crazylibertarian Loc: Florida by way of New York & Rhode Island

I thought the first American military fatality was during the Eisenhower years.

slatten49 Loc: Lake Whitney, Texas

I don't know why the discrepancies in the reporting, C-L. I had previously thought the first recorded death of a US serviceman in Vietnam was Tech SGT Richard B. Fitzbibbon Jr. (US Air Force), date of casualty: 08 June 1956. His name was added to the wall in 1999. It may have had to do with the circumstances of their deaths, as I have also read of others who died during the Eisenhower years.

okie don

You could be right Slattern.
There were 'advisors' there back in the 50's.

okie don

Nam involvement lasted 20 years or so. { '55 to '75 , something like that}
Hard to believe we were over there that long.

slatten49 Loc: Lake Whitney, Texas

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/4xualu/who_was_the_first_american_casualty_in_vietnam/

Who was the first American killed in the Vietnam War?

For one reason or another, many popular history websites and newspapers like to mention Albert Peter Dewey as being the first man to die in Vietnam.

This is rather far-fetched since Lt. Col. Dewey was not an American adviser following the ARVN in the early days of the insurgency or a US Marine being killed in 1965. In fact, he was a member of the OSS (Office of Strategic Services, the precursor of the CIA) who had arrived in Vietnam (then officially French Indochina) on September 4, 1945. Lt. Col Dewey was killed on September 26 by soldiers of the Viet Minh in a case of mistaken identity. There are many things that would disqualify this of being the first American casualty in the Vietnam War, but the most simplest is the fact that the American participation in what would become the Vietnam War didn't properly begin until 1955.

If not Dewey, then who was the first individual killed in the Vietnam War?

That is not an easy question to answer since the word 'killed' can have a very broad definition depending on what caused it.

The first American killed during the advisory period of the Vietnam War (1955-1965) was not killed by the enemy or by an accident. He was murdered. USAF Technical Sergeant Richard Bernard Fitzgibbon Jr. who was killed on June 8, 1956 after an argument with a fellow member of the USAF, who after getting drunk shot and killed him. Tragically, Richard Fitzgibbon's son, who shared the same name, would die in action in 1965.

The first injured Americans of the war occurred in 1957 when 13 members of the MAAG (Military Assistance Advisory Group) and the US Information Service were injured after a series of bombs targeting their installations were set off by insurgents.

That same year, interestingly enough the day before the previously mentioned attack, the first death caused by an accident occurred when Special Forces Cpt. Harry G. Gramer Jr. was killed during a training exercise. Cpt. Cramer was in command of a MTT (Mobile Training Team) who was responsible for training the newly formed ARVN special forces and died observing an exercise when a block of TNT prematurely detonated in the hands of a student, killing him, Cramer and several other individuals nearby.

So far, we've dealt with murders, accidents and wounded soldiers - so who was the first individual killed by an insurgent in Vietnam?

In fact, it was two men who were the first individuals to die in Vietnam.

Master Sgt. Chester Melvin Ovnand and Maj. Dale Richard Buis died in a VC attack on their compound at Bien Hoa on June 8, 1959. While it was erroneously reported that they had died after a bomb attack, they were actually killed by small arms fire while watching the movie The Tattered Dress. Both men were part of the MAAG and were responsible for overseeing the training of the ARVN in Bien Hoa.

Both men were killed exactly four years after the first American had been killed during the advisory period of the Vietnam War. Plenty of more men would die over the following six years leading up to the escalation of the Vietnam War: 489 more men would die before the first Marines took their first steps on the beach on Da Nang in April 1965.

badbobby Loc: texas

thanks Slat
this is one mans truth
will we ever have the truth from our nations leaders?
GOD bless our 'Nam'veterans
and may HE watch over the fallen 'Nam' heroes

woodguru

I got a $2500 Dell on Amazon for $500, used but it still had all the protective films on it and had never even been booted up. It's way more computer than I needed or would have paid full price for.

woodguru

I knew a guy 35 years ago that was a civilian adviser, he was rated for and flew helicopter gunships on what he called "control" missions. All he would say was that he provided the intimidation needed for keeping drug lords in line.

Red Onion Rip Loc: Oklahoma

I am, since I was the anchor-clanker version (NSG) of ASA.
Rip

okie don

ASA is no longer in existence, to my knowledge Rip.
Man it's been half a century.
Cheeez how time flys...
Okie in 'T-town'