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Contact Info
Home Town Auburn, Kentucky
Last Address Fernandina Beach, Florida
Date of Passing Aug 15, 2014
Location of Interment Jacksonville National Cemetery (VA) - Jacksonville, Florida
Bud Sydnor was born on June 30, 1927, in Auburn, Kentucky (pop 850). He enlisted in the U.S. Navy on September 6, 1945, and after completing Submarine School, he served aboard the attack submarine USS Raton (SS-270) with the Atlantic Submarine Fleet out of New London, Connecticut, until his discharge from active duty on January 15, 1948.
He remained in the Naval Reserve until September 19, 1950. Sydnor received his commission as a 2d Lt of Infantry in the U.S. Army through the Army ROTC program at Western Kentucky State Teachers College on May 29, 1952, and went on active duty beginning August 25, 1952.
After completing Infantry Officer training and Airborne School, Lt Sydnor served with the 11th Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, from February to December 1953. During this time, he completed Ranger School at Fort Benning, Georgia.
His next assignment was with the 160th and then the 23rd Infantry Regiment in Korea from January to September 1954, where he served as a Platoon Leader, Company Executive Officer, and Company Commander.
Lt Sydnor served with the 27th Infantry Regiment in Hawaii from September 1954 to December 1956, followed by service as an airborne instructor with the International Student Division at Fort Benning from January 1957 to August 1958.
After completing Special Forces training, Capt Sydnor served as a Team Commander with the 77th Special Forces Group at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, from June 1959 to March 1960, and he then completed an exchange officer assignment with the British Special Air Service (SAS) in England from April 1960 to June 1961.
He served with the 7th Special Force Group at Fort Bragg from June 1961 to January 1964, and during this time he deployed to Laos as part of the White Star project from October 1961 to June 1962.
His next assignment was as a staff officer with the Infantry Branch at the Pentagon from January 1964 to January 1967. Col Sydnor attended Armed Forces Staff College at Norfolk, Virginia, from January to August 1967, and then deployed to Southeast Asia, where he served as a battalion commander and executive officer with the 327th Airborne Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division in the Republic of Vietnam from August 1967 to August 1968.
After completing his Master's Degree at George Washington University and attending Army War College at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, Col Sydnor served with the U.S. Army Infantry School at Fort Benning from June 1970 to June 1973.
During this time he trained and commanded the ground forces for the Son Tay Raid, a clandestine mission to rescue American Prisoners of War held in North Vietnam, on November 21, 1970.
He served as Commander of the 1st Special Forces Group on Okinawa from July 1973 to September 1974, followed by service as Chief of the Infantry Branch with the Army Military Personnel Center in Alexandria, Virginia, from November 1974 to June 1976.
Col Sydner next served as Chief of the Company Grade Combat Arms Division with the Army Military Personnel Center from June 1976 to June 1977, and then served as Director of the Ranger Department with the Infantry School at Fort Benning from June 1977 to May 1980.
His final assignment was as Director of Plans and Training with the U.S. Army Infantry Center at Fort Benning from May 1980 until his retirement from the Army on September 1, 1981.
In addition to his U.S. badges, Col Sydnor was awarded the British Air Service Jump Wings, the Thai Army Jump Wings, and the Republic of China Jump Wings.
He was inducted into the Ranger Hall of Fame on June 18, 1992.
Description This campaign was from 30 January to 1 April 1968. On 29 January 1968 the Allies began the Tet-lunar new year expecting the usual 36-hour peaceful holiday truce. Because of the threat of a large-scale attack and communist buildup around Khe Sanh, the cease fire order was issued in all areas over which the Allies were responsible with the exception of the I CTZ, south of the Demilitarized Zone.
Determined enemy assaults began in the northern and Central provinces before daylight on 30 January and in Saigon and the Mekong Delta regions that night. Some 84,000 VC and North Vietnamese attacked or fired upon 36 of 44 provincial capitals, 5 of 6 autonomous cities, 64 of 242 district capitals and 50 hamlets. In addition, the enemy raided a number of military installations including almost every airfield. The actual fighting lasted three days; however Saigon and Hue were under more intense and sustained attack.
The attack in Saigon began with a sapper assault against the U.S. Embassy. Other assaults were directed against the Presidential Palace, the compound of the Vietnamese Joint General Staff, and nearby Ton San Nhut air base.
At Hue, eight enemy battalions infiltrated the city and fought the three U.S. Marine Corps, three U.S. Army and eleven South Vietnamese battalions defending it. The fight to expel the enemy lasted a month. American and South Vietnamese units lost over 500 killed, while VC and North Vietnamese battle deaths may have been somewhere between 4,000 and 5,000.
Heavy fighting also occurred in two remote regions: around the Special Forces camp at Dak To in the central highlands and around the U.S. Marines Corps base at Khe Sanh. In both areas, the allies defeated attempts to dislodge them. Finally, with the arrival of more U.S. Army troops under the new XXIV Corps headquarters to reinforce the marines in the northern province, Khe Sanh was abandoned.
Tet proved a major military defeat for the communists. It had failed to spawn either an uprising or appreciable support among the South Vietnamese. On the other hand, the U.S. public became discouraged and support for the war was seriously eroded. U.S. strength in South Vietnam totaled more than 500,000 by early 1968. In addition, there were 61,000 other allied troops and 600,000 South Vietnamese.
The Tet Offensive also dealt a visibly severe setback to the pacification program, as a result of the intense fighting needed to root out VC elements that clung to fortified positions inside the towns. For example, in the densely populated delta there had been approximately 14,000 refugees in January; after Tet some 170,000 were homeless. The requirement to assist these persons seriously inhibited national recovery efforts.
