About Joe




Joe Snyder
SERVICE TO AMERICA & OUR COMMUNITY
• Two time Mayor of Dana Point
• Former Mayor Pro Tem
• Colonel USMC, Retired Marine Corps Helicopter Pilot
• Completed 1217 Combat Missions in South East Asia
• Shot down 2 times…survived
• Graduate, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill



ALUMNUS
• Naval war College
• Naval Flight School
• Armed Forces Staff College
• Amphibious Warfare School
• Pentagon Liaison Officer under President Ronald Reagan



VIETNAM ERA SERVICE
1966 - Volunteered for service in the United States Marine Corps - Aviation Officer Candidate, Quantico, Va.

1966 May - Commissioned a Second Lieutenant and given orders to Flight School in Pensacola, Fla.

1967 June - Graduated flight school and received coveted gold wings of a Naval Aviator. And designation as a fixed wing and rotary wing pilot. Also promoted to First Lieutenant and given orders to the Marine Corps Air Facility, New River North Carolina and subsequent assignment to Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron - 161 for transition to the CH-46 Seaknight Helicopter. After nine months of intensive training, the squadron departed New River for a cross-country flight to Long Beach, Ca. to board the A/C Carrier Princeton for transport to Vietnam. The squadron arrived in country at the end of April, 1968 and commenced combat operations in support of the First Marine Division in Northern Quang Tri Province along the DMZ from the South China Sea to the Laotian border. HMM-161 was attached to Provisional Marine Aircraft Group - 39, First Marine Aircraft Wing, First Marine Expeditionary Force, Fleet Marine Force Pacific. ProvMag - 39 was based at Quang Tri Combat Base just north of Quang Tri City and six miles south of Dong Ha.

The squadron commenced combat operations over the entire area of I Corps in support of Marine, South Vietnamese and U.S. Army ground forces. Special Operations were performed in Laos and across the DMZ into North Vietnam. The squadron was in combat day after day, month after month without let up. You only got away if you had a R&R or could steal a night aboard the hospital ship. First Lieutenant Joe Snyder was an Aircraft Commander from the get go and responsible for the safety and survival of a crew of five plus the multi million dollar helicopter being flown. He was an old guy just having turned twenty-four years of age. No birthday party. Squadron pilots were called upon to do everything you could possibly do with a combat configured helicopter: Combat Strike Missions to insert troops for battle, Medevac of the wounded and dead, resupply of everything the Marines needed for ground combat, SpecOps across borders to cut off North Vietnamese supply lines, rescue of downed fixed wing pilots shot out of the sky, Reconnaissance Team insertions and extractions usually under fire, Emergencies of all kinds, Night Ops, bad weather ops, etc. and an occasional gravy run to Da Nang to pick up something or somebody and maybe have a decent meal for a change. In the fall of 1968 on a night Medevac assignment Lt. Snyder and crew were launched from Quang Tri to Fire Base Camp Carroll along Highway Nine to the west to extract wounded Marines caught in an intensive North Vietnamese Artillery Attack. While under fire Lt Snyder guided the helicopter thru the incoming rounds and successfully extracted the wounded to safety. Later that night the crew was called on again to proceed to an area called Mutter's Ridge north of the Rock Pile where a Marine Company size unit was engaged in heavy combat with a NVA unit trying to overrun the position.

They had emergency Medevacs they had tried to evacuate earlier but two other helicopters had been shot up trying to enter the area. A C-130 flare ship was overhead dropping flares to provide some light to the beleaguered Marines on the ground. The scene commander was on board the C-130 and gave the brief for an attempted pick-up. Marine Huey gunships were on station for fire support as well as fixed winged attack aircraft at a higher altitude in case they were needed. Lt. Snyder was told this was an accept or decline mission...he was not being ordered to attempt the pick-up. It was his call if he felt he could be successful. Lt. Snyder accepted the mission and headed inbound to attempt a pick-up. Arriving over the ridgeline and the battle below it was quickly apparent that there was no place to land. With the battle raging all around Lt Snyder skillfully maneuvered the helicopter to a one-wheel landing and held the aircraft steady until the wounded were loaded on board and he was able to rapidly depart the area. Miraculously the aircraft sustained minimal damage, the mission was accomplished and lives were saved. Later it was learned that the commander in the C-130 was the Commanding General of the First Marine Aircraft Wing. Big deal thought Lt Snyder. It was just another night at the office. For his actions that night Lt Snyder received the Distinguished Flying Cross for heroism and actions above and beyond the call of duty.
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Joe Snyder for City Council
35228 Camino Capistrano
Capistrano Beach, Ca. 92624