Jonathan Snyder

Early Life, Education and Sports

Jonathan Snyder was born to David and Anne Snyder and grew up on a ranch near Penticton, British Columbia. While at Penticton Secondary School, he played rugby and basketball and competed in track and field. He was also a singer and actor and played the alto saxophone in his high school band. After graduating from high school in 1999, he enrolled in undergraduate studies at the University of Victoria, where he joined the varsity rugby team. In 2003, Snyder graduated with a major in English and a minor in sociology. In 2007, he became a PADI-certified scuba diver while on a trip to Costa Rica with his fiancée, Megan Stewart.

Military Career

Jonathan Snyder became an army cadet when he was 12 years old. In September 1999, he joined the Canadian army as a candidate in the Regular Officer Training Plan. For the next three summers, he completed a series of 12-week courses that qualified him successively as a CAF officer, an army officer and a dismounted platoon commander.   Finally, in the summer of 2003, after graduating from the University of Victoria, he undertook the Mechanized Infantry Platoon Commander Course at the Infantry School in CFB Gagetown, New Brunswick.  Snyder then joined the 1st Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Light Infantry (1PPCLI) based in Edmonton, Alberta. He served as a platoon commander from 2003 to 2006, including during his first tour in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan

Jonathan Snyder was first deployed to Afghanistan in 2006, serving in Kandahar province from February to August. Canada had been involved in the war since 2001, when it joined an international coalition to destroy the al-Qaeda terrorist organization and the Taliban regime in Afghanistan that sheltered it. (See also Canada and 9/11). By the time Snyder arrived in 2006, the war had entered a more dangerous phase for the Canadian battle group, which was transferred to the southern city of Kandahar. Between 2006 and 2011, the Canadians were responsible for counterinsurgency in Kandahar province, rooting out Taliban fighters and supporting the local government.

On his first tour, Lieutenant Snyder was a platoon commander in C Company, 1PPCLI Battle Group in Task Force Orion. After the Battle of Panjwaii, he was promoted to captain. In addition to his skills as a leader, Snyder was known for his good humour and ability to keep up everyone’s spirits. He returned to Canada in August 2006, but was soon deployed overseas again, this time to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. For three months in 2007, Snyder helped train the Emirati Special Forces preparing to deploy to Afghanistan.

In 2008, he was sent to Kandahar once again, this time as a company advisor to the Afghan National Army (ANA). In this role, Snyder mentored about a hundred soldiers. While on patrol on 4 June 2008, he and his ANA company came under attack from three sides. All the ANA officers were immediately killed, but Snyder led the men to victory in the firefight and then back to safety, communicating via a translator throughout the attack.

For his actions during the firefight, Snyder received the Star of Military Valour, the second highest Canadian decoration for bravery after the Victoria Cross. According to his citation, “With little chance of survival, [the Canadians] exposed themselves to great peril and retaliated against the enemy while encouraging the Afghan soldiers to do the same. Captain Snyder seized control of the situation and ensured that the Afghan soldiers retrieved their wounded comrades.”

Only days after this firefight, Snyder lost his life in the Zhari district of Kandahar province. During a night patrol on 7 June, the sky was so dark that even Snyder’s night vision goggles were of little use, and he fell into an irrigation well. Weighed down by 80 pounds of gear, he was unable to get out and drowned.

Legacy

The Captain Jonathan Sutherland Snyder Memorial in Penticton was dedicated on 4 June 2013. The memorial plaque describes him as “Trusted, Respected, Admired” and “A Soldier’s Soldier.” Lieutenant Colonel Ian Hope of the PPCLI is quoted on the plaque as simply saying “Be like Jon!”