A. Peter Dewey

Albert Peter Dewey was born on October 8, 1916. He worked for the American Office of Strategic Services, a group that helped during World War II.

After the war, Dewey went to a place called French Indochina, which today includes countries like Vietnam.

Sadly, on September 26, 1945, Dewey was mistaken for someone else by troops who supported the Communist Viet Minh. They shot him, and he became the first American to die in French Indochina during a time of unrest known as the 1945 Vietnamese uprising. His death happened as tensions rose in the area during a difficult period of change.

Early life and education

A. Peter Dewey was born in Chicago. He was the son of Congressman Charles S. Dewey and his wife, Marie Suzette de Marigny Hall Dewey. He was also a distant relative of New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey. Dewey was educated in Switzerland at Institut Le Rosey and later attended St. Paul's School (Concord, New Hampshire).

He graduated from Yale University, where he studied French history. At Yale, he was a member of the Berzelius Secret Society. Some of his friends there included William Warren Scranton. After Yale, Dewey also attended the University of Virginia School of Law.

Newspaper work

After finishing school in 1939, Dewey started working as a journalist for the Chicago Daily News in Paris.

He also worked for a family friend, Nelson Rockefeller, in his Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs. At one point, Rockefeller asked him to travel to France to meet privately with General Charles de Gaulle.

Battle of France

While reporting on the German invasion of France for the Daily News, Dewey became more involved in the war.

In May 1940, during the Battle of France, Dewey joined as a lieutenant in the Polish Military Ambulance Corps with the Polish Army in France. After the French army was defeated, Dewey escaped through Spain to Portugal, where he was held for a short time.

Marriage and family

On August 1, 1942, Dewey married Nancy Weller. They had one daughter, Mrs. Nancy (Charles) Hoppin. After Dewey's death, Nancy later married John Pierrepont in 1950.

Dewey's nephew David Dewey Alger was a relative of a Michigan political leader. Sadly, David was killed during the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.

Office of Strategic Services

On August 10, 1944, Dewey jumped out of a plane into southern France. He led a small group of Americans from the United States Office of Strategic Services (OSS). For six weeks, he worked behind enemy lines, sending messages about German soldiers.

Dewey arrived in Saigon on September 4, 1945, to help protect American interests and gather information. He worked with the Viet Minh to help free prisoners of war from camps near Saigon. Sadly, on September 26, 1945, Dewey was shot and killed by Viet Minh troops. His body was never found.

Memorials

A. Peter Dewey is not on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. This is because leaders decided the war began later, in 1955. But you can find his name on special tablets at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial. He is listed as "Major Albert P. Dewey." His name is also on a stone at his parents’ grave in Arlington National Cemetery. And it is mentioned on a wall at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. This wall notes that he died in 1945 in Indo-China.

After Dewey died, a book he wrote about life in Paris before the war was published. A novel about his time in Vietnam was also written by a friend, Seymour Topping, in 2005.