On Saturday, July 18, at 1 p.m., members of the U.S. Army's 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment Air Cavalry Troop — also known as the Black Horse Regiment, whose members come from all over the country — will host a public memorial service at the Carroll County Vietnam Memorial Park at Willis and Court streets in Westminster to remember fallen soldiers from the Vietnam War.

This famed unit traces its beginnings to March 11, 1901, and has seen combat in the Philippine-American War, World War II, the Vietnam War, the first Gulf War and is currently serving in Iraq.

One of the organizers of the service, Lt. Bill Blickenstaff, a National Geospatial Intelligence Agency Protective Service Division Training Supervisor in Bethesda, recently gave me a briefing on this unit, and noted that in Vietnam, this Air Cavalry Troop consisted of a long range reconnaissance platoon, scouts and an Aero Rifle Platoon.

The 11th first arrived in South Vietnam at Vung Tau on Sept. 7, 1966. It was regularly engaged in heavy combat and took heavy casualties throughout the balance of the war.

The mission of the unit, according to information provided by Blickenstaff, was "what they called 'Search and Destroy.' "

The scouts, he said, flew at tree top level and lower to draw fire from (the enemy), then "pull out, and the Cobra (helicopter gun ships) would roll in with fierce fire power...

"According to the statistics, (the scouts) had a life span of 17 seconds after contact with the enemy and two months overall."

Some 730 members of the unit were lost in Vietnam.

Of the 19 names on the cold black granite monument in the Carroll County Vietnam Memorial Park, two are of men who served in the Black Horse Regiment.

Sergeant Joseph Anthony Oreto, from Westminster, gave his life for his country in Tay Ninh Province on April 13, 1969. Oreto began his tour on Nov. 24, 1968.

Blickenstaff's uncle, Specialist 5 Joseph William Blickenstaff Jr., of Silver Run, is the other member of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment Air Cavalry Troop whose name is etched upon the granite memorial.

Joe Blickenstaff began his first tour of duty in Vietnam on Oct. 22, 1969. In fall 1970, at age 21, he volunteered to extend his tour six months as an aerial reconnaissance scout with the 11th Air Cavalry Troop.

On a combat mission Dec. 19, 1970, his helicopter was hit by enemy ground fire. He died north of Phu Loi, Binh Duong Province, just above the Mekong Delta and about 50 miles from Saigon.

Carroll County is privileged to have the veterans and their families of this elite fighting force come to our community to pause and honor the fallen from Carroll County.

If you have the opportunity, come by to help honor these men and their families, as well those others named on the memorial who paid so dearly in the service of their community and nation.

Kevin Dayhoff may reached at kevindayhoff@gmail.com, or visit him at www.westminstermarylandonline.net.

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user comments (1)

user forwhatitsworth says...

I had the honor and privileged to attend this ceremony. What I would have liked to have seen were more civilians there to show gratitude and sincere appreciation for this group of heroes. Most in attendance were from the reunion it’s self. As a Carroll County �"Gulf War” combat veteran myself (not affiliated with this unit), I made the time to attend.

Posted 3:44 PM, 07.19.09

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