The Last To Die

A somber 50th anniversary is to be observed at the end of this month: the end of the war in Vietnam, on April 30, 1975. That means it will also be the 50th anniversary of the last two U.S. soldiers to die in what was never actually a declared war, one that in total killed over 58,000 American military men and women.

For over four decades, there was controversy over who was the first American serviceman who died in Vietnam. Richard Fitzgibbon Jr.’s death in June 1956 was deemed to have taken place before the start of the Vietnam War. However, the family of Fitzgibbon had long lobbied to have the start date changed, and their cause was taken up by U.S. Representative Ed Markey of Massachusetts.

After a high-level review by the Department of Defense, the start date of the Vietnam War was changed to November 1, 1955. Fitzgibbon’s name was added to the Vietnam Memorial Wall in 1999.

The former first two official casualties were U.S. Army Major Dale Buis and Master Sergeant Chester Ovnand, who were killed on July 8, 1959.

Three interesting sidebars: Fitzgibbon, a veteran of World War II, was not killed in action but rather was murdered in Saigon by another American airman, Staff Sergeant Edward Clarke.

On the day he was shot, Fitzgibbon had apparently reprimanded Clarke for an incident on a flight that day. When Clarke went off duty, he began drinking heavily at a club at the base. Exiting the club, he saw Fitzgibbon across the street playing with some local children and giving out candy. Clarke drew his sidearm and shot Fitzgibbon several times.

Clarke fled the shooting scene and exchanged fire with Vietnamese policemen who were chasing him. During the pursuit, Clarke fell to his death from a second-story balcony. Fitzgibbon died from his wounds.

Second sidebar: Following in his father’s footsteps, Richard B. Fitzgibbon III joined the Marine Corps and also served in Vietnam, where he was killed in September 1965. The Fitzgibbons’ deaths were the first of only three instances among all U.S. casualties in the Vietnam War in which both father and son were killed.

Three: While Charles McMahon and Darwin Judge were the last American ground casualties in Vietnam, they are not the last casualties of the war, which also covers the U.S. involvement in Cambodia and Laos. Also recorded on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial are names belonging to the 18 Americans killed in the Mayaguez incident, which will be marking its 50th anniversary in May.

McMahon was soon to turn 22, and he was a corporal from Woburn, Massachusetts. Judge was only 19, and the former Eagle Scout hailed from Marshalltown, Iowa. Both were members of the Marine Security Guards at the U.S. Embassy in Saigon. McMahon had arrived in Saigon on April 18, while Judge had arrived in early March.

They died during a North Vietnamese rocket attack on the Tân Sơn Nhứt Airport on the morning of April 29, 1975.

In accordance with procedures for deceased Americans in Vietnam, their bodies were transferred to the Saigon Adventist Hospital. In telephone calls to the hospital that afternoon, the few remaining staff advised that the bodies had been evacuated. However, in fact, the bodies were left behind.

Operation Frequent Wind, the American evacuation of Saigon, was completed the following day. It was not until the next year that U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, through diplomatic channels, secured the return of the bodies. The transfer of the bodies took place on February 22, 1976, at Tân Sơn Nhứt to two of Kennedy’s aides. Their caskets were flown to Bangkok, to be received by a U.S. military honor guard.

Darwin Judge was buried with full military honors in March 1976 in Marshalltown. There was a flag-draped coffin, a Marine Honor Guard and a rifle firing salute. The flag that covered his coffin was folded and presented to his parents.

Judge was given a second Marine burial honors 25 years later through planning by Douglas Potratz, who served with Judge in Saigon, and Ken Locke, boyhood friend and fellow Eagle Scout. Retired USMC Lieutenant Colonel Jim Kean, the commanding officer of the Marines on the ground during the Fall of Saigon, presented a flag to Judge’s parents at a ceremony held at the Iowa Veteran’s Home Vietnam War Memorial.

Charles McMahon, with Senator Kennedy in attendance, was laid to rest in a cemetery just a mile away from what’s now the Boys and Girls Club in Woburn, Massachusetts. In the club, there is a memorial wall in McMahon’s memory. It holds the U.S. flag that draped his coffin, his Purple Heart, and what was believed to be his most prized possession: a 1964 Woburn Boys Club membership card.

Also having an anniversary this month is the Fall of Saigon Marines Association, a California nonprofit, which was formed to honor Corporals Judge and McMahon. The association sponsors two $500 scholarships for Eagle Scouts attending Marshalltown High School. A large color photo of Judge and a plaque are displayed near the school’s main entrance. A park in Marshalltown is named in Judge’s honor.

In July 2023, the Marine Corps Embassy Security Group building at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia was renamed the McMahon-Judge Annex.

The main reason why I know about this information and why I stay in touch with members of the Fall of Saigon Marines Association is because of the research and writing (with Bob Drury) of the book “Last Men Out.” It is the story of the chaos and drama in Saigon as Americans and South Vietnamese tried to leave Saigon as 150,000 North Vietnamese approached the city.

Toward the end of the messy evacuation, 11 U.S. Marines were left behind on the roof of the American Embassy.

Did they survive? Were they killed or captured?

You’ll have to read the book!