Fall of Saigon Scholarships

Corporal Charles McMahon, Jr. and Lance Corporal Darwin L. Judge – members of the Marine Security Guard detachment assigned to the American Embassy, Saigon, RVN – were killed in the pre- dawn hours of April 29, 1975 when their post at the Defense Attaché Office compound near Tan Son Nhut airbase came under rocket attack. They were the final Americans killed in action during the Vietnam War. In recognition to the sacrifices of Corporal McMahon and Lance Corporal Judge, their families and communities, the Fall of Saigon Marines Association presents scholarships annually in each of their names in their respective hometowns.

The Corporal Charles McMahon, Jr. Memorial Scholarship is presented to the Youth of the Year at the Boys and Girls Club of Woburn awards night in Woburn, Massachusetts each April. Corporal McMahon was the club’s 1971 PFC Joseph L. Drew Boy of the Year and an original member of the club when it was established in 1959.

The Lance Corporal Darwin L. Judge Memorial Scholarship is presented to selected Eagle Scouts graduating from Marshalltown High School in Marshalltown, Iowa at the school’s awards night each May. The Eagle Scouts receiving the award are selected by a committee composed of Lance Corporal Judge’s family and Mr. Kenneth Locke, a life-long friend of Lance Corporal Judge. Lance Corporal Judge received the Eagle Scout award while attending Marshalltown High School and was an active participant in the scouting program throughout his youth.