Document Type
Oral History
Interviewer
Doug Rawlings
Interview date
8-29-2000
Files
Download Transcript (5.2 MB)
Abstract
Christopher “Chris” M. Beam, interviewed by Doug Rawlings, August 29, 2000. Beam reviews his early life, attending Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, being invested in the “domino effect,” being disturbed about his fellow students seeking a way out of service, his gendered perspective of serving in the military, enlisting with the U.S. Marines feeling it was a prestigious branch of the military, feeling it was his patriotic duty to serve, signing up for three years of active duty and three year in an active reserve, his mother’s opposition to him entering the military, experiencing a change in heart as his reporting for service as he began wondering about the U.S. Government’s reasons for being in Vietnam, signing up for the officer training program, and hawkish friends evading the draft through student deferment. Beam discusses experiencing fear as he reported to Quantico because of his changing perspective spurred by hawkish right wing congressmen characterizing the Vietnam War as a battle between “the Cross” and Communism and realizing he was “in league with the wrong people,” the intake process at Quantico rendering individuals “anonymous” through homogenous haircuts and uniforms, the Marine’s organization of his class of 300 to 400 enlistees, candidates drummed out of officer training, tactics used by drill sergeants to psychologically break candidates, sergeants who told recruits what was happening in Vietnam to prepare candidates to lead, brief rhymes used by soldiers to indicate which MOS were safer than others, 20% of his class assigned to infantry, being confronted by the uniform code at party when he criticized Dean Rusk and Robert McNamara. He recounts the names of men he knew who died in Vietnam, his growing contempt for draft dodgers, the growing strain on his family relationships, feeling estranged from American society, being stationed in Okinawa, putting in for transfer to Vietnam, being stationed with the 9th Marine Amphibious Brigade aboard the Tolland-class attack cargo ship U.S.S. Seminole, classism aboard ship, and the seven months he spent in country. Text: 93 pp. transcript, plus 22 pp. supplemental content, 2 pp. administrative.
No recording; transcript only.
Disciplines
Military History | Oral History | United States History
Birth date
February 21, 1945
Location
Portland, Cumberland County, Maine
Nation of origin
United States
Home state/Territory
Maine
Gender
Male
Ethnicity
European-American
Occupation
Professor of History, Bates College; Director, Edmund S. Muskie Archives and Special Collections Library
Civic groups
Vietnam Veterans Against War
Branch of service
U.S. Marine Corps
Service Unit
9th Marine Amphibious Brigade
Dates of service
September 1967-May 4, 1970, Vietnam, 1968-1969
Date of entry
September 1967
Service entry
Commissioned
Location of Service
USMC Officer Candidates School, Quantico, Virginia; Camp Lejeune, North Carolina; Camp Schwab, Okinawa; Da Nang, Vietnam; An Hoa, Vietnam
Wars & Conflicts
Vietnam War
Battles & Engagements
Tet, 1969
Entry Rank
O-1 2nd Lieutenant
Highest Rank
O-2 1st Lieutenant
Exit Rank
O-2 1st Lieutenant
Names
President John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Bob Dylan, Edmund Muskie, Barry Goldwater, Madison, Wisconsin, Thailand, Fred Greene, Frederick Shuman, 2nd Lieutenant William Gilger III, Eddie Braun, Earl Garrison, Ron Garrison, General Ramsey Clark, Edward A. Bayer, Martin Luther King, Jr., Dorothy (Merriman) Korgen, Reinhard L. Korgen, Bill Ryan, Sergeant Barts, Tom Berringer, Staff Sergeant Yannick, Miles Davis, Major General Raymond Davis, Ed Davidson, Major Brahm, Dean Rusk, Robert McNamara, Gene McCarthy, John Abbott, Ed Davidson, Bill Jones, Bill Hernden, Russ Eckley, Dave Wright, Marianne Holmes, Cecil Holmes, Hank Fuller, George Wallace, Coretta Scott King, Gunnery Sergeant Costa, Lieutenant Mack, Lieutenant Colonel Wilson, 1st Lieutenant Marlin Robb, Charles Robb, Lance Corporal Eck, Captain Midnight [folklore], Melvin Laird, Brownie Carson, Herbert Coursen, George McGovern
Locations
Brunswick, Maine; Portland, Maine; Topsham, Maine; Mississippi; Hartford, Connecticut; Missouri Ozarks; South Vietnam; Albany, New York; Boston; Quantico, Virginia; Orr Island, Maine; Louisiana; South Carolina; Canada; Washington, D.C.; Bethesda, Maryland; Chevy Chase, Maryland; Haight Ashbury; Allentown, Pennsylvania; Jacksonville, North Carolina; New Hampshire; Da Nang; San Francisco; Huston, Texas; Okinawa; Singapore; Hong Kong; Subic Bay, Philippines; Choson Reservoir, Korea; An Hoa, Vietnam; Sydney, Australia; Kuala Lumpur; Taipei; Malaysia; Bangkok; Rochester, New York; Anchorage, Alaska; Los Angeles; Champaign-Urbana
Headings
Vietnam War, 1961-1975; Civil Rights; Military casualties; USMC Officer Candidates School
Collection name
Maine Vietnam Veterans Oral History
Collection number
MF224
Item number
NA4489
Recommended Citation
Beam, Christopher M., "Christopher “Chris” M. Beam, interviewed by Doug Rawlings" (2024). MF087 Vietnam Veterans Oral History. 51.
https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/ne_vietnam_vets/51
Rights and Access Note
This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. In addition, no permission is required from the rights-holder(s) for non-commercial uses. For other uses, you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). For more information, contact Special Collections.
Rights Statement
