Woburn Native Who Was Among Final Vietnam War Fatalities Is Honored

QUANTICO, VA — A Woburn native and Marine who is considered one of the last two U.S. service members killed in ground combat during the Vietnam War has had a building named in his honor at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia, according to the Defensive Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS).

Corporal Charles McMahon, Jr., who was born in Woburn, served as a lifeguard at the Woburn Boys Club and attended Woburn High School, was killed on April 29, 1975. McMahon was killed alongside fellow Marine Security Guards (MSG) Corporal Darwin Lee Judge, an Iowa native, while the pair were defending the U.S. Defense Defense Attaché Office (DAO) at the Ton Son Nhut Airbase near Saigon.

According to DVIDS, on July 28, 2023, the Marine Corps Embassy Security Group (MCESG) named and dedicated its Marine Security Guard Security Augmentation Unit (MSAU) building at Quantico in honor of the fallen soldiers, naming it the McMahon-Judge Annex.

A dedication ceremony at the building featured members of McMahon's and Judge's family, Vietnam veterans and officials from the Department of Defense and State Department.

George Holland, McMahon's childhood friend from Woburn, spoke at the ceremony about McMahon's longtime desire to join the Marines, specifically the "cream of the crop" MSG.

"Charlie would always talk about how he wanted to join the Marines. You figure junior high, you'll have a lot of different opportunities, but Charlie stuck with it. That is what he wanted to do, and soon after he joined the Marines," Holland said, according to DVIDS.

According to DVIDS, McMahon graduated from the Recruit Training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island and completed his training at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri. He initially became a military policeman.

Eventually, McMahon went to MSG school, graduating in September 1974. McMahon's first post was in Washington D.C. He and Judge only had been stationed in Saigon for a few weeks when they were killed, according to the report.

The last speaker at last month's ceremony was Brigadier General Jason Morris, director of operations at Marine Corps Headquarters, who directed his comments to the families of the fallen Marines.

"Where do we find such heroes? In this case Massachusetts and Iowa," Morris said. "These two young men did what they had been trained to do. Standfast to defend the American diplomatic mission as a team and secure the perimeter against the onslaught of an entire army heading their way. These Marines did their duty and, in the process, selflessly gave their lives so that others may have the chance to grow old."