Dale Richard Buis (August 29, 1921 – July 8, 1959) was a United States Army officer. He was the second U.S. casualty of the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

, killed by the Vietcong. He is the first name listed on the

Vietnam Veterans Memorial The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, commonly called the Vietnam Memorial, is a U.S. national memorial in Washington, D.C., honoring service members of the U.S. armed forces who served in the Vietnam War. The site is dominated by two black granit ...

Early life and education

Buis was born and raised in Pender, Nebraska, the son of Dr. John Buis, a physician, and his wife Serena (née Kundsen). He graduated from Wentworth Military Academy in

Lexington, Missouri Lexington is a city in, and the county seat of, Lafayette County, Missouri, United States. The population was 4,726 at the 2010 census. Lexington is in western Missouri, within the Kansas City metropolitan area, approximately east of Kansas C ...

. He was part of the

Military Assistance Advisory Group A Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) is a designation for a group of United States military advisors sent to other countries to assist in the training of conventional armed forces and facilitate military aid. Although numerous MAAGs ope ...

(MAAG) sent in 1955 to train

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; , VNCH), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered Diplomatic recognition, international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the ...

ese troops.

Career

Buis was assigned to MAAG 5 in South Vietnam. On 8 July 1959 he was visiting the MAAG 7 base at Biên Hòa, northeast of

Saigon Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025. The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...

. Six

Viet Cong The Viet Cong (VC) was an epithet and umbrella term to refer to the communist-driven armed movement and united front organization in South Vietnam. It was formally organized as and led by the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam, and ...

(VC) attacked the mess hall where he and four other officers were watching the movie '' The Tattered Dress''. Master sergeant Chester M. Ovnand, who was in charge of the projector, switched on the lights to change to the next reel, when VC guerrillas poked their weapons through the windows and sprayed the room with automatic weapons fire. Ovnand was hit with several 9mm rounds. He immediately switched the lights off and headed to the top of the stairs, where he was able to turn on the exterior flood lights. He died from his wounds on the stairs. Buis was crawling towards the kitchen doors. When the exterior flood lights came on, he must have seen an attacker coming through the kitchen doors. He got up and rushed towards the attacker, but was only able to cover before being fatally hit from behind. His actions startled the attacker who was about to throw his satchel charge through the door. The attacker's satchel charge had already been activated and his moment of hesitation allowed the satchel charge to explode, killing him. Two South Vietnamese guards that were on duty that night were also killed by the VC. The wounded included Captain Howard Boston (MAAG 7) and the South Vietnamese cook's eight-year-old son. Buis is buried in Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

Early life and education

Career

References

See also

Further reading