Cathy Wayne

Cathy Wayne was the stage name of Australian entertainer Catherine Anne Warnes (7 December 1949 – 20 July 1969) who was killed during the Vietnam War at a United States Marine base. Wayne had just finished a song at a Non-commissioned officer's club near Da Nang in South Vietnam when she was hit by a bullet fired from a .22 pistol, fitted with a silencer, which had been stolen at the base. Wayne was the first Australian woman killed during the Vietnam War.Sergeant James Wayne Killen was originally convicted of the unpremeditated murder of Wayne; at his first court-martial it was alleged that he was aiming for his commanding officer, Major Roger E. Simmons. Wayne 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 the drummer for her performance troupe, Sweethearts on Parade. Killen served two years of his sentence in the US, before a second court-martial cleared him of the charge and he was released.