By all accounts of those who knew him, Marshalltown native the late L/Cpl. Darwin L. Judge, 19, was destined for good, if not great things.

But one of the universal tragedies of a young person’s death is the untapped potential and what might have been.

The what might have been was cruelly extinguished by a 122 mm North Vietnamese rocket, which scored a direct hit on Judge’s Post 2, Tan Son Nhut airport near Saigon, killing him 40 years ago today.

Judge, and fellow Marine Security Guard Cpl. Charles McMahon, Jr. 21, of Woburn, Mass. also manning the position, were the last American servicemen to die from enemy action on Vietnam’s soil.

They died just hours before the beginning of the evacuation of Saigon, which ended April 30, 1975.

“After the U.S. withdrawal in 1973, about the only Americans left in South Vietnam were a few dozen Marines assigned to guard the U.S. Embassy in Saigon and four consulate offices in other cities,” reported Jim Kavanagh of CNN. “Judge had graduated from boot camp at the top of his class and probably was assigned embassy duty as a reward.”

The Times-Republican interviewed his late mother, Ida Judge, at the family home in April 2010. She passed in 2011. Her husband and Darwin’s father, Henry, died in 2002.

“Every place you look you find something that Darwin made,” Ida said, while holding several small wood and leather craft projects crafted by Darwin in Boy Scouts.

Darwin was an Eagle Scout.

“He was also making little things and he liked his Boy Scouts,” Ida said. “He’d say he was going to make something and he would work until he got it.”

Darwin made a grandfather clock which stood in the living room.

“He made that the last seven weeks he was in (high) school,” Ida said.

Ida said Darwin enlisted in the Marine Corp after high school.

“He wanted to be the best, that’s why he joined the Marines,” Ida said.

That effort continued in Darwin’s role in Saigon’s evacuation.

“He carried a little girl, a fellow Marine’s daughter, out to a plane,” she said. “I was told that she graduated from college.”

Respect for Darwin by his friends and others is compelling.

His former Scoutmaster Mark Frank, of Sibley, wrote: “Darwin was the type of boy who had questions for everything, wanting to learn and help other members of his troop. Let us not forget this young man and the freedom he stood for.”

Another friend, John Grindstaff, who graduated from Marshalltown High School with Darwin in 1974 shared these words: “He was always devoted to this country and I attempted to follow his patriotism. I have always felt a deep sense of loss from his passing and that of my brother-in-law who was also killed in Vietnam. He was a true hero and a great friend.”

The VFW, April 2015 edition featured Judge and McMahon in “Now Hear This,” segment of the magazine.

Marshalltown did not forget their native son.

A large color photo of Judge and plaque, is displayed prominently near Marshalltown High School’s main entrance. A park on 12th Street is named in his honor.

The Historical Society of Marshall County has a large display on its second floor dedicated to Judge and all veterans.

The late Paul G. Norris, editor of the Times-Republican, wrote of Judge in his “Memorable People” book: “His accomplishments in his brief life reveal that Darwin Judge was an exemplary young man, the type destined for success in any field he choose – is further proof of the hoary adage that ‘the good die young.’

Yet his death in serving his country in a cause in which he fervently believed is not a waste – except in the sense that all wars are wasteful – for in his brief years he achieved more success than many who have lived four times as long.”

Judge is buried in Rose Hill Cemetery.