50 Years
July 8th, 2009 | Photography | Posted by Colin Kelly
A wreath was laid at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial for MAJ Dale R. Buis and MSG Chester M Ovnand, killed 50 years ago today, becoming the first U.S. casualties in the Vietnam War. Part of a military advisors group, Buis and Ovnand were killed by Vietcong guerrillas in Bien Hoa while watching a movie in the mess hall. Today they are the first names listed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial under the year 1959.
Tags: Buis, Kelly, memorial, Ovnand, Vietnam, wreath
Comments
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Jeffrey Kern Says:
July 17th, 2009 at 6:22 pmMajor Buis and Master Sergeant Ovnand were preceded by U.S. Army Captain Harry G. Cramer (a West Point Class of ’46 graduate) who died in 1957 and who’s name was added in 1983, a year after the Memorial was dedicated; and U.S. Air Force Technical Sergeant Richard B. Fitzgibbons, Jr., who died in 1956 but whose name wasn’t added until 1999. Note that MSG Ovnand’s name is misspelled on Panel E1, under the year 1959 as Ovnard; it’s corrected on a later panel. (As a side note, TSGT Fitzgibbons’ son, a U.S. Marine Corps Lance Corporal, is listed on Panel E2, having died in 1965; they are one of three father-son combinations listed on the Memorial.)