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Michael James Annis 1950-
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Cpl. Michael J. Annis -at Camp Haskins, RVN
Like many men who served in an unpopular war, I have always been somewhat reluctant about discussing my role, and my participation in the Vietnam War. It is not a fond memory, yet it marked significantly a time of my life that will never be forgotten. It has taken many years to speak. I saw things that no one should ever have to see.
After attending school at the Fenton (Michigan) Public Schools for twelve years I graduated from Fenton High in 1968. There was never any doubt that I would someday further my education in art, and in the Fall of 1968 I enrolled in a private art school, Kendall School of Design, in Grand Rapids, MI.I was quite proud of the fact that the tuition money and living expenses at college were funded from money that I had worked hard for during high school. Many hours of "grinding soil" and filling potting benches at one of the local greenhouses were going to be rewarded with an formal education in one of the things I loved most - drawing and painting.
But the war in Viet Nam was in full bloom, and a 2-S draft deferment was only good for one year. After two semesters of school, and in the early summer of 1969, I received my draft notice. Instead of waiting for the Army to draft me (my lottery number was very low), I wandered down to the recruiting station in Grand Rapids, MI and enlisted in the Marine Corps. Some people would say that this was not the wisest decision to make in those days of a war that had already claimed the lives of 35,000 American boys. I looked at it hard and in a different perspective that may have saved my life.
The Marine Corps simply offered something the others did not. A short enlistment period, training in the field of my choice (drafting) because of some college experience, and the distinct possibility, that I would not have to go to "Nam". In addition to that, I rationalized that if I were to be assigned to a combat situation, and put in harms way, I wanted the best possible training available. After boot camp in San Diego and advanced training at Camp Pendleton, I spent nearly a year and and half of my enlistment stateside, and confidently thought that I would never see overseas duty.
In late summer of 1970, while stationed at Marine Corps Base 29 Palms, California, I received orders for "WestPac" (military jargon for Western Pacific), which stated that I would be attached to the 3rd Marine Division on Okinawa. After overseas training in a Staging Battalion at Pendleton, I left for Okinawa with the thought that I would spend a year on "Okie" and be sent home to wait out what would them be a short time until my discharge.
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Going to Okinawa - My sister Susan and I at the Flint, MI municipal airport
Upon arrival at the processing center in Okinawa I was informed that my orders had been changed and I was put on the first plane for the Republic of Viet-Nam. 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.
In Viet-Nam I was sent to Red Beach, Camp Haskins in I Corps, the northernmost area of operations. Red Beach was where the first Marines came ashore in 1965 and sits on the shoreline of the Bay of Danang. My military job was that of a draftsman/survey man and my assignment in Nam was to survey Marine Corps installations, and with that information, draw detailed maps of the facilities. I was also in charge of assigning monetary value to the facilities by using a rather complex formula. My commanding officer had told me that I had a good full years work ahead of me, but if I was to finish early, he would make sure I went home early. Done deal.
Promotion to Lance Corporal Promotion to Corporal
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 finished the job I was assigned to do in a little less then nine months, and true to his word Major Larsen put me on a "freedom bird" headed for the states. It was not a happy event, 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.
For my participation in a war that should probably never had happened I was awarded the following: Navy Achievement Medal w/Combat "V", Combat Action Medal, Presidential Unit Citation, Meritorious Unit Citation, Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry, Viet-Nam Campaign Medal, and the Viet-Nam 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".
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 Khe-Sahn dog day 1971
Smell the alien heat
Danang 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.
Copyright 2006-2009 - Annis Family Association
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