First American Soldiers to Die in Vietnam War: July 8
In 1954, the Geneva Conference confirmed the division of Vietnam. No Dinh became the new president of South Vietnam, making the country American supporters. Communists of South Vietnam, known then as the Viet Cong, came together and attacked the South Vietnamese armed forces on July 8, 1959. There was where Master Sargent Chester Ovnand and Major Dale Buis became the first Americans to be killed in the Vietnam War. The attack was in the town, Bien Hoa, 20 miles northeast of Saigon, while the two soldiers were watching a movie on a home projector. The two soldiers were attacked when Ovnand turned on the lights to change the hoe projector’s first reel. Buis was part of the Military Assistance Advisory Group sent in 1955 to train South Vietnam troops. They were both killed at Bien Hoa, 20 miles northeast of Saigon.