Schoolcraft College

M11 Assignment: Historical Fiction

A day in the Life

Timothy Malane

History 153 – Contemporary American - U.S. History

Dr. Alec Thomson

June 17, 2018

 Malane I

I am writing this journal on March 8th 1965. I want to catalog this in my diary so I have a

clear depiction of my time in Vietnam. I am an American Marine of the 3rd Battalion, 9th

Marines. My name is Beau Ritter and I am 21 years old. I am so excited to finally be here in

South Vietnam. My high school buddy Jeremy O’Leary is in a different Battalion. He did not

deploy to the Pacific. He is jealous of me getting to see action first. This is a story of my

experience landing on the beach in Da Nang, Vietnam.

I have trained extensively for my mission to Vietnam. I am ready to be here. Most of the

men in my battalion have the same idea of Vietnam. We have been told it is a hot jungle. From

our understanding the land is all rice paddies and jungles. The people of Vietnam are peasants

and live in small hut style villages. We really have no idea of how they will receive the arrival

of the American Marines into their villages. Even though there is a lot of uncertainty, we are not

scared. We know we are the most dangerous and well trained men on the planet. Our time here

should be short and sweet. The Viet Cong won’t know what hit them. I’ll be back home in

sunny Savannah Georgia before I know it. My mom is worried that I might be too naïve to really

understand the dangers I may be facing.

All I know is that in August of last year, the Viet Cong made a grave mistake when they

fired upon the U.S. Nave ships up in North Vietnam. The VC have forced Congress to draw up

the Tonkin Gulf Resolution. From my understanding, the resolution gives President Johnson

carte blanche to take any action necessary against the VC. We will not fail at stopping the

Marxist leader of the North, Ho Chi Minh, from spreading communism into the rest of

Indochina. We are very prepared for this fight.

We marines traveled from Okinawa to Da Nang aboard the USS Henrico. The Henrico

has served in WWII, Korea, and Cuba so she is a well-traveled vessel. In all 3500 Marines came
 Malane II

ashore in Da Nang. Our mission is to secure the U.S. air base at Da Nang. Currently the South

Vietnamese army is defending it from attacks by the VC. We need to alleviate the South army

so they can go on to fight the VC and push them back. We were told that General Westmoreland

had asked for an inconspicuous landing of the marines at Da Nang. Our arrival was anything but

inconspicuous. We were warmly received by a crowd of spectators. There were local South

Vietnamese cheering for us. There were beautiful women there placing leis around our necks as

we came up on the beaches. Children were hugging us and clapping for us. This sure seems like

a great place to be. I hope the rest of the time we spend in Vietnam will be this fun.