Mary Anne was brought over to Vietnam by her boyfriend Mark Fossie and experienced Vietnam on a whole new level. Although, she is missing and still a part of Vietnam this page is to recognize her creative spirit and her strong connection with the country.
A journal entry by Mary Anne Bell
April 14, 1962
It is 6:00 am in the morning and I am currently sitting just outside our camp watching the sun come up behind the dark mysterious mountains. I don't know what it is but I am so intrigued when the sun comes up behind it because for a few minutes it's almost as like the sun shines through the thick wall of trees and you can catch a glimpse of what it might look like inside. Lately, I have been thinking about sneaking out and going into the jungle for myself, I am just so curious of what it might feel like to be in the jungle all alone in a place you just came into. I have been loving everything about this place; the people, the trees. the way it smells but there is just something about the mysterious mountains that I can't stop thinking about. It's almost like the mountain is a giant magnet slowly pulling me towards it. This place has secrets; you can just feel it in your bones and it's making me want to have secrets of my own. So I think I decided that on Thursday night I am going to sneak out in the middle of the night and go into the mountains. I feel bad for Mark because I have been so intrigued by the land that I haven't paid hardly any attention to him. I hope one day he can understand that I fell in love with Vietnam instead of falling more in love with hi,m. This might sound crazy but I will do whatever it takes to go deep into that jungle. I stay awake at night thinking about how the soil might feel, how close together the trees are to each other, how quiet it might be- and if it turns out to be as quiet as I think will I finally be able to hear my own thoughts? It is about 7:15 am now and the boys are just starting to cook up some breakfast, I can smell the chicken and rats being burned over the fire. I suppose I should go back now so Mark doesn't ask too many questions as to where I went. I can't wait till tomorrow morning when I can come back here and just stare at the mountains. That's all I ever think about and it's getting to the point where I need to stop thinking about it and experience it.
It is 6:00 am in the morning and I am currently sitting just outside our camp watching the sun come up behind the dark mysterious mountains. I don't know what it is but I am so intrigued when the sun comes up behind it because for a few minutes it's almost as like the sun shines through the thick wall of trees and you can catch a glimpse of what it might look like inside. Lately, I have been thinking about sneaking out and going into the jungle for myself, I am just so curious of what it might feel like to be in the jungle all alone in a place you just came into. I have been loving everything about this place; the people, the trees. the way it smells but there is just something about the mysterious mountains that I can't stop thinking about. It's almost like the mountain is a giant magnet slowly pulling me towards it. This place has secrets; you can just feel it in your bones and it's making me want to have secrets of my own. So I think I decided that on Thursday night I am going to sneak out in the middle of the night and go into the mountains. I feel bad for Mark because I have been so intrigued by the land that I haven't paid hardly any attention to him. I hope one day he can understand that I fell in love with Vietnam instead of falling more in love with hi,m. This might sound crazy but I will do whatever it takes to go deep into that jungle. I stay awake at night thinking about how the soil might feel, how close together the trees are to each other, how quiet it might be- and if it turns out to be as quiet as I think will I finally be able to hear my own thoughts? It is about 7:15 am now and the boys are just starting to cook up some breakfast, I can smell the chicken and rats being burned over the fire. I suppose I should go back now so Mark doesn't ask too many questions as to where I went. I can't wait till tomorrow morning when I can come back here and just stare at the mountains. That's all I ever think about and it's getting to the point where I need to stop thinking about it and experience it.
Poetry
It paralyzed your lungs
She stepped out of the shadows
Perfectly at peace with herself
Her eyes seemed to shine in the dark
She stepped out of the shadows
The wilderness seemed to draw her in
Her eyes seemed to shine in the dark
She wanted to swallow the country
The wilderness seemed to draw her in
She felt close to herself
She wanted to swallow the country
She seemed to flow like water through the dark
She felt close to herself
Perfectly at peace with herself
She seemed to flow like water through the dark
It paralyzed your lungs
She stepped out of the shadows
Perfectly at peace with herself
Her eyes seemed to shine in the dark
She stepped out of the shadows
The wilderness seemed to draw her in
Her eyes seemed to shine in the dark
She wanted to swallow the country
The wilderness seemed to draw her in
She felt close to herself
She wanted to swallow the country
She seemed to flow like water through the dark
She felt close to herself
Perfectly at peace with herself
She seemed to flow like water through the dark
It paralyzed your lungs
"She had crossed to the other side. She was part of the land. She was wearing her culottes, her pink sweater, and a necklace of human tongues. She was dangerous. She was ready for the kill" (pg.116).
Vietnam Song Lyrics: Masters of War by Bob Dylan (audio and lyrics in video)
A letter Mary Anne wrote to her Mother in America
Dear Mother,
I am sorry for leaving you in such short notice. I should have told you what me and Mark had been planning for the last six weeks. I was just afraid you wouldn't have let me gone and I wanted to come to Vietnam more than anything. I was tired of doing the same routine everyday in Cleveland Heights and I wasn't myself without Mark by my side. I realize I am only seventeen years old but something inside me just pulled me towards Mark and the country of Vietnam. I knew I just had to come out here no matter what the consequences were. Anyway, I am mostly writing this letter to tell you not to worry; I am having the time of my life here in Vietnam and it's funny I thought I would find myself falling in love with Mark more and more everyday but in fact I find myself falling in love with Vietnam more and more everyday. Everything about this place is so fascinating; I find myself asking questions about everything that goes on around me and I have learned more here in one day than I have in my four years of high school. I am so intrigued by the war and the land; even the mystery that lies inside the deep green jungle. There is so much going on everyday that I don't even miss being away from home, in fact I feel like I am home. I love how simple things are here and I love the food, the people, the naked children that run around the villages with the thatched roofs. Mother I know you are probably reading this and thinking I have gone off the deep end but life is so much bigger than our small town in Cleveland Heights. This place makes me rethink my entire life. You know how I always wanted to have a house by lake erie with Mark and grow old with him there and have children? Well I am not so sure I want that anymore. I want adventure and I want to experience the world that we live in. You can only learn so much from books and our town but you can learn the world when you travel and experience it. Well I hope to receive a letter back from you, until then say hi to Dad to for me and don't stay up late thinking about me. I am perfectly fine and have never felt so close to myself in my entire life.
Love Always,
Your daughter Mary Anne.
I am sorry for leaving you in such short notice. I should have told you what me and Mark had been planning for the last six weeks. I was just afraid you wouldn't have let me gone and I wanted to come to Vietnam more than anything. I was tired of doing the same routine everyday in Cleveland Heights and I wasn't myself without Mark by my side. I realize I am only seventeen years old but something inside me just pulled me towards Mark and the country of Vietnam. I knew I just had to come out here no matter what the consequences were. Anyway, I am mostly writing this letter to tell you not to worry; I am having the time of my life here in Vietnam and it's funny I thought I would find myself falling in love with Mark more and more everyday but in fact I find myself falling in love with Vietnam more and more everyday. Everything about this place is so fascinating; I find myself asking questions about everything that goes on around me and I have learned more here in one day than I have in my four years of high school. I am so intrigued by the war and the land; even the mystery that lies inside the deep green jungle. There is so much going on everyday that I don't even miss being away from home, in fact I feel like I am home. I love how simple things are here and I love the food, the people, the naked children that run around the villages with the thatched roofs. Mother I know you are probably reading this and thinking I have gone off the deep end but life is so much bigger than our small town in Cleveland Heights. This place makes me rethink my entire life. You know how I always wanted to have a house by lake erie with Mark and grow old with him there and have children? Well I am not so sure I want that anymore. I want adventure and I want to experience the world that we live in. You can only learn so much from books and our town but you can learn the world when you travel and experience it. Well I hope to receive a letter back from you, until then say hi to Dad to for me and don't stay up late thinking about me. I am perfectly fine and have never felt so close to myself in my entire life.
Love Always,
Your daughter Mary Anne.
" This cute blonde- just a kid, just barley out of high school-she shows up with a suitcase and one of those plastic cosmetic bags. Comes right out to the boonies. I swear to God, man, she's got on culottes. White culottes and this sexy pink sweater. There she is" (pg. 90).
The things Mary Anne carried with her in her Vietnam
- Tangible Items
Loss of Innocence
Mary Anne bell lost her innocence just like the soldiers did when they came to Vietnam. She was no longer the pretty blonde with wore makeup. She became one with Vietnam. She cut her hair and tied it into a bandana and became a part of the special forced team called the green berets.
"Mary Anne made you think about the girls back home, how clean and innocent they all are, how they'll never understand any of this, not in a million years. Mary anne....She was there. She was up to her eyeballs in it" (pg. 113).
2. Intangible Items
"Sometimes I want to eat this place. Vietnam. I want to swallow the whole country-the dirt, the death -I just want to eat it and have it there inside me. That's how I feel. It's like...this appetite" (pg.111).
Defining moments in Mary Anne's new life in Vietnam
When Mary Anne arrived she instantly felt something in her bones that she couldn't explain. As her time there went on she finally followed her passion and snuck out at night and became a part of the Green Berets .This moment was extremely defining for her because she showed her true self to everyone including her boyfriend Mark Fossie. He was so shocked to see his preppy girlfriend turn into a true soldier- covered in dirt and in her case she wore a necklace of tongues. She shaped into the person she was meant to be and if it wasn't for the Green Berets she may have never felt what it was like to feel the blood rush through her veins and how at night you become one with the shadows.
Vietnam; a war, a home, and a mystery
At first Vietnam was just a war to Mary Anne Bell. This is a picture of her and her boyfriend Mark Fossie before he left for War. As you can see Mary Anne is in her pink sweater.
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This is a picture of Mary Anne after she explored the mystery of Vietnam and made Vietnam her home. She loved everything and everything about this place.
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Important Vietnam artifacts
VIETNAMESE MORNING by CUrt Bennett ( Curt Bennett was an American pilot in the Vietnam War and wrote many poems.)
Before war starts
In early morning
The land is breath taking.
The low, blazing, ruby sun
Melts the night-shadow pools
Creating an ethereal appearance.
Each miniature house and tree
Sprouts its, long, thin shadow
Stretching long on dewy ground.
The countryside is panoramic maze,
Jungle, hamlets, hills and waterways,
Bomb-craters, paddies, broken-backed bridges.
Rice fields glow sky-sheens,
Flat, calm, mirrored lakes
Reflect the morning peace.
The patchwork quilted earth,
Slashed by snaking tree-lines,
Slumbers in dawn's blue light.
Sharp, rugged mountain peaks
Sleep in a soft rolling blanket
Of clinging, slippery, misty fog.
Effortlessly, languidly, it flows
Shyly spreading wispy tentacles out
To embrace the earth with velvet arms.
Before war starts
In early morning
The land is breath taking.
The low, blazing, ruby sun
Melts the night-shadow pools
Creating an ethereal appearance.
Each miniature house and tree
Sprouts its, long, thin shadow
Stretching long on dewy ground.
The countryside is panoramic maze,
Jungle, hamlets, hills and waterways,
Bomb-craters, paddies, broken-backed bridges.
Rice fields glow sky-sheens,
Flat, calm, mirrored lakes
Reflect the morning peace.
The patchwork quilted earth,
Slashed by snaking tree-lines,
Slumbers in dawn's blue light.
Sharp, rugged mountain peaks
Sleep in a soft rolling blanket
Of clinging, slippery, misty fog.
Effortlessly, languidly, it flows
Shyly spreading wispy tentacles out
To embrace the earth with velvet arms.