Woburn Denizen: One Of The Last Americans To Die In The Vietnam War

Wednesday marked the 40th anniversary of the death of Charles McMahon - one of the final two Americans to die in the Vietnam War, according to National Public Radio.

He was 21 years old at the time, and had only been in Vietnam for 11 days when a North Vietnamese rocket killed him and Darwin Judge. NPR says this happened during their shift working security at Tan Son Nhut Air Base in Saigon.

McMahon’s legacy holds a special significance for the Woburn Boys and Girls Club. Not only is there a memorial wall - containing the American flag that was strewn over his casket, his Purple Heart Medal, and his old Woburn Boys and Girls Club membership card - placed there in his honor. It’s also where he spent much of his youth swimming in the pool, and where he he was initially encouraged to sign up for service by a retired marine, and the Club’s director at the time, Charles Gardner.

Plus, he made at least one really good friend.

“Charlie was an absolute normal kid,” McMahon’s childhood buddy and fellow Boys and Girls Club member George Holland told NPR. “He had a bike and a dog and a tree house.

“In ‘64, when the club opened, is when I actually met him. We were both 10, and the pool was the main attraction, so we swam together and just became best friends.”

Due to a last-minute change in evacuation plans, McMahon’s body remained in Vietnam well after other troops had left. Senator Ted Kennedy bargained the North Vietnam government for his return to the U.S., and McMahon was finally properly buried in 1976, in his hometown of Marshalltown, Iowa.

Image Credit: Wikipedia