Voices of Veterans and Volunteers: Wilbur Snynder
Voices of Veterans and Volunteers: Wilbur Snyder
Wilbur Snyder, a West Point graduate, served for twenty-five years in active duty. He was stationed in Germany, studied Russian, served in the Pentagon in the intelligence part of joint staff doing arms control inspections in the former Soviet Union, and served one tour at Fort Bragg, North Carolina in a unique unit called the Psychological Operations. He is a volunteer at the newly-opened Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial.
Wilbur Snyder stands in front of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial of the scene depicting General Eisenhower’s address to the 101’st Airborne on D-Day.
Trust for the National Mall (TNM): Can you share any details of your military service, specifically, when and where did you serve and your rank?
Wilbur Snyder (WS): Okay, I served from 1968 to 1997. The first four years, 1968-1972, I was a cadet at West Point and I graduated from West Point in 1972; and I was commissioned that year as a second lieutenant in the Armor Branch of the Army.
I served for 25 years in active duty. And you know those 25 years, 14 were in Germany, in a lot of places in both armor units and about midway through my career, I got in something called Soviet Foreign Area Officer Program, so I was sent to study Russian only for a year, and then Russian area studies at a special school in Germany for two years.
I also served several times in the Pentagon, in the intelligence part of joint staff doing arms control inspections in former Soviet Union – Russia, and I also served one tour at Fort Bragg in North Carolina in a unique unit called the Psychological Operations.
TNM: Veteran’s Day is a special time of remembrance and gratitude. What would you like visitors to take away from their time at the Mall?
WS: I think I would like them to take away an understanding of the sacrifices that were made by men and women in the armed forces of the United States and also the citizens of the United States throughout the many conflicts we were in from 1775 to the present. And you can see that in many different places. You can get a sense of it at the Washington Monument, which was used as a supply point for the Union Army during the Civil War. You can get a sense of it at the Lincoln Memorial, certainly at the Vietnam Memorial, which records the names of every man and woman who was killed in the Vietnam War. The Korean War Memorial, which is very moving showing soldiers in combat wearing ponchos and moving through high grass. The World War II Memorial, a conflict in which my father served certainly reflects the great national effort and sacrifices from 1941-1945. And then at the other end of the Mall the Civil War is also commemorated by the Ulysses Grant Memorial.
Finally, here where we are at the Eisenhower Memorial which is dedicated to a great American who was a professional soldier and who also went to West Point as I did. However, he was one of only nine Generals and Admirals to reach five-star rank, while I retired as a mere Lieutenant Colonel. You and I are now standing immediately in front of the statues and sculpture commemorating the greatest invasion in the history of warfare as Eisenhower addresses soldiers on the eve of D-Day, the 6th of June, 1944.
And I would also mention, although not on the Mall, there’s a Women in Military Service Memorial at the entrance of Arlington Cemetery that also gives great evidence of the contribution women have made throughout the country to its defense.
TNM: Many of your fellow volunteers are also veterans, is there a message you would like to send to the veterans that visit the Mall on Veteran’s Day?
WS: I certainly do. On a cold and windy day, knowing that some of them are here on days worse than this when it’s raining, snowing or hot and humid, I would thank them for their service and their dedication.
In some cases some are older than I am at 70. Some are wounded warriors who are here on prosthetics so that can’t be easy. So, I would thank both the volunteers and veterans throughout the country for the great dedication and sacrifice they have made in their lives to the nation.
TNM: Thank you. So, you’ve seen thousands of people engage with the memorial [Eisenhower Memorial], is there a specific moment or two that are particularly memorable?
WS: This morning. We had a young man, the first person here I believe the wind chill was in the 20’s this morning, was from Normandy, France, currently living in Bethesda but a very avid military historian. He’s befriended a number of surviving World War II veterans from the Normandy invasion, and knew more detail about the set of statues we’re looking at than I did, and I know a fair amount.
And, he was very emotionally involved and said he’ll come back here – of course he can’t come home now because we can’t go to France – but he’ll come back here whenever he’s homesick to remind himself of his home. So that to me was very, very moving.
TNM: What drew you to continue to serve the country as a volunteer?
WS: So I retired as a civilian from the Pentagon in April 2020, and a close friend of mine from West Point is has been a major volunteer at the World War II Memorial. I shadowed him one day as I was preparing to retire, before COVID and thought, “is this something I want to do.”
I originally volunteered for World War II and was told it had enough volunteers and was asked if I would be interested in the Eisenhower Memorial. So, I said yes of course I would.
I saw Eisenhower twice, once as a seven-year-old, and once as a 17-year-old. I remember him as President. Anyway, shadowing my friend made me realize this is something I want to do after I retire. And to be perfectly honest, I was getting stir crazy the first three months of COVID so I was very glad when this opened up and I was able to be here the first day the visitors were here the 18th of September.
TNM: Can you share the times you had seen Eisenhower?
WS: That was at West Point in 1957. My father was in the National Guard the son of his first commander from 1930 was teaching at West Point, so we visited there for a fall football weekend. I have been told that this was one of the few times Eisenhower came back to West Point as President. I remember seeing cadets on parade, the Army beating Cornell in football, and I most especially remember the limousine with President and Mrs. Eisenhower. And that visit also put the idea of going to West Point in my own mind.
And then when I was 17 in 1967 at the Army War College in Carlisle Barracks Pennsylvania. This was less than two years before President Eisenhower’s dead in 1969. My father was officially invited to the dedicated of the Eisenhower Chair of Strategic Studies there, and my mother and I were allowed to attend in the crowd and we got to see General Eisenhower from a distance.
To all those who have served, and those who continue to serve, thank you for your service and sacrifice. The Trust is honored to be able to share some of your stories this Veteran’s Day.
Do you or the veterans in your life have a special memory from a visit to one of the memorials on the National Mall? Share it with #MyNationalMallStory @TheNationalMall and HERE.