Renold Peterson

27Jan1947 – 22Dec1966

Thank you to Renold’s cousin Barbara Pribnow, (née Barfuss, Class of 1966) and her daughter Melanie Willette for contacting this site about Renold and for sharing personal photographs.

Thank you to Rick Buttshaw for sharing photographs and personal recollections of the friend he called “Inky”, and to Jan Buttshaw for helping this website get connected with Rick.

Edison Days

Renold attended 10th grade at Edison in 1963.

Military Service

Branch: United States Army

Rank: Private First Class

Unit: B Company – 2nd Battalion – 8th Cavalry Regiment – 1st Cavalry Division

Renold was drafted into Army in early 1966. He was inducted into the service in Minneapolis, Minnesota on 20Apr1966. It was during the induction process that Renold and Rick met and it was not long before they became close friends.

Renold, Rick, and the rest of the inductees were sent to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri for Basic Training. Arriving in the early morning hours of April 21st, the boys were given a postcard to send home.

Reynold and Rick were in the same training battalion at basic.

After 12 weeks of basic training, Renold and Rick returned to Minnesota on 30 days leave. Renold traveled to Shakopee, Minnesota to spend some time with Rick. Rick recalls cruising in a 1965 Chevy Impala, going to Hauer’s Drive-in, and otherwise just hanging out like 18/19-year-old guys do. Rick was supposed to visit Renold in NE Minneapolis during leave, but the visit fell through.

When leave ended, Renold and Rick went their separate ways. Renold was sent to Fort Polk, Louisiana for Advanced Infantry Training (AIT) and Rick went to Fort Gordon, Georgia for Communications/Radio school.

When AIT was done, Renold was sent to Vietnam, arriving in country on 24Oct1966. Renold likely was a replacement soldier when he was assigned to B Company – 2nd Battalion – 8th Cavalry Regiment (2/8).

On the day he arrived in Vietnam, the US military launched Operation Thayer II involving Army, Marine Corps, and Vietnams (ARVN) units to search out, disrupt, and destroy enemy forces in Binh Ding Province.

In November 1966 Renold and his unit were involved in numerous engagements with the enemy including at Kim Son Valley and at Bồng Sơn Plain.

From December 9 to December 13, he participated in Operation Rover, A sub-operation within Thayer II, where the 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, and other units evacuated approximately 1,000 civilians from the Kim Son Valley to secure hamlets, disrupting VC control. This was part of a broader pacification effort.

On December 22, 1966, combat activities had slowed down, but not stopped, in advance of an announced Christmas truce on December 24 and December 25.

Renold and the 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry were actively engaged in patrols east of An Khê, and particularly in the Highway 506 Valley. While on patrol, Renold was shot and killed by enemy small arms fire.

Renold’s body was returned home for burial at Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Renold’s name is inscribed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC on Panel 13E, Line 72.

Postscript

While doing research for Renold’s page, I came across this post on the Wall of Faces website.

From that post I was able to locate Rick. Through a series of texts, emails, phone calls, and a visit, Rick shared several memories and photos of his friend Inky.

While they only knew each other for a few months, Rick said that they became very good friends and that it felt like they had been buddies since kindergarten. He knows that they would have been lifelong friends had Renold survived the war.

Rick and Inky vowed to write each other when they went their separate ways, and they did. Rick still has the letters he received from Inky.

In February 1967 Rick was told to report to the Commanding Officer. Rick wasn’t sure what he did wrong. The CO informed Rick that his friend had been killed in Vietnam and handed the letter he had sent to Inky in December back to him. Had the CO not done that, Rick would have learned of Inky’s death during mail call.

Rick has never forgotten Inky, when he was an active Harley rider, he wore a patch in honor of Inky right above his heart.