Bruce Searight McFadyen was born in Montclair, NJ, on January 12, 1943. He attended the Peddie School in Hightstown, NJ, where he was co-captain of the 1959 – 1960 swimming team. He then attended Colgate University, where he was a varsity swim team member and an officer in his fraternity. He graduated in 1965 as an English major and attended Naval Officer Candidate School in Newport, RI.

After being commissioned, he was assigned to the USS Oklahoma City on which he trained in diving and ordnance disposal work. From there, he was re-assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise where he spent most of 1967. After nearly two years at sea, Bruce received his orders for Vietnam. He arrived in Saigon on April 15, 1968, and was attached to the Navy Ordnance Disposal Team. His orders called for the mandatory 365 days of service before rotation and discharge in May 1969. He attained the rank of Lieutenant (LT).

On January 17, 1969, five days after he celebrated his 26th birthday, McFadyen was serving as a member of an explosive disposal unit when a 400-pound bomb exploded at the water’s edge in Nah Be, located in the Delta region of South Vietnam. The explosion killed him instantly.

He was four months away from completing his active military service.

Sources: The Viet Nam Remembrance Committee & Clifton War Veterans Monument Committee and NJVVMF.
12/17/2024