US Servicemen Killed in Guerilla Attack

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

Buis originally hailed from Pender, Nebraska. He was part of the Military Assistance Advisory Group sent in 1955 to train South Vietnam troops. He and Chester Charles Ovnand were killed at Bien Hoa, 20 miles northeast of Saigon. The Vietcong ambushed the mess hall while the American officers were watching a movie.

Master Sergeant Chester Melvin Ovnand (September 8, 1914 - July 8, 1959) is listed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial as the second American killed in the Vietnam War.
MSGT Ovnand (also called Charles Ovnand, but listed on the wall as Chester) is from Copperas Cove, Texas. Army records conflict as to what his actual name was—Charles Melvin Ovnand or Chester Melvin Ovnard—though that the latter appears on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is possibly an indication of general consensus among the Memorial's planners.
His name is misspelled on the wall as Chester N. Ovnard.