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    Blackhorse Riders: A Desperate Last Stand, an Extraordinary Rescue Mission, and the Vietnam Battle America Forgot
    Blackhorse Riders: A Desperate Last Stand, an Extraordinary Rescue Mission, and the Vietnam Battle America Forgot
    Blackhorse Riders: A Desperate Last Stand, an Extraordinary Rescue Mission, and the Vietnam Battle America Forgot
    Audiobook10 hours

    Blackhorse Riders: A Desperate Last Stand, an Extraordinary Rescue Mission, and the Vietnam Battle America Forgot

    Written by Philip Keith

    Narrated by Dick Hill

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Deep in the jungles of Vietnam, Alpha Troop, 1st Squadron, 11th
    Armored Cavalry, the famed Blackhorse Regiment, was a specialized
    cavalry outfit equipped with tanks and armored assault vehicles. On the
    morning of March 26, 1970, they began hearing radio calls from an
    infantry unit four kilometers away that had stumbled into a hidden North
    Vietnamese Army stronghold. Outnumbered at least six to one, the
    ninety-man American company was quickly surrounded, pinned down, and
    fighting for its existence. Helicopters could not penetrate the dense
    jungle, and artillery and air support could not be targeted effectively.
    The company was fated to be worn down and eventually all killed or
    captured.Overhearing the calls for help on his radio, Captain
    John Poindexter, Alpha Troop's twenty-five-year-old commander, realized
    that his outfit was the only hope for the trapped company. It just might
    be possible that they could "bust" enough jungle by nightfall to reach
    them. Not making the attempt was deemed unacceptable, so he ordered his
    men to "saddle up." With the courage and determination that makes
    legends out of ordinary men, they effected a daring rescue and fought a
    pitched battle-at considerable cost. Many brave deeds were done that day
    and Captain Poindexter tried to make sure his men were recognized for
    their actions.Thirty years later Poindexter was made aware that
    his award recommendations and even the records of the battle had somehow
    gone missing. Thus began the second phase of this remarkable story: a
    "battle" to ensure that his brave men's accomplishments would never be
    forgotten again.The full circle was completed when President
    Obama stepped to the podium on October 20, 2009, to award the Alpha
    Troop with the Presidential Unit Citation: the highest combat award that
    can be given to a military unit.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateFeb 14, 2012
    ISBN9781452676289
    Blackhorse Riders: A Desperate Last Stand, an Extraordinary Rescue Mission, and the Vietnam Battle America Forgot
    Author

    Philip Keith

    PHILIP KEITH became a naval aviator after graduating from Harvard. During three tours in Vietnam he was awarded, among other decorations, the Presidential Unit Citation, the Air Medal for Gallantry, the Purple Heart, and the Navy Commendation Medal. Keith is also a columnist for the Southampton Press and a feature writer for magazines. He lives in Southampton, Long Island.

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    Reviews for Blackhorse Riders

    4/5

    24 ratings3 reviews

    What did you think?

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    • 5/5
      68/69 I served with in 11ACR and was attached to A Troop on many occasions
      They where tough Captain Poindexter
      Was good leader
      Very descriptive accurate book I can
      still can feel and smell all of that
    • 5/5
      Brilliantly researched, written and narrated. The author has produced a work that is a credit to those who served in Vietnam.
    • 4/5
      This is a close examination of a battalion-sized action that occurred just before the invasion of Cambodia in 1970, where a troop of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment rode to the rescue of another American unit, and which ultimately resulted in the mechanized unit receiving the Presidential Unit Citation; the author being inspired to write this book after seeing the story of the presentation at the Rose Garden of the White House in 2009.Besides being a narrative of the action (mostly from the perspective of the American survivors), Keith goes to some effort to give you the flavor of service in a mechanized unit in Vietnam (my main rationale for picking up this book), while using this as an opportunity to pay his respects to the Vietnam generation.I have no major complaints about this book, though I do think an opportunity was missed to try and get some sense of what was happening on the other side of the hill, as there is no doubt as to the identity of the unit (the NVA 272nd Regiment) that the American cavalrymen faced; but I get no sense that the author tried to research the Communist side of the story. Again, Keith is mostly concerned with salvaging a useable past from one of the more dubious periods of American history. It would be interesting to know what the staff officers of the current Vietnamese army make of histories such as these.