bronze Star with V for Valour, a Purple Heart and a Combat Infantryman's
	...

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