Event Recap
Iowa has distinct ties to the closing days of the Vietnam War
- Marshalltown native Lance Cpl. Darwin Judge, with Cpl. Charles McMahon (Mass.) were the last two U.S. servicemen killed combat casualties in Vietnam. Both were killed together at their airport checkpoint by a single rocket while guarding the U.S. evacuation.
- Retired U.S. Marine Col. Gerry Berry was the pilot of "Lady Ace 0-9" - the final evacuation helicopter (CH-46) which delivered U.S. Ambassador Graham Martin from the embassy compound to the USS Blue Ridge off the coast as North Vietnamese forces overran the city.
- Former U.S. Amabassador and Iowa native Ken Quinn is the keynote speaker. Quinn was a foreign service officer (State Dept.) in Vietnam in his early career and one of few U.S. civilian Vietnam combat veterans. He is the only civilian to earn the Army Air Medal.
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Event Details
Iowa has distinct ties to the closing days of the Vietnam War
- Marshalltown native Lance Cpl. Darwin Judge, with Cpl. Charles McMahon (Mass.) were the last two U.S. servicemen killed combat casualties in Vietnam. Both were killed together at their airport checkpoint by a single rocket while guarding the U.S. evacuation.
- Retired U.S. Marine Col. Gerry Berry was the pilot of "Lady Ace 0-9" - the final evacuation helicopter (CH-46) which delivered U.S. Ambassador Graham Martin from the embassy compound to the USS Blue Ridge off the coast as North Vietnamese forces overran the city.
- Former U.S. Amabassador and Iowa native Ken Quinn is the keynote speaker. Quinn was a foreign service officer (State Dept.) in Vietnam in his early career and one of few U.S. civilian Vietnam combat veterans. He is the only civilian to earn the Army Air Medal.
April 29th, 2025 is the 50th Anniversary of the fall of Saigon, and last flight evacuating U.S. Embassy personnel April 29-30th, 1975, which was piloted by Des Moines native U.S. Marine Col. Gerry Berry. It also includes the April 29th death of U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Darwin Judge of Marshalltown, killed while protecting the embassy evacuation in Operation Frequent Wind. Judge, and Cpl. Charles McMahon were the last two U.S. casualties of the war in Vietnam. The People's Army of Vietnam entered Saigon within hours after, and despite immediate diplomatic requests, their remains were not returned by the new Socialist Republic of Vietnam until a year later.
National Vietnam Veterans Day was not recognized by congress or the White House until 2017 - 10 years after the state began recognizing Vietnam Veterans. The federal government chose March 29th, 1973, to coincide with the official Paris Peace Accords U.S. withdrawal deadline, which is also the eligibility stop-date for veterans to receive the Vietnam Service Medal.
The U.S. troop withdrawal ended up being the only part of the peace accords carried out by any country involved. Members participating in Operation Frequent Wind and the Mayaguez Operation in Cambodia, May 15th, are normally honored and recognized by the VA, Vietnam Memorial Wall and most organizsations as Vietnam Veterans. But, like other members serving in Vietnam prior to 1965, were awarded the separate Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal.
U.S. Marine Col. (ret) Gerry Berry - who piloted the last helicopter to leave the embassy during the fall of Saigon - will be the keynote speaker at the State of Iowa event. But there are other formal opportunities to recognize the sacrifices of Vietnam Veterans before then.