Mary Anne Bell, a sweet and innocent girl of only 17 years of age, experienced a trip that would change her life forever. When she arrived to Vietnam with her boyfriend Mark Fossie, she was a cute flirtatious girl who was deeply in love with him. They would talk about how they would marry, own a house together, have kids, the typical American dream. Everything seemed fine until one day, Mary Anne, became curious about what was beyond that campground. She insisted that Fossie should take her down to the village to get to know and see how the Vietnamese lived. After she visited the village, Mary Anne wants to learn the language and get more knowledge from the land. She asks questions about the weapons and procedures that go around the campground and begins learning and adapting to the manly environment. Mary Anne learns about how to use weapons and how to apply morphine. She also learned and enjoyed cleaning wounds; she was quite comfortable with the blood. Something was strange about her and she started changing. She cut her hair and didn’t care for her appearance. Mary Anne started to rethink her future with Fossie; she did not want the same things as she did before. She stopped being that girly girl that had once arrived to Vietnam. The Vietnam land had awakened something in her. She started to become quiet and isolated, like a totally different person but on the contrary she had never been so alive. She would go with the greenies on missions and get lost for days. Mary Anne craved for more thrill. She soon became an insensitive killer who wore a tongue necklace as jewelry. She embraced the land of Vietnam so much she just wanted to consume it, be one with the land. Until one day she left and never came back.
Women at the time of the Vietnam War were tied down like somebody’s property and were only seen as the typical house wife. Vietnam gave Mary Anne the chance to be free and independent to do whatever she desired. Not only