Going to Okinawa
My sister Susan and I at the Flint, MI Municipal Airport

Upon arrival at the processing center in Okinawa in September 1970 I was informed that my orders had been changed and I was put on the first plane for the Republic of Vietnam. Several months later I learned that the man that I was to replace was killed in a non-hostile helicopter crash. Needless to say I was not happy with the turn of events, as I was not in favor of the war and felt that we had made a serious mistake in our commitment there. But I also felt a strong desire to do the best job that I could in a bad situation.
It seemed rather other-worldly that we boarded a civilian airliner for our hop to Đà Nẵng, Vietnam and even stranger that we had female stewardesses and headphones for piped in music on the trip. I remember listening to some Rock-Pop tunes and one of them just happened to be "Leaving on a Jet Plane" a song written by John Denver in 1966 and most famously recorded by Peter, Paul, and Mary. A rather sad song about separation from someone you love. If it was a joke being played upon us, or simply coincidence, I will never know.
Landing at the American built Đà Nẵng Air Base was even more surreal as the base was under rocket attack as we approached. I learned and experienced later that this was pretty common, as the Air Base was a popular target for the Russian-made 122mm rockets used by the North Vietnamese. Generally, they were not very accurate because of the quick setup and firing, but they were nerve shattering to experience. Our aircraft went into a "hold" pattern over Đà Nẵng until the end of the attack.
The plane landed and we disembarked to be met by a sweltering heat. Having been raised in Michigan and it's oftentimes hot and humid (thanks to the great lakes and many inland lakes) summers, I was accustomed to that, but this was above and beyond anything I had experienced. The smell was pretty overpowering as well, a mixture of diesel and jet fuel and the stench of old garbage. The fuel smell I understood, but the garbage smell I would find out about later.
After processing, a few of us boarded a 6x6 two-ton truck and pulled out onto Highway One (also known as QL-1), the trans-Vietnam paved road, built by French colonists in the early 20th century and upgraded by the Japanese in World War Two and the Americans beginning in 1965. The highway extends from Lạng Sơn in the north and snakes 2300 miles to Cà Mau in the south. Our destination was Red Beach, Camp Haskins in I Corps, the northernmost hub of Marine Corps operations and home of the III Marine Amphibious Force (III MAF) Headquarters. Red Beach was also where the first Marines came ashore in 1965 and sits on the shoreline of the Bay of Đà Nẵng.

Red Beach, Camp Haskins in 1970

Along the one hour drive to Camp Haskins we passed through the "suburban sprawl" of Đà Nẵng and noticed enormous piles of garbage and refuse along the roads and it became very obvious where the garbage smell originated. As we traveled further the pile and the stench continued to get even worse.

We arrived at Camp Haskins, unloaded and I reported in at G-1 and received my billeting and job orders. My military occupational specialty (MOS) was 1411, which is that of a draftsman/survey man and my assignment in Vietnam was to G-4 (logistics). I nearly laughed out loud when I was told that I was to report to Major Robert Larsen at the G-4 "Real Estate" office. Once there, I was told my job was going to be to survey Marine Corps installations in I Corps, and with that information, draw detailed updated maps of the facilities. I Corps was the tactical name assigned to the northernmost five provinces of South Vietnam, extending from the north at the Demarcation Line in Quảng Trị Province to the south at Quảng Ngãi Province. I was also in charge of assigning the monetary value to the facilities by using a rather complex formula. The Marines were slowly pulling out of Vietnam and the installations and equipment were officially being transferred to the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN).
When I arrived there were five men in G-4 Real Estate. Major Larsen USMC, commanding, LTJG Gass USN, executive officer and operations; two Navy Seabee petty officers, and a USMC Lance Corporal in for filing, typing and record keeping.
I soon found out that the Seabee Petty Officers were to train me before they left, which gave them two months to make sure I knew what I was doing and do the job that both of them had been doing for the past 6 months. My commanding officer, Major Larsen, had told me that I had a good full year's work ahead of me, but if I was to finish early, he would make sure I went home early. Done deal.
I found my place to sleep which was called a "hooch", a 16x32 foot wooden building with a corrugated metal roof held down with sandbags. The "windows" along the sides consisted of 4x8 sheets of plywood that could be opened and closed depending on the weather. Not the Hilton, but far better than most Marines had in Vietnam.

Typical "Hooch" in Vietnam

It was getting late that first day and I was exhausted. The jet lag from California to Alaska to Japan to Okinawa to Vietnam had caught up and I was ready to sleep for a week. I ate a quick B-Rations dinner at the Mess Hall (canned spaghetti and meatballs) and hit the rack. I fell asleep immediately and the next thing I remember was an enormous explosion that rattled the building and had everyone in the hooch scrambling for their boots and trousers. We ran outside and immediately realized that the source of the explosion was across the bay at the Deep Water Port where they unloaded the supply ships. We found out later that the North Vietnamese had gotten lucky and sent several 122mm or 140mm rockets into the ships and one of them struck an ammunition ship. I just wanted to know how to get out of this place.

Promotion to Lance Corporal and Promotion to Corporal

I took my job very seriously for the next two months and my buddy Petty Officer Marty Malder (one of the Seabees training me) had me up and running within three weeks. This made the Seabees very happy, because they were going to go home sooner than they thought. Major Larsen released them back to their unit, the 32nd Naval Construction Brigade and they were soon on a "Freedom Bird" for the states.

Navy Seabee Petty Officer Marty Malder

The next 6 weeks was a whirlwind of activity, as the monsoon season starts in November and we wanted to get all cantonments, landing zones (LZ's) and Fire Bases (FB's). Since I was the only one going out into the "field", it fell on me to keep a tight schedule. The timetable for the turnover of the installations had already been made and could not be done until my paperwork was done.
My method of transportation was normally via helicopter. They were on call whenever one was needed one and I just needed to inform the Major the night before as to where I was going and what time. I was also assigned a 4x4 M-34 Dodge Truck that looked as if it was from the Korean War era. It never let me down, though. It was used for surveys of installations within a twenty-four-mile radius of our base of operations. The helicopters used were the iconic Huey UH-1, the CH-47 Chinook, and even the H-53 Sea Stallion a couple of times.

By the time the monsoons came, Major Larsen soon realized that I was going to hold him to his word, and as a reward for staying ahead of schedule, I was promoted rapidly to Lance Corporal and Corporal, both meritoriously. I was earning the respect of my senior NCO's and Officers and I found them constantly trying to get information from me as to the turnover schedule. My reply was always..."Sorry, need to know only", or Sorry, classified information."
It was also during this time that proved to be a time of wondering whether I would make it home or not. During the survey of Fire Base Ross, in January 1971, I had found out from the Lieutenant from S-2 (Intelligence) that in the early morning of January 6, 1970 (exactly one year earlier) under the cover of monsoon rains the Vietcong 409th Battalion attacked Ross with mortars and sappers penetrating the wire. The attack was repulsed by 0400 resulting in 13 Marines and 38 Vietcong killed. It was a bad time and the Command Bunker had been destroyed. Since I had to stay overnight at Ross, I was assigned to perimeter guard, because intelligence said that 409th Battalion was in the area and was going to give us an "anniversary present". I found a position next to a bunker and waited with my fellow Marines for whatever would come. At about midnight, the spotlights went on and focused on the concertina wire. There was a shout of "Sappers in the wire" and all hell broke loose. It was quite a light show. The sappers were indeed in the wire, testing our perimeter, and all five were dead. There were no further incidents that night and at dawn, you could see and count the dead enemy bodies. With the amount of firepower focused on them, there was not much left.

In February 1971, I was driving back from an inspection of an installation called ASP-2 (Ammos Supply Point). The road to the installation was a winding dirt road that skirted the steep, small mountains. While driving the small mountains rose up on one side and on the other side were rice paddies. Driving back the paddies were on my right side and the mountain on the left. As I came to a curve in the road, there was a burst of rapid weapon firing down in the paddies. I could not see the shooter but was familiar with the sound of an AK-47. I had stopped quickly and turned the truck sideways facing away from the paddy. After some tense moments taking cover behind the truck, I realized that the gunfire had come from a Regional Force RF) unit, (a type) South Vietnamese militia unit and they were firing at old plastic jugs in the rice paddy for target practice. I muttered under my breath and continued home. There were other "close calls", (one at Hill 37N that was a nightmare) near accidents and injuries that I will not go into because of space, but needless to say that when you are in a hostile environment bad things can happen.

The monsoon season is roughly between November and April each year in Vietnam. The first three months are constant heavy rain and it almost impossible to do anything. From February to March it slows down some and generally just raining in the late afternoon and at night. In the afternoon you could almost set your watch by the time it started and as April approached it became light showers that did not last very long.
Beginning January 28 to March 19, 1970, redeployment of Marine units from Vietnam, now code-named Keystone Robin, continued with the 26th Marines, MAG-12, and several aviation squadrons leaving the country. Also during that time, U.S. redeployment plans called for III MAF units to be among the first U.S. units to depart Vietnam.
On March 9, 1970, III MAF had turned over command of U.S. units in I Corps to XXIV Corps, thus becoming a subordinate command of the US Army's XXIV Corps. This again indicated the future reduced role for Marines in Vietnam and their pending departure. We were beginning to get excited about going home early. It was true for many Marines but I still had a job to finish. From March to June I helped turn over all remaining US Marine Corps bases to the ARVNs.

I finished the job I was assigned to do in a little less than nine months, and true to his word Major Larsen put me on a "freedom bird" in June 1971 headed for the states. The good Major even took me to the officers club and bought my dinner the night before I left Vietnam. Leaving and going home was not the happy event one would suppose, for I left behind my youth in that unhappy little country. But I brought away something very important as well, a new appreciation for life, a new appreciation for my freedom that was merely given to me by the blood of patriots that came before me. I came away and many did not.

For my participation in a war that caused so much division and controversy I was awarded the following: Navy Achievement Medal w/Combat "V", Combat Action Medal, Presidential Unit Citation, Meritorious Unit Citation, Vietnam Campaign Medal, and the Vietnam Service Medal, and two Meritorious Masts. I was presented the Navy Achievement Medal in full ceremony at Camp LeJeune, NC in the Fall of 1971.
When all is said and done, as many veterans before me have so simply stated, "it is not something that I would want to experience again, but I take great pride in having served my country".

Michael Annis ~2015

I wrote the following poem in 1971 while I was stationed in Viet-Nam. It combines and compares images from my boyhood and my perception of war.

GRASSHOPPER/CHOPPER

Sweltering Michigan dog day, 1961
You can smell the heat
August and it's revenge on April
Grass crackling under my feet

Grasshoppers delight
Revel and leap
Chitinous wheeling cacophony
Courting in the climax of summer

Sweltering Đà Nẵng dog day 1971
Smell the alien heat
Đà Nẵng and it's revenge on Detroit
Smoking grass and rotting feet

Choppers delight
Hum and roar
Armored, rotating dissonance
A life craft on Death's shore

Enfold me like a blanket
Let me enter your womb
And walk the clouds back
Ten years to summer '61.

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