Charles McMahon

April 30, 2015

NPR’s All Things Considered ran a story yesterday about Charles McMahon. He was one of the last two U.S. service members killed in Vietnam. The fortieth anniversary was yesterday, April 29, 1975. He had only been in Vietnam for 11 days. He was killed just days short of his 22nd birthday. He arrived on April 18, 1975, and as a newbie was sent to what was thought to be a relatively safe place. Then he was killed one morning at 3:30 a.m. when a rocket exploded at his post.

What a tragic waste of life. He died for absolutely no good reason. Cursed be the U.S. government for getting involved in Vietnam. The war was a monstrous evil. See my review of Nick Turse’s book Kill Anything that Moves: The Real American War in Vietnam.

McMahon was not drafted. A retired Marine whom he met at the Woburn Boys Club in Woburn, Massachusetts, mentored him. Parents, be careful of veterans your children may come in contact with unless you know that they will tell them the truth about the military. It may cost them their lives.