Death in the Mess

July 8, 1959 — At Bien Hoa, 20 miles northeast of Saigon, two Americans became the first U.S. combat deaths of the Vietnam War.

Master Sergeant Chester M. Ovnand had just finished a letter to his wife before joining fellow advisors in the mess hall, where the movie The Tattered Dress was being shown. Also present was Major Dale R. Buis, who had arrived in Vietnam only two days earlier.

As the first reel ended, Ovnand switched on the lights. At that moment, hidden Viet Cong commandos opened fire with automatic weapons. Ovnand and Buis were killed instantly, along with two Vietnamese guards. The massacre was averted when Captain Howard Boston quickly doused the lights, disorienting the attackers. In the chaos, one guerrilla’s homemade grenade exploded prematurely, killing him. The remaining assailants fled as South Vietnamese reinforcements rushed in.

Ovnand and Buis are the first two names on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. — though Ovnand’s was etched with a misspelling: “Ovnard.”