Video: 'Vietnam: A Television History (Ep-12) The End of the Tunnel' (Feb. 5, 1973, at 5:39)

(Monday, February 5, 1973; during the Vietnam War, part of the Indochina Wars and the Cold War) — U.S. Army Colonel William B. Nolde, the last official American combat casualty of the Vietnam War, was buried with full honors today at Arlington National Cemetery.

“Through very tragic circumstances, he now represents all of us who served in Vietnam,” the Rev. Roy V. Peters, a chaplain, told about 200 mourners at a brief service in the small brick chapel at Fort Myer, Virginia, on the edge of Arlington National Cemetery.

“Colonel Nolde believed in a cause—in life and freedom,” the chaplain added.

Afterward, Nolde’s widow and their five children met with U.S. President Richard Nixon at the White House (at 12:56 p.m. EST), where he told the children, “Your father gave his life so that you may live in a generation without war.”

Nolde — the 45,914th confirmed death and 57,597th in the total list of Americans killed during the conflict — was killed by artillery fire at An Loc just eleven hours before the cessation of all hostilities in accordance with the Paris Peace Accords.

Nolde, who was 43, was a resident of Mount Pleasant, Michigan.