MCMAHON-CHARLES

LAST  MARINE  KILLED  IN  VIETNAM

Charles McMahon Jr. was born on May 10, 1953 in Woburn, Massachusetts, where he spent his youth.  Available historical records report he joined the Marine Corps in January 1974 and also received training at the Marine Security Guard School.  Upon completion of this schooling, he reported on April 18, 1975 for duty at the U.S. Embassy in Saigon, Vietnam, where he met his untimely death on April 29, only eleven days after reaching Vietnam.  As CPL McMahon had been in country for such a short time he was purposely assigned to provide security at the Defense Attache Office compound adjacent to Tan Son Nhut Airport in Saigon which was considered a relatively safe assignment.  American forces were also preparing for evacuation from Vietnam in Operation Frequent Wind.

At midnight on the morning of April 29, CPL McMahon and LCPL Darwin Judge assumed their duty at Post #1, the post closest to the main airport gate.  At about 3:30am a series of randomly launched rockets fired by North Vietnamese forces began pounding the air base.  It was quickly discovered that  Post #1 had taken a direct hit and that CPL McMahon and LCPL Judge had died as a result of fragmentation wounds to the body, and according to records were the last two Marines to be killed in Vietnam.  It is believed that both men were so close to the blast that they died simultaneously.  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. for burial.  CPL McMahon was buried with full military honors at Woodbrook Cemetery in Woburn, Massachusetts.

                       

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