Darwin Lee Judge

Marshalltown native Darwin Lee Judge was one of the last two Americans killed in Vietnam. Judge graduated high school in Marshalltown in the class of 1974. As a young man he participated heavily in the Boy Scouts and achieved the honor of Eagle Scout. Judge played little league baseball and attended The United Methodist Church. He was a standout carpenter and crafted several elaborate projects before joining the military. Judge joined the Marine Corps after high school and completed his boot camp in Sand Diego, CA. Before being sent to South Vietnam he trained as a security guard in Arlington, VA. LCPL Judge arrived in Southeast Asia in March 1975 and was assigned to a Marine Security Battalion in Saigon. The following month, on April 29, 1975, the capitol of South Vietnam, Saigon, was surrounded by the North Vietnamese Army. As the enemy forces advanced on the city, Marine troops attempted to evacuate the remaining Americans and thousands of South Vietnamese refugees. During the Fall of Saigon LCPL Judge, and fellow Marine Charles McMahon of Woburn Massachusetts, were killed in a rocket attack on the Tan Son Nhut International Airport outside of Saigon. LCPL Judge’s body was not returned to the United States until the following year. The 19-year-old’s remains were laid to rest at the Rose Hill Memorial Gardens in Marshalltown.