BULLETIN - Mrs. Douglas D'Orsay of Ashland was notified shortly before 1 p.m. today that her husband was killed in a Saigon bombing last week. It was the first official notification from the government.
HOPEDALE - Master Sgt. Douglas H. D'Orsay, 44, of Ashland, formerly of this town, was among seven U.S. servicemen killed in last week's terror bombing of a floating restaurant in Saigon, it was announced in that city today.
However, members of D'Orsay's family said they have received no official word of his death and were checking further through their congressman. They said all they knew of the reported death was through press stories our of Saigon today and a radio report.
D'Orsay is married to the former Elaine Vasalakis of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and has two children, Barbara, sophomore at Ashland High School, and a son, Thomas, studying electronic engineering at Wentworth Institute in Boston. D'Orsay's parents, Mr. and Mrs. T. Harold D'Orsay live on Hammond Road in Hopedale.
The bomb exploded in the My Canh floating restaurant last Thursday at a time when it was filled by diners, including Americans.
Two bombs apparently hit the boat which housed the restaurant. The second explosion caught those who rushed to help persons hit by the first blast.
The first bomb exploded in the restaurant itself and the second went off on the gangplank which leads from the boat to the street. Many were strolling near the building at the time of the blast.
The restaurant is located near a U.S. military officers billet.
D'Orsay was an Air Force veteran for 24 years, having served as a second lieutenant in the European theater as a flight engineer.
M/Sgt D'Orsay was stationed at Pease AFB in Portsmouth, N.H., before being assigned to Bien Hoa, about 20 miles south of Saigon.
D'Orsay also has a brother, Wilfred, who is an army veteran of World War II, and is now manager of custom engineering for International Business Machines in the New York office.
Wilfred is married to the former Irma Monti of Milford.
During World War II. The sergeant was taken ill and was flown back to this country and hospitalized at Murphy General Hospital in Waltham. Later he resumed active duty and was stationed in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Milford Daily News, June 30, 1965.
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