Interviewed by:

Tyler Packett and Tait Valli

"If you don’t agree with the message, be mad at the government for that.
Don’t be mad at the guy who is carrying out the message, because I guarantee you know
most of us by the middle of the siege did not want to be there"

~ Michael Lee

Michael Lee's Story:

Mike enlisted into the Marine Corps in October 1966. He decided to join the Marines because he thought he was going to get drafted into the Army. Instead being drafted in to the Army, he enlisted in the Marines because he knew they trained you well. His father was a Marine and served in Guadalcanal, which further influenced him to join the Marines. After enlisting, he went to Paris Island in South Carolina. Paris Island is the basic training camp for the Marines. Then Mike went to ITR (Infantry Training Regiment) in Camp Pendleton. At ITR, Mike was given a MOS, (Military Occupation Specialty). He was assigned MOS 0141, which was a clerk typist. When Mike was in the Marines he was ranked corporal. Then he was sent to Okinawa Japan where he taught diving lessons.

Mike was given new orders, and he was to go to Vietnam aboard an LST (Landing Ship Tank). Mike arrived in Da Nang harbor, and from there he went on truck to Khe Sanh, where they set up a combat base. At Khe Sanh the base was in constant attack, and surrounded by Vietnamese regulars.

After the war, Mike and many others that served in Vietnam had a hard time adapting back to regular life, many suffered PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). In addition to PTSD, back at home in America, soldiers were treated poorly by those that disagreed politically with the war in Vietnam. Mike now lives in Wellfleet MA where he is a writer.