"My experience was that … the closer you got to the point of the spear the fewer problems you had. Everybody realized they had to depend on each other and it didn't matter what color you were or anything else. And it didn't."
Description of Interview:
Frank Marriott paints a vivid picture of living in bunkers in the mud at the top of a mountain during the monsoon season in southern I Corps. Mr. Marriott graduated from Norwich University, a military school in central Vermont, and was commissioned in the Army in 1969 via ROTC. He discusses booby traps, Shake ‘n Bakes, rat infestations, a treatment for jungle rot, strobe lights and ceiling fans to the tune of In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, stumbling upon a NVA laager, white phosphorus, and the terror unleashed by the Arc Light missions. He also recalls working for a brief stint at Walt Disney World with his new wife before finishing law school after his Vietnam tour.
Key Words: Norwich University, Fort Devens, Fort Benning, IOBC (Infantry Officer Basic Course), Jungle School, Panama, Americal, My Lai, Americal Combat Center, Chu Lai, LNO (liaison officer), Charlie Company, LZ West, LZ Siberia, LZ Hawk Hill, platoon leader, Shake ‘n Bakes, company commander, Hiep Duc, Que Son Valley, white phosphorus, Kit Carson Scout, Through The Valley, Nui Loc Son, Hawk Hill, Kent State, National Guardsmen, Starlight scope, beacon strike, Arc Light, Fort Holabird
Key Names: Lieutenant Calley, Keith William Nolan
Unit:
4th Battalion, 31st Infantry, 196th Light Infantry Brigade, Americal Division
Read the Complete Transcript of this Interview.