Maj. Dale R. Buis (above left) and Master Sgt. Chester M. Ovnand
(right) became the first Americans killed in the American phase of
the Vietnam War when guerrillas struck a Military Assistance
Advisory Group (MAAG) 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.

The Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington D.C.

More than 3 million people (including over 58,000 Americans) were
killed in the Vietnam War, and more than half were Vietnamese
civilians.

The Vietnam Memorial in Canby, Oregon