Iowa Native’s Vietnam Sacrifice Commemorated Five Decades Later

50 years ago today, the Vietnam War officially came to an end. Just one day before, an Iowan became one of the final casualties of the bloody conflict.

The Vietnam War Comes to an End

The Vietnam War came to an end on April 30th, 1975, two years after American President Richard Nixon and Vietnam's president agreed to a peace agreement in 1973. The Des Moines Register reports that the U.S. had pulled troops out of Vietnam at the time of the peace agreement, but the war still raged on between North and South Vietnam.

Iowan Joins the Marine Corps at 19 Years of Age

The Register reports that Lance Cpl. Darwin Lee Judge of Marshalltown joined the Marine Corps at just 19 years old. He enlisted in 1974 after graduating from Marshalltown High School and became a Marine Security Guard, according to the Department of Defense.

Lance Cpl. Judge Makes the Ultimate Sacrifice

In the spring of 1975, Judge and other Marines were sent to the Tan Son Nhut Air Base in Saigon to help evacuate remaining U.S. personnel in what was called Operation Frequent Wind. The Register reports that it was the largest helicopter evacuation in history. Judge was a guard at the air base for nearly a month, when it came under mortar fire at 3:30 a.m. on April 29th, 1975. Judge died in the attack.

The Legacy of Lance Cpl. Darwin Lee Judge

A spokesperson for the Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs told the Register that Judge helped guard the way for 7,000 of his comrades, U.S. and Vietnamese citizens, to reach safety. More than 14,000 refugees would make their way out of Vietnam in the following months, some of them settling here in Iowa. Judge and Cpl Charles McMahon Jr. of Massachusetts were the final two Americans to die in the Vietnam War.

Darwin Lee Judge Park is located in Marshalltown and pays tribute to the 19-year-old hero who grew up there. Thank you, Lance Cpl. Judge for your service and sacrifice.

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