IN VIETNAM
On July 8, 1959, Maj. Dale Ruis and Master Sgt. Chester Ovnand became the first Americans killed in the opening stages of the Vietnam War when Viet Cong guerrillas attacked a military assistance advisory group compound in Bien Hoa, 20 miles northeast of Saigon. The group had arrived in South Vietnam on November 1, 1955, to provide military assistance. The organization consisted of U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps personnel who provided advice and assistance to the Ministry of Defense, Joint General Staff, corps and division commanders, training centers, and province and district headquarters.