JUDGE-DARWIN

LAST  MARINE  KILLED  IN  VIETNAM

Darwin Lee Judge was born on February 16, 1956 in Garwin, Iowa, and lived there until 1962 when his family moved to Marshalltown.  As a youth he was active in both Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts where he achieved the rank of eagle scout.  He joined the Marine Corps during his senior year of high school and following graduation was called to active duty in July 1974.  Following recruit training and attendance at Marine Security Guard School he was assigned in March 1975 to the American Embassy in Saigon, Vietnam. 

On April 29, 1975, LCPL Judge and fellow Security Guard, CPL Charles McMahon, were providing security for the Defense Attaché Office compound adjacent to Tan Son Nhut Airport in Saigon when the North Vietnamese launched an early morning rocket attack on the airport.  Unfortunately, both men died as a result of fragmentation wounds to the body, and according to records were the last two Marines to be killed in Vietnam.  In accordance with procedures for deceased Americans, their bodies were transferred to the Saigon Adventist Hospital.  Telephone calls to the hospital later that day received information that the bodies had been evacuated.  This proved to be inaccurate as when Operation Frequent Wind, the American evacuation of Saigon, was completed the following day, April 30, 1975, their bodies continued to be in Saigon. 

Through diplomatic channels, Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts was successful in 1976 in having the bodies returned to the U.S.  LCPL Judge was buried in March 1976 at Rose Hill Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Marshalltown.  His funeral was ignored by major and minor media, and only a local newspaper covered the event.  Years later when it was confirmed that LCPL Judge had not received military honors at his 1976 funeral, a retired USMC officer who had served in Saigon, and a boyhood friend and fellow Eagle Scout, successfully held a full military honors funeral service for LCPL Judge on April 29, 2000.

As Saigon fell and thousand tried to flee, historical records report that one of LCPL Judge’s final acts was to help a fellow Marine evacuate his three-year old daughter.  The Marine has said, “He picked her up, put her on his back, piggyback style, and quick as a buddy ran out to a plane and put her on the plane.”  It has been determined that the young child went on to graduate, with honors, from the University of Southern California.  She has said, “If it wasn’t for him, I’d probably still be in Saigon instead of doing what I’m doing now and being who I am.”

                   

                                   MARSHALLTOWN, IOWA  -  APRIL 2000

Submitted by CDR Roy A. Mosteller, USNR (Ret)