U.S. Army Major Dale Richard Buis (August 29, 1921 – July 8, 1959) was formerly the first name listed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Vietnam Veterans Memorial

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is a national memorial in Washington, D.C. It honors U.S. service members of the U.S. armed forces who fought in the Vietnam War, service members who died in service in Vietnam/South East Asia, and those service members who were unaccounted for during the War.Its...

.
Buis originally hailed from Pender, Nebraska

Pender, Nebraska

Pender is a village in Thurston County, Nebraska, United States, located on the Omaha Indian Reservation. The population was 1,002 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Thurston County...

, and graduated from Wentworth Military Academy

Wentworth Military Academy

Wentworth Military Academy and College is a private four-year college preparatory high school and military junior college. It is located in Lexington, Missouri, part of the Greater Kansas City Metropolitan Area. Wentworth is the oldest military academy west of the Mississippi River, and the...

 in Lexington, Missouri

Lexington, Missouri

Lexington is a city in Lafayette County, Missouri, United States. The population was 4,453 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Lafayette County. Located in western Missouri, Lexington lies about 40 miles east of Kansas City and is part of the Greater Kansas City Metropolitan Area...

. He was part of the Military Assistance Advisory Group

Military Assistance Advisory Group

Military Assistance Advisory Group is a designation for American military advisers sent to assist in the training of conventional armed forces of Third World countries. Before and during the Vietnam War, there were three of these groups operating in Southeast Asia...

 sent in 1955 to train South Vietnam troops. He and Chester Charles Ovnand

Charles Ovnand

Master Sergeant Chester Melvin Ovnand was formerly listed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial as the second American killed in the Vietnam War....

 were killed at Bien Hoa

Bien Hoa

Biên Hòa is a city in Dong Nai province, Vietnam, about east of Ho Chi Minh City , to which Bien Hoa is linked by Vietnam Highway 1.- Demographics :In 1989 the estimated population was over 300,000. In 2005, the population wss 541,495...

, 20 miles northeast of Saigon. The Vietcong ambushed the mess hall while the American officers were watching a movie.

Further reading

• "Death at Intermission Time", Time, July 20, 1959.