Richard Bernard Fitzgibbon Jr. | |
|---|---|
| Born | June 21, 1920 Stoneham, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | June 8, 1956 (aged 35) Saigon, South Vietnam |
| Allegiance | United States of America |
| Service | United States Navy United States Air Force |
| Years of service | 1942–1946 (USN) 1946–1956 (USAF) |
| Rank |  Technical Sergeant |
| Battles / wars | World War II Vietnam War |
Technical Sergeant Richard Bernard Fitzgibbon Jr., USAF (June 21, 1920 – June 8, 1956) was the first American to die in the Vietnam War. He was murdered by another American airman on June 8, 1956. Through the efforts of his sister Alice Fitzgibbon Rose DelRossi, a former Stoneham, Massachusetts, selectwoman, Fitzgibbon's name was added to the Vietnam War Memorial on Memorial Day in May 1999.
Following in his father's footsteps, Richard B. Fitzgibbon III joined the United States Marine Corps and also served in Vietnam, where he was killed in September 1965. The Fitzgibbons' deaths were the first of only three instances among all U.S. casualties in which both father and son were killed in the Vietnam War.[1]
- ^ Navy Lieutenant Commander Leo Hester died March 10, 1967 in an aircraft crash. His son, Army Warrant Officer Leo Hester Jr, was killed in action November 2, 1969 in an aircraft crash. Army Specialist Five Fred Jenkins, of the 25th Infantry Division died April 2, 1968 by drowning. His son Bert M. Jenkins, an Army Warrant officer with the U.S. Army's First Infantry Division, died April 28, 1969, while his aircraft was on convoy ambush support between An Loc and Lai Khe when he was hit in the head by ground fire.