Blackhorse Riders

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

Philip Keith

• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN: 9780312681920
• eBook ISBN: 9781429940955
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Military Biographies
• Index: History

The true story of a US Army unit's effort to rescue an outnumbered troop under heavy fire in Vietnam—and the thirty-nine-year odyssey to recognize their bravery.
Winner of the 2013 Silver Medal in History from the Military Writer's Society of America
Finalist, 2013 Colby Award
Winner of the 2012 USA Best Book Award for Military History
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 eighty-seven-man American company was quickly surrounded, pinned down, and fighting for its existence.
Captain John Poindexter, Alpha Troop's twenty-five-year-old commander, realized that his outfit was the only hope for the trapped company. 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.
Praise for Blackhorse Riders
"Keith's compelling storytelling breathes life into the personalities involved, so that minute by minute, following both rescuers and rescued, you keep turning pages to find out who lives and who dies." —Karl Marlantes, New York Times–bestselling author of Matterhorn and What It Is Like to Go to War
"One of the finest and best-told combat stories to come out of Vietnam. . . . For those of us who were there, this is the kind of book we would be proud to pass on to our children." —Nelson DeMille
"A definite must-read." — Booklist

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Author’s Note
• Foreword
• Map of War Zone C
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Alpha Troop: Men of Iron, Steeds of Steel
• Chapter 2: Company A, 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry
• Chapter 3: Company C, 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry
• Chapter 4: “Humping Jungle”
• Chapter 5: One Bad Round Can Ruin Your Whole Day
• Chapter 6: Firestorm
• Chapter 7: Big Brother Is Watching
• Chapter 8: “Saddle Up”
• Chapter 9: Tough Choices
• Chapter 10: “Busting Jungle”
• Chapter 11: Angel of Mercy
• Chapter 12: Encouraging Words
• Chapter 13: Breakthrough
• Chapter 14: “Commence Fire!”
• Chapter 15: Slugfest
• Chapter 16: The High Water Mark
• Chapter 17: Peregrinations
• Chapter 18: “And That’s All She Wrote…”
• Chapter 19: Battle of the Senses
• Chapter 20: Recall
• Chapter 21: Afterword
• Epilogue
• Acknowledgments
• Dramatis Personae
• Appendix 1: Text of President Obama’s Speech on October 20, 2009
• Appendix 2: The Blackhorse Regiment, the 11th Armored Cavalry
• Appendix 3: The M-551 Sheridan Tank
• Appendix 4: The M-113 Armored Cavalry Assault Vehicle (ACAV)
• Notes
• Glossary
• Bibliography
• Index
• Copyright