A. Peter Dewey

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A. Peter Dewey
1916 – September 26, 1945
Nickname Peter
Place of birth Chicago, Illinois
Place of death Saigon, Vietnam
Allegiance United States Army
Years of service August, 1942 – September 26, 1945
Rank Lt. Col.
Unit Special Operations Branch
Commands Office of Strategic Services (OSS)
Battles/wars World War II Battle of France (with the Polish Army), The invasion of southern France Operation Dragoon
Awards Silver Star
Croix de Guerre
Legion of Honor
Order of Nicham-el-Oftikhar

Albert Peter Dewey (1916-September 26, 1945), shot by accident by Viet Minh troops on September 26, 1945, was the first American casualty in the Vietnam War.


Col. Dewey was born in Chicago and educated in Switzerland, St. Paul's School (London), Yale University (where he studied French history and was a member of the Berzelius Secret Society)[1]] and at the Law School of the University of Virginia. Dewey worked as a journalist for the Chicago Daily News in its Paris bureau. While reporting on the German invasion of France for the Daily News, Dewey became more directly involved.

In May 1940, during the Battle of France, Dewey enlisted as a lieutenant in the Polish Military Ambulance Corps with the Polish army fighting in France.


Col. Dewey was a member of the United States Office of Strategic Services (OSS), an advisor to the Viet Minh forces in the war against Japan, and head of the local OSS Special Operations Branch (SO).

Dewey had been working with the Viet Minh for the repatriation of 214 Americans at two Japanese camps in Saigon captured by the Japanese and held in Vietnam during the last days of World War II code named Project EMBANKMENT. His mission was accomplished but the plane taking him out did not arrive as planned at Tan Son Nhat International Airport. He was shot returning from the airport by Viet Minh. The Viet Minh afterward claimed that their troops mistook him for a Frenchman after he spoke to them in French. Why exactly the Viet Minh would shoot Frenchmen on sight at a time before conflict with France over the future of Vietnam broke out has not been explained.

Dewey is not listed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC because the Defense Department has ruled that the war officially started, from a U.S. perspective, on November 1, 1955 after the U.S. took over following the French defeat at Dien Bien Phu. His name is listed on the American Battlefield Monuments Commission website on the Tablets of the Missing at Manila National Cemetery as Major Albert D. Dewey.

[edit] Awards

His awards are listed as:

Son of Congressman [Charles S. Dewey]

[edit] External link

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