June 16, 1962 - Two U.S. Army officers were slain this morning when Communist guerrillas ambushed an armored convoy 35 miles north of Saigon. The ambush was planned and executed with a precision that was considered remarkable. All seven vehicles in the convoy were destroyed. At least 15 Vietnamese troops were killed along with several civilian occupants of a motorbus. The bus was blown up by a land mine immediately ahead of the military convoy. The two Americans, a first lieutenant and a captain, had been attached since April to the Seventh Regiment of the Fifth Division as military advisors. Capt. Walter R. McCarthy Jr. (pictured), of Columbia, S.C., formerly of Brooklyn, was one of the officers. The lieutenant’s name was withheld pending word to his next of kin. Captain McCarthy was killed immediately. His body was found in his jeep riddled with machine-gun bullets. The lieutenant, although wounded, made his way 500 yards into the woods, where it is believed pursuers overtook him. He apparently died of a bullet wound in the head.
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