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Remember...Hughie Franklin Snider
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Hughie Franklin Snider ("Frank") was born on April 29, 1949, at New Cumberland, Hancock County, West Virginia. His parents were Harold Daniel Snider Jr. and Dorothy Marie Balwanz Snider. The 1950 Federal Census shows Frank to be living with his mother in the town of Reader in Wetzel County. Research for this article did not find any named brothers or sisters, but the Snider Family Tree on Ancestry.com indicates a possible "Private" sibling, meaning that person is still alive at the time of this writing. On September 8, 1969, in Hancock County, Frank married Susan Darlene Wharton.
According to a headstone application for Frank, he enlisted in the U.S. Army on April 29, 1969 (his 20th birthday). Ranked as a Specialist Fourth Class, he was assigned to Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 77th Armor, 1st Brigade, 5th Infantry Division. His service occupation category was Light Weapons Infantry. He would soon be headed for Vietnam.
According to the website maintained by the Society of the Fifth Division, United States Army, the division "achieved worldwide recognition for its valor, proficiency and determination. The 1st Brigade was alerted for deployment to Vietnam on 25 March 1968." Arrival in Southeast Asia began in June 1968. The remainder of 1968 and the early months of 1969 saw the division actively involved in military operations as well as offering support, such as road building and medical aid, to friendly South Vietnamese villages. All told, the division was involved in seven Vietnam campaigns from July 1968 through June 1971. In February of 1969, the division began its operations in Quang Tri Province. While fighting during this period was fierce, casualties were not as high as might be expected. Again, according to the division's website, "The high proportion of wounded to killed was typical of US activity in Vietnam. The excellent medical services, communication facilities, and skillful helicopter evacuation saved countless US lives. . . . " (Society of the Fifth Division, United States Army, "The Fifth Infantry Division: Vietnam," accessed 24 October 2025, https://www.societyofthefifthdivision.com/vietnam/Vietnam.htm.) Statistics, however, do not account for the loss of Hughie Franklin Snider, who would lose his life in a seemingly innocent activity intended to provide some respite, from the Vietnam Winter-Spring 1969-1970 Campaign, for the war-weary soldiers.
On April 28, 1970, just one day before his 21st birthday, Frank was swimming during a break with members of his unit in Quang Tri Province, Vietnam. The exact location was in the South China Sea, near Binh An, eight kilometers southeast of Cua Viet River. The undertow became treacherous and carried him out to sea. His comrades tried to keep him afloat, but the strength of the current was too much for them to sustain their effort. Helicopters searched for him, as did local fishermen and Navy personnel, but with no results. To this date, his remains have not been recovered.
In the "Remembrances" section of the Wall of Faces of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, Dennis Withers offers a personal reflection:
From what I remember of Hughie's last day was that it started out with everyone in the Scout platoon seeming to have higher spirits than usual. That was no doubt because of our mission that morning would take us in a different direction than we were used to. We weren't heading for the Cambodian border or the DMZ. No, this mission was one most of us were looking forward to. The scenery this day wouldn't be the usual battle grounds of the past or the future but that of white sandy beaches with the fresh smell of the ocean and real food prepared by a Navy chief. You see our mission that day would take us to the South China Sea at the Gulf of Tonkin where the Navy began operations to pull out of Cua Viet. Our mission there was to provide security while they closed down operations in the bay and Vietnam.I believe we arrived at Cua Viet mid to late morning and may have had one meal of real food. With time on our hands and a beautiful beach enticing most of the guys in the platoon, we took the tracks down to the sandy beach and left one man per track to maintain security while the rest of the guys enjoyed the sights and sounds of the ocean. It wasn't long before someone reported Hughie Snider had swum out a long way and they had lost sight of him. At the moment the situation with Hughie was reported to the rest of the platoon, I was further down the beach taking pictures of the tracks. I could see a small group gathering and wasn't sure what was going on. . . . Whether it was a piece of shrapnel from an exploding rocket, a round from an AK-47 or suffocation from drowning, he was a casualty of the war in Vietnam and his service to his country will not be forgotten. (Posted 1 July 2003.)
| Hughie Franklin Snider is remembered at the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial; at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.; and at the West Virginia Veterans Memorial. A military marker is imbedded in the soil of the New Cumberland (West Virginia) Cemetery, where his family also has had his name carved on the family headstone. These are cenotaphs, because as of this writing, no remains have been returned to the States. The mission of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency is of course to bring them home. The likelihood of such happening may be extremely small, but families always have hope that some day they will receive information that provides closure. |  |
Article prepared by Patricia Richards McClure
October 2025
West Virginia Archives and History welcomes any additional information that can be provided about these veterans, including photographs, family names, letters and other relevant personal history.
