Nghia V. Dong

Nghia was born on July 17, 1939 and passed away on Tuesday, April 8, 2008. Nghia Van Dong; N. Vietnamese Refugee Aided Americans April 20, 2008 Nghia Van Dong, 69, a retired hospital employee in Northern Virginia who worked for the U.S. consulate in Da Nang during the Vietnam War, died of stomach cancer April 8 at his home in Alexandria. Mr. Dong, a native of Haiphong, North Vietnam, left the north as a refugee during the 1950s. He joined South Vietnamese Special Forces and was assigned to work for the Americans in the early 1960s. He was known as Bucky among the Americans and remained with the consulate in Da Nang as a chauffeur and bodyguard until 1975. According to citations he received from the consul general, Mr. Dong attacked with hand grenades three well-dug-in Viet Cong machine gun nests, enabling two wounded Americans to receive medical assistance. Then, during the emergency evacuation of Da Nang, Mr. Dong jumped between Consul General Francis Terry McNamara and a group of Vietnamese marines as they opened fire. McNamara escaped unharmed, but Mr. Dong was wounded. He was wounded 10 times during the war. Mr. Dong "had saved the lives of several Americans under fire, and had taken actions that would have resulted in a recommendation for the Congressional Medal of Honor, had Bucky been an American soldier," McNamara wrote in an e-mail. "While with me as my bodyguard, Bucky was always at my side as we moved about some of the most dangerous parts of the northern five provinces of the former Republic of Vietnam," McNamara continued. "In the final hours as Da Nang was about to fall to the invading North Vietnamese, Bucky saved the life of Consul General [Albert B.] Francis. Selflessly, Bucky jumped in front of the Consul General shielding him from the fire of several panicky Vietnamese Marines. Although wounded himself, Bucky returned fire killing or disabling the five heavily armed, threatening Marines." Mr. Dong moved to Alexandria after the war and worked first at Fort Belvoir's hospital and then for Inova Mount Vernon Hospital in food services. He retired in 2006. He enjoyed gardening, socializing, fishing, playing the lottery and drinking coffee. A son, Si van Dong, died in 1990. He drowned at Ocean City Maryland. Survivors include his wife, Hanh Dong of Alexandria; six children, Hoa Dong and Duc "Cong" Dong, both of Banmethuot, Vietnam, Thuy Dong of Reston, Hiep Dong of Leesburg and Phuong Dong and Nam Dong, both of Alexandria; Shawn Dong one of the 11 grandchildren; and Jayden Dong One of five great-grandchildren. The Washington Post Nghia was a resident of Alexandria, Virginia.