Suzanne Harms

In Memory Of
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In Memory Of Catherine Anne Warnes (stage name Cathy Wayne). The shocking tragic death of a young Australian woman in Vietnam on the 20th of July, 1969.
Many Australian entertainers volunteered to perform in South Vietnam helping lift the morale of men and women who were serving there. From 1967 to 1971, some 50 troupes left Australia for Vietnam.
Cathy Wayne was the stage name of Australian entertainer Catherine Anne Warnes, who was killed during the Vietnam War at a United States Marine base at the age of 19.
She had just finished a song at the non-commissioned officer's club near Da Nang in South Vietnam, and was shot by a bullet fired from a .22 pistol fitted with a silencer, which had been stolen at the base. Cathy died almost instantly as the bullet severed her aorta.
Sergeant James Wayne Killen, an American, was originally convicted of the unpremeditated murder of Cathy. At his first court-martial, it was alleged that he was aiming for his commanding officer, Major Roger E. Simmons.
Cathy had intended to use money earned from her performances in Vietnam to revive her recording career, and to marry her fiancé, Clive Cavanagh, who was there when she died. He stepped forward to cradle Cathy when she slumped to the floor.
Killen served two years of his sentence in the US, before a second court-martial cleared him of the charge and he was released.
Lest We Forget.
Information comes from Wikipedia. Photograph comes from the Australian War Memorial. Image file number AWM ERR/67/0248/EC