- McMahon and Judge
Charles McMahon (
May 10 ,1953 -April 29 ,1975 ) and Darwin Lee Judge (February 16 ,1956 -April 29 ,1975 ) were the last two U.S. servicemen killed in theVietnam War . Both Marines died in a rocket attack onApril 29 ,1975 , while providing security for the Defense Attache Office, at the Tân Sơn Nhứt Airport inSaigon [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2000/04/26/national/main188943.shtml] . The American evacuation of Saigon was complete by the next day,April 30 ,1975 .Corporal Charles McMahon was from Woburn,
Massachusetts . Lance Corporal Darwin Judge was an Eagle Scout and was from Marshalltown,Iowa . Judge was 19 years old at the time of his death.Both men were members of the Marine Security Guard Battalion at the
American Embassy . They were killed in artillery fire from several approaching NVA infantry divisions closing in on Saigon. Their bodies were left behind but were returned to their families the next year for burial. Judge never received thePurple Heart he deserved and was not given Marine burial honors until 25 years later [http://www.scopesys.com/cgi-bin/bio2.cgi?bio=J052] .The first U.S. casualty in Vietnam was
Flying Tiger John T. Donovan who was killed onMay 12 ,1942 , but American involvement in Vietnam was not considered official at that time and as such his name does not appear on theVietnam Veterans Memorial [http://www.touchthewall.org/facts.html#1v] . The first two official caualties were U.S. Army MajorDale R. Buis and Master Sergeant ChesterCharles Ovnand who were killed 17 years before McMahon and Judge onJuly 18 ,1959 .ee also
*
Vietnam War casualties
*Fall of Saigon
*Operation Frequent Wind
*Mayagüez incident External links
* [http://www.fallofsaigon.org/ Fall of Saigon Marine Association]
** [http://www.fallofsaigon.org/mcmahon.htm Tribute to McMahon]
** [http://www.fallofsaigon.org/judge.htm Tribute to Judge]
* [http://www.embassymarine.org/ Marine Embassy Guard Association]
** [http://www.embassymarine.org/HR-1.htm Honor Roll]
*http://www.lighthousedistrict.org/Tsm/tsm65.htm
*http://members.tripod.com/~kclocke/judge.html
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