U.S. Department of Defense

Ceremony Marks First U.S. Vietnam War Deaths

National Park Service volunteers lead a procession and carry a wreath to the center apex of the Vietnam War Memorial Wall inn Washington, D.C., July 8, 2009. The wreath was laid at Panel 1 E of the wall in honor of U.S. Army Master Sgt. Chester Ovnand and Maj. Dale Buis, the first two U.S. servicemembers killed in the Vietnam War.

A U.S. joint forces color guard march into place just before the singing of the National Anthem in Washington, D.C., July 8, 2009. The color guard was part of a ceremony in honor of the 50th Anniversary of the first two U.S. servicemembers killed in the Vietnam War.

Retired U.S. Army Capt. Nathaniel P. Ward IV, left, and retired Army Maj. Sam Ratcliffe stand in front of the Vietnam War Memorial Wall July 8, 2009, in Washington, D.C., after laying a wreath in honor of the 50th Anniversary of the first two American servicemembers to be killed in the Vietnam War. Ward and Ratcliffe are also holding photographs of the two soldiers: Army Master Sgt. Chester Ovnand and Maj. Dale Buis. They were killed when their compound in Bien Hoa, just north of Saigon, was attacked.

U.S. Army Master Sgt. Chester Ovnand and Maj. Dale Buis were the first two U.S. servicemembers killed in the Vietnam War. Their sacrifice was honored in Washington, D.C., Jyly 8, 2009, in a ceremony commemorating the 50th Anniversary of their deaths.

Book author and journalist Stanley Karnow prepares to offer remarks in Washington, D.C., July 8, 2009, at a ceremony in honor of the 50th Anniversary of the first two U.S. servicemembers killed in the Vietnam War. Karnow worked for Time Magazine in Saigon, Vietnam, and reported on the deaths of Army Master Sgt. Chester Ovnand and Maj. Dale Buis.

Retired U.S. Army captain Nathaniel P. Ward IV, right, speaks next to Jan C. Scruggs at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., July 8, 2009, in honor of the 50th Anniversary of the first two U.S. servicemembers killed in Vietnam. Ward's father was the chief of staff of U.S. Army Military Assistance Advisory Group in Vietnam from 1958 to 1960. He knew Army Master Sgt. Chester Ovnand and Maj. Dale Buis, who were killed in Bien Hoa, just north of Saigon, Vietnam.

Participants hold a flag reading “Wentworth Military Academy Lexington, Missouri” during the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund ceremony marking the 50th anniversary of the first two U.S. servicemembers to die in the Vietnam War at the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C., July 8, 2009

Jan C. Scruggs, founder and president of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, speaks at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., July 8, 2009, commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the deaths of Army Master Sgt. Chester Ovnand and Maj. Dale Buis. Ovnand and Buis were the first two U.S. servicemembers killed in the Vietnam War.

Sam Ratcliffe, a retired U.S. Army Special Forces major, speaks at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., July 8, 2009, commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the deaths of Army Master Sgt. Chester Ovnand and Maj. Dale Buis. Ovnand and Buis were the first two U.S. servicemembers killed in the Vietnam War.

A visitor to the Vietnam War Memorial displays his support for the services during the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund ceremony marking the 50th anniversary of the first two U.S. servicemembers to die in the Vietnam War at the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C., July 8, 2009.

A U.S. Air Force bugler plays taps at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., July 8, 2009, in honor of the 50th Anniversary of the first two U.S. servicemembers killed in the Vietnam War. U.S. Army Master Sgt. Chester Ovnand and Maj. Dale Buis were killed at their base camp in Bien Hoa, just north of Saigon, Vietnam.

The name of U.S. Army Master Sgt. Chester Ovnand and Maj. Dale Buis are incribed on Panel 1 E of the Vietnam War Memorial Wall. They were the first two U.S. servicemembers killed in the Vietnam War, and their sacrifice was honored in Washington, D.C., July 8, 2009, in a ceremony commemorating the 50th Anniversary of their deaths.

Articles from Stars and Stripes and Time Magazine, which reported on the first two U.S. servicemembers killed in the Vietnam War on July 8, 1959, lie against the Vietnam War Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C., fifty years later during a commemoration ceremony in honor of Army Master Sgt. Chester Ovnand and Maj. Dale Buis. Both soldiers were killed that day at Bien Hoa, just north of Saigon, Vietnam.

Allen McCabe, a National Park Service volunteer, does a pencil rubbing of Amry Maj. Dale Buis' name located on panel 1E of the Vietnam War Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C., July 8, 2009. The rubbing was completed after a ceremony commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the deaths of Buis and Army Master Sgt. Chester Ovnand,who were serving in Bien Hoa, South Vietnam, as part of the U.S. Military Assistance Advisory Group.

National Park Service volunteers lead a procession and carry a wreath to the center apex of the Vietnam War Memorial Wall inn Washington, D.C., July 8, 2009. The wreath was laid at Panel 1 E of the wall in honor of U.S. Army Master Sgt. Chester Ovnand and Maj. Dale Buis, the first two U.S. servicemembers killed in the Vietnam War.
DoD photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden