Excerpt:
Richard B. Fitzgibbon, Jr. was the first person to lose his life in the conflict that would later be known as the Vietnam War. He was killed by another U. S. airman. The United States Air Force Technical Sergeant died on June 8, 1956. Through the efforts of his sister, the Fitzgibbon's name was added to the Vietnam War Memorial in 1999. Following his father's footsteps, Richard B. Fitzgibbon, Jr III also served in Vietnam where he too was killed in 1965. The Fitzgibbon deaths are one of only three in which both father and son were killed in the Vietnam War.
[edit] Bio
Richard B. Fitzgibbon, Jr. was born on June 21, 1920, in North Weymouth, Massachusetts.[1] Fitzgibbon was a veteran of the U.S. Navy and served during World War II. After leaving the Navy, he joined the United States Air Force rising through the ranks to become Technical Sergeant. Fitzgibbon was serving as part of the Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) (DET 1, 1173RD FOR MSN SQD[1]), which was involved in training military personnel in South Vietnam.[2] Fitzgibbon was not killed in action, but rather was murdered by another United States airman on June 8, 1956.[3][edit] Recognition
For 43 years his death was regarded by the United States government as too early to be classified as a Vietnam War casualty. In the past DoD department that handled the Vietnam memorial started its database on Jan. 1, 1961.[4] The family of Fitzgibbon had long lobbied to have the date changed and their cause was taken up by U.S. Representative Ed Markey of Malden (D - 7th District).[5] After a high level review by the DoD and through the efforts of Fitzgibbon's family the start date of the Vietnam war was changed to November 1, 1955.[4] The November 1955 date was chosen as the new start date because that was when the Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) that reorganized from a general Indochina into the different countries that the deployments were stationed.[6] So on November 1, 1955 a Vietnamese MAAG was created.[6] With this new date Fitzgibbon became the first person to die in the Vietnam War moving Dale R. Buis the former first to second. His name was added to the Vietnam Memorial Wall in 1999.As part of the ceremony to add Fitzgibbon name to the memorial in 1999, The Today Show host Katie Couric interviewed members of the Fitzgibbon family at their Harwich Port summer residence.[5]
Although not the first American to be killed in Vietnam, Fitzgibbon is chronologically the first casualty on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall. Albert Peter Dewey who was shot by accident by Viet Minh troops on September 26, 1945, was the first known American fatality in Vietnam, killed in the early aftermath of World War II.[7]
[edit] Family
- Richard B. Fitzgibbon, III
- Surviving family
[edit] Documentary
A year after his name was added to the Vietnam memorial wall TLC did a documentary, Vietnam: Stories From the Wall, on the father and son.[2][edit] See also
- Dale R. Buis (d. July 8, 1959) the former first person to be killed in Vietnam
- Chester M. Ovnand (d. July 8, 1959) the former second person to be killed in Vietnam. Buis and Ovnand were killed together while training the South Vietnamese army.
- James T Davis (d. December 22, 1961) was the first American who died in a battlefield engagement. James T. Davis was killed on December 22, 1961 while fighting the communist insurgency.[8]
Vietnam war November 1, 1955
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1955_in_the_Vietnam_War
Excerpt:
In 1998 after a high level review by the Department of Defense (DoD) and through the efforts of Richard B. Fitzgibbon's family the start date of when the Americans believe the Vietnam War started was changed to November 1, 1955.[2] The November 1955 date was chosen as the new start date because that was when the Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) that reorganized from a general Indochina into the different countries that the deployments were stationed.[3] So on November 1, 1955 a Vietnamese MAAG was created.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._Peter_Dewey
Excerpt:
Office of Strategic Services
On August 10, 1944, Lt. Col. Dewey parachuted into southern France as the leader of a 10-man team from the United States Office of Strategic Services (OSS). Operating behind enemy lines for six weeks, he transmitted intelligence reports on German troop movements. For his service, General William Donovan personally awarded him the Legion of Merit and the French gave him the Legion of Honor and a second Croix de Guerre.[13]
Dewey arrived on September 4, 1945 in Saigon to head a seven-man OSS team "to represent American interests" and collect intelligence.[14] Working with the Viet Minh, he arranged the repatriation of 4,549 Allied POWs, including 240 Americans, from two Japanese camps near Saigon,[15] code named Project EMBANKMENT. Because the British occupation forces who had arrived to accept the Japanese surrender were short of troops, they armed French POWs on September 22 to protect the city from a potential Viet Minh attack. In taking control of the city, the French soldiers were quick to beat or shoot Vietnamese who resisted the reestablishment of French authority.
Dewey complained about the abuse to the British commander General Douglas Gracey, who took exception to Dewey's objections and declared the American persona non grata. Because the airplane scheduled to fly Dewey out did not arrive on time at Tan Son Nhut International Airport, he returned for lunch at the villa that OSS had requisitioned in Saigon. As he neared the villa, he was shot in the head in an ambush by Viet Minh troops. Dewey's jeep overturned, and Dewey's subordinate, Captain Herbert Bluechel, escaped without serious injury, pursued by Viet Minh soldiers.[16]
The Viet Minh afterward claimed that their troops mistook him for a Frenchman after he had spoken to them in French. Bluechel later recalled that Dewey had shaken his fist and yelled at three Vietnamese soldiers in French while driving back to headquarters.[17] According to Vietnamese historian Tran Van Giau, Dewey's body was dumped in a nearby river and was never recovered.[12]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Role_of_the_United_States_in_the_Vietnam_War
Excerpt:
John F. Kennedy (1961–1963)
Milestones of the escalation under President Kennedy.- November 1960 — Coup attempt by paratroopers is foiled after Diem falsely promises reform, allowing loyalists to crush the rebels.
- December 20, 1960 — The National Liberation Front of South Vietnam (NLF) is founded.
Excerpt:
Papers reveal JFK efforts on Vietnam
WASHINGTON -- Newly uncovered documents from both American and Polish archives show that President John F. Kennedy and the Soviet Union secretly sought ways to find a diplomatic settlement to the war in Vietnam, starting three years before the United States sent combat troops.
Kennedy, relying on his ambassador to India, John Kenneth Galbraith
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB248/index.htm
Excerpt:
This briefing book was made possible through a lawsuit brought in March 2005 by the National Security Archive after it discovered through its Freedom of Information Act audits that the Air Force had a pattern and practice of mishandling FOIA requests, including failing to process requests, destroying records, discouraging requesters, and excessive delays. The Washington, D.C., law firm James & Hoffman successfully argued the case before federal Judge Rosemary Collyer, who in April 2006 granted partial summary judgment to the Archive. She found that "the Air Force has indeed failed miserably to handle Archive FOIA requests in a timely manner." The court ordered the Air Force to resolve the Archive's requests--some pending as long as 18 years--as expeditiously as possible. The requests for the Laos history and the Vietnam War studies were originally filed in 1988 and 1990; the Air Force finally processed them pursuant to the court's order and released more than 500 pages of previously-classified histories.
Laos History - Highlights
Kennedy, relying on his ambassador to India, John Kenneth Galbraith
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB248/index.htm
Excerpt:
This briefing book was made possible through a lawsuit brought in March 2005 by the National Security Archive after it discovered through its Freedom of Information Act audits that the Air Force had a pattern and practice of mishandling FOIA requests, including failing to process requests, destroying records, discouraging requesters, and excessive delays. The Washington, D.C., law firm James & Hoffman successfully argued the case before federal Judge Rosemary Collyer, who in April 2006 granted partial summary judgment to the Archive. She found that "the Air Force has indeed failed miserably to handle Archive FOIA requests in a timely manner." The court ordered the Air Force to resolve the Archive's requests--some pending as long as 18 years--as expeditiously as possible. The requests for the Laos history and the Vietnam War studies were originally filed in 1988 and 1990; the Air Force finally processed them pursuant to the court's order and released more than 500 pages of previously-classified histories.
Laos History - Highlights
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