Dennis W. Moriarty

Dennis W. Moriarty is an honored veteran of the Vietnam War. He served with the United States Marine Corps from September of 1967 to June of 1969 as an infantryman. His highest rank was Sergeant, and he was awarded a Purple Heart Medal.

Moriarty was born in August 1948 in New York City. Shortly before he joined the Marines, he was a high school student. However, Moriarty decided to drop out and join the military. He was still able to earn his General Education Degree (GED) or high school diploma while in the service. Following his service in the Marines, Moriarty also earned his Associates of Arts from Brookdale Community College. 

He noted that he always had an interest in the military. In describing how he came to join the Marines, Moriarty noted, “I was always interested in the Marines, and when I was in the school’s library, I first saw ‘Leatherneck Magazine’. I used to read about the Marine Corps all the time and so it was something I always wanted to do, so I did it.” ‘Leatherneck Magazine’ is an official US Marine Corps publication. Leatherneck is a military slang term for a Marine member who wore a leather stock around their neck in earlier periods.

The only member of Moriarty’s family with military experience was his father, who was a World War II U.S. Army combat veteran. Moriarty was told stories from his father about military experiences in WWII Europe. Moriarty’s will to join the military seemed to be greatly inspired by his father’s patriotic personality.

Moriarty enlisted in the Marines in New York when was eighteen years old. His parents initially tried to convince him into joining a different branch, such as the Air Force or Navy. They also suggested that another option was to learn a trade. However, Moriarty was determined to become a Marine. He stated in an interview, “If I’m going to Vietnam, I want to be trained by the best.”

Moriarty went to boot camp from April to June of 1967, then to Vietnam in September of the same year. He attended boot camp at Parris Island in South Carolina. The camp is one of only two basic recruit training sites for Marine Corps in the United States, the other being in San Diego, California. When Moriarty was questioned about his experience of hardships and adjusting from civilian life to the military, he comically quipped, “No women, no beer, no food, no pizza.”

Following his training, Moriarty flew across the Pacific Ocean to Okinawa Japan, where Marines were staged, or readied. Once in Vietnam, he waited with other Marines until they were sent where their services were needed. According to Moriarty, soldiers were not issued any weapons until they were assigned somewhere. Once assigned, he was given an M16 assault rifle as his primary weapon.

 Marines were warned that the enemy Vietcong fighters were usually unable to be seen, since they fought in a guerilla ambush style. Moriarty noted that the Vietcong fighters were often in areas with high populations. Young Vietnamese men were also seen as suspicious targets and were taken from villages for interrogation by Marines. He felt that, aside from fellow Marines, it was difficult to trust people. His reasoning was that natives of Vietnam could potentially be Vietcong sympathizers, even those who did laundry and cut hair for the Marines. This caution stemmed from stories told about seemingly harmless Vietnamese people who secretly carried out dangerous deeds, such as setting traps. In short, the Marines were very cautious with who they trusted in Vietnam.

The Marines in Moriarty’s unit were also mostly prohibited from going to downtown areas of Da Nang, which is a major city in Vietnam. Instead, Marines were limited to staying in their patrol bases that were outside of the downtown area. On a typical day in Vietnam, Moriarty helped his patrol base search for Vietcong soldiers for several hours. Ambush missions were also carried out for many hours during the night. Other duties consisted of setting up sandbags and other obstacles against the Vietcong. The Marines did many of these tasks on foot. On one particular day patrol, Moriarty’s unit encountered three suspicious men with guns. The men grabbed for their weapons, but two were killed by the Marines before they could fire at them. One man had escaped. Moriarty had remembered this event as the first time he had seen an enemy or fired his weapon.

Every major branch of the U.S. military was stationed in Vietnam with the Marines, including the Army, Air Force, Coast Guard, and Navy. The Marines in Moriarty’s unit were usually well fed and had ample water in Vietnam. During major monsoons, supplies were sometimes difficult to get to the soldiers. Moriarty recounted a story when he and a fellow soldier caught chickens for local farmers who then cooked and supplied them to the Marines.