| A. Peter Dewey | |
|---|---|
| 1916 – September 26, 1945 (aged 28–29) | |
 Albert Peter Dewey |
|
| Nickname | Peter |
| Place of birth | Chicago, Illinois |
| Place of death | Saigon, Vietnam |
| Resting place | Arlington National Cemetery |
| Allegiance | Army of Poland, United States Army |
| Years of service | Army of Poland 1940, U.S. August, 1942 – September 26, 1945 |
| Rank | Lt. Colonel |
| Unit | Special Operations Branch |
| Commands held | Polish Military Ambulance Corps U.S.Air Transport Command, in Africa U.S.Office of Strategic Services (OSS) |
| Battles/wars | World War
II Battle of France (with the Polish Army) Operation Dragoon |
| Awards | Silver
Star Legion of Merit Croix de Guerre Avec Palmes Chevalier De La Légion d'honneur Tunisian Order of Nicham-el-Oftikhar |
Albert Peter Dewey (1916-September 26, 1945), shot by accident.[1] by Viet Minh troops on September 26, 1945.[2] Dewey was the first American fatality in Vietnam, killed in the early aftermath of World War II.
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Col. Dewey the younger son of Congressman Charles S. Dewey and his[3] wife Marie Suzette de Marigny Hall Dewey[4] was born in Chicago and educated in Switzerland at Institut Le Rosey, St. Paul's School (Concord, New Hampshire), Yale University (where he studied French history and was a member of the Berzelius Secret Society along with friends such as William Warren Scranton, later Governor of PA.),[5] and at the Law School of the University of Virginia.
After his graduation from Yale in 1939, Dewey worked as a journalist for the Chicago Daily News in its Paris bureau.
While reporting on the German invasion of France for the Daily News, Dewey became more directly involved in the war. In May 1940, during the Battle of France, Dewey enlisted as a lieutenant in the Polish Military Ambulance Corps with the Polish army fighting in France.[2][6] Following the defeat of the French army, Dewey escaped through Spain to Portugal, where he was, for a while, placed in an internment camp.
On August 1, 1942, while still a Second Lieut., he married Nancy Weller.[7][8][9] The couple had one child, a daughter, Mrs. Nancy (Charles) Hoppin.[10][11 ]
Col. Dewey was a member of the United States Office of Strategic Services (OSS), an adviser to the Viet Minh forces in the war against Japan, and head of the local OSS Special Operations Branch (SO).
Dewey had been working with the Viet Minh for the repatriation of 214 Americans at two Japanese camps in Saigon captured by the Japanese and held in Vietnam during the last days of World War II, code named Project EMBANKMENT. His mission was accomplished but the plane taking him out did not arrive as planned at Tan Son Nhut International Airport. He was shot in the head while returning from the airport by Viet Minh soldiers. The Viet Minh afterward claimed that their troops mistook him for a Frenchman after he had spoken to them in French.[11 ] His body was never recovered.
Dewey is not listed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. because the Defense Department has ruled that the war officially started, from a U.S. perspective, on November 1, 1955, after the U.S. took over following the French defeat at Dien Bien Phu.
Dewey's name is listed on the American Battle Monuments Commission's website on the Tablets of the Missing at Manila American Cemetery and Memorial as "Major Albert P. Dewey".
Dewey is also commemorated in a side chapel in Bayeux Cathedral
   | Arlington.net Story - A. Peter Dewey, Lieutenant Colonel, United States Army |
| | website - American Battle Monuments Commission |
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