Scope and Contents

Less than one linear foot of correspondence and postcards detail Dan Siewart's service with Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 1st Regiment, 1st Marine Division during the Vietnam Conflict, 1967. The bulk of the correspondence is between Dan Siewart and his family and dates from 23 May 1966 through 02 November 1967. It includes Siewart's description of his training, military duties, recreational activities and his involvement in various combat situations near Da Nang and Con Thien. The letters also recount his recovery at a naval hospital in Guam after he was wounded in battle and correspondence between Siewart's parents and Representative George Mahon detailing the Siewart's request that Dan not be sent to Vietnam.

Biographical / Historical

Dan Siewert (Slaton, Texas and a Texas Tech graduate student) served in the U.S. Navy in Vietnam from May 1967 to mid-December 1967. As a hospital corpsman attached to Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 1st Regiment, 1st Marine Division, Siewert participated in extensive combat operations around Da Nang, Quang Tri and Con Thien. In action near Con Thien in December 1967, Siewert was wounded in the groin and hip. He was evacuated to the naval hospital on Guam. After effecting a satisfactory recovery he was released from the hospital and returned to civilian life in mid-1968.