63 Years Ago Today, the First US Soldier Was Killed in Vietnam
Note: This OP is cross-linked in General Discussion.
James T. “Tom” Davis was sent to the Republic of Vietnam in May 1961 with the US Army Security Agency (ASA) to pinpoint enemy radio transmitters. (Images: Davis family via Mark Raab)
In a tortured war that would eventually cost American families 58,220 of their brave sons and daughters, the very first US Army Soldier to die in ground combat was Specialist James T. “Tom” Davis 63 years ago today, on 22 Dec 1961.
James T. “Tom” Davis.
A Tennessee native like Medal of Honor awardee Alvin Cullum York (immortalized by Gary cooper in the 1941 film Sergeant York), James Davis enlisted in the US Army after high school, becoming a signals intercept specialist with the Army Security Agency (ASA).
The ASA was formed in 1945 to intercept and monitor enemy and friendly radio communications (AKA SIGINT). The ASA operated covertly in Vietnam as “radio research units.” Coriolanus is proud to write that one of his military instructors in university served with the ASA during the Vietnam War.
Excerpt from Mark Raab’s excellent article:
"The 3rd Radio Research Unit arrived at Tan Son Nhut on 13 May 1961 and was the first entire US Army unit to deploy to Vietnam. The men who got off the plane wore civilian clothes, a reflection of their secretive assignment. Previously, members of the military arrived as individuals and were placed in units after they were in-country. US personnel in Vietnam in May 1961 were assigned to Military Assistance Advisory Group-Vietnam, formed in November 1955. The US had approximately 3,000 military personnel in Vietnam at the time."
"Tracking a Viet Cong radio signal west of Saigon on 22 Dec 1961, Specialist Davis and a contingent of ten South Vietnamese soldiers headed to meet the enemy. But their vehicle struck a powerful mine, killing nine ARVN soldiers. Specialist Davis pulled his surviving ARVN driver out of the disabled truck and fired upon the attacking Viet Cong guerillas with his carbine. Some 50 feet away from the vehicle, Davis was hit by enemy fire and fell."
"The Viet Cong, no longer receiving any return fire, rushed to the wounded Davis. They shot the Soldier in the head and rifled through his pockets searching for anything valuable. The guerillas didn’t recover his watch which Davis kept in his breast pocket away from his electronic devices." But Specialist Davis’ efforts weren’t in vain.
"Using fresh intelligence from the 3rd Radio Research Unit, US and ARVN personnel headed west to attack the Viet Cong at the Thieng Quang pineapple plantation in Operation Chopper on 24 Dec 1961, the first helicopter assault of the Vietnam War and the birth of the Air Cavalry."
Specialist James “Tom” Davis was buried in his hometown at Livingston’s Good Hope Cemetery on 3 Jan 1962. On 10 Jan, less than three weeks after his death, the ASA officially named the 3rd Radio Research Unit’s Tan Son Nhut compound “Davis Station.”
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Endnote: During the Cold War, the late great singer Johnny Cash was also a SIGINT specialist. As a crack Morse code interceptor, he deciphered Soviet signals for USAF intelligence.
While monitoring the Soviet Morse Code chatter on 5 Mar 1953, Johnny Cash became the very first American to hear of the death of the Soviet supreme leader, Joseph Stalin. The “Man in Black” then relayed the important information to his superiors, a secret he wouldn’t reveal for many years and the rest is history.
Sources:
https://www.historynet.com/first-us-soldier-killed-vietnam/
https://stationhypo.com/2018/02/26/johnny-cash-the-man-in-black-was-a-morse-code-intercept-operator/
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alvin-Cullum-York