Plaque commemorating former students of Greene-Hills who died in Vietnam War finds its way back to the halls of the school

Greene-Hill Elementary School principal Scott Guadet, left, and Duke Snyder, retired teacher and proponent of returning a plaque honoring veterans to the school. | N. Supranovich

Posted By: David Fortier September 17, 2024

By Neal Supranovich

The principal of Greene-Hills School and his former baseball coach returned to the Green-Hills School to correct a wrong that happened when the new Greene-Hills School was built. 

Principal Scott Guadet welcomed Robert “Duke” Snyder, a former teacher at Green-Hills School from 1975 to 1994 and highly acclaimed baseball player and coach, who traveled to Bristol to replace a plaque he had hung in the old Greene-Hill Schools and subsequently had been lost.

Snyder placed a new plaque on the wall during a ceremony yesterday, Monday, Sept. 16, with the students, representatives from the Memorial Military Museum, Bristol Veterans Council members and the mayor looking on.

The original plaque had been misplaced and lost between the time the old Greene-Hills School came down and when the new one when up in August 2012.

The new plaque commemorates the memory of four former students of Greene-Hills School who died in Vietnam. Synder knew them when he was growing up. The four include Ado Ryder, Robert Jacobs, Gilbert Thibeault and David Ouellette.

The plaque is inscribed the names of the four and with this message, “Some Gave All–Former Greene Hills Students Who GAVE ALL in Vietnam.”

Snyder is a Vietnam veteran, and among those honored as a “Hometown Hero” for Bristol by the veterans who stood for all Vietnam veterans at the presentation Ceremony in 2022.

Renowned for his skills on the baseball field, Snyder is a member of the Bristol Sports Hall of Fame, having been inducted in 2005. He was a standout in local sports, and a member of the 1964 American Legion Post 2 state championship team.

He played for the United States Marine Corps baseball team, leading the team in many offensive categories, he signed with the California Angels in 1969 and played briefly, and he was member of local championship teams including the Bristol Collegians and the Bristol Twilight League Team, according to his Bristol Sports Hall of Fame biography.

He is a member of the Greater Hartford Twilight League Hall of Fame.

Synder is proud to be able to right the wrong, he said. He hopes to return to Bristol in December to revisit friends.

Editor’s note: The writer is historian for American Legion Post 2. 

All TBE readers, supporters and donors                

The Bristol Edition will be limiting the number of stories non-members and free readers may access each week. This decision is based on our financial projections and, most certainly, to remind people that TBE is serious about providing accurate, timely and thorough reporting for Bristol. To do this we have devised a financial support structure that makes unlimited access extremely affordable, beginning with a $6 monthly donation.                

  • Non-members will be able to access four (4) articles per week.                
  • Free readers and people who have subscribed by email will be able to access four (4) articles per week.                
  • Donors and financial supporters will have unlimited access as long as they log in.                

Note: Donors may have to contact TBE if they find they are being limited, since we will need to set up a membership account for you. Email editor@bristoledition.org for instructions. Sorry for any inconvenience. People with financial difficulties may write editor@bristoledition.org to be considered for free access.