These are all of my annotations on the excerpt of My Name Is America: The

Journal Of Patrick Seamus Flaherty, United States Marine Corps, by Ellen

Emerson White.

On “December 25, 1967

Golf Company, 3rd Battalion,
26th Marines Khe Sanh Combat Base,
Republic of South Vietnam”

Lakshita Paidipati

1:38 PM Sep 30

I could include an opening like that instead of something like "Dear Diary."

On “Took me about ten seconds. ”

Lakshita Paidipati

1:31 PM Sep 30

Ooh, I like that. Maybe I'll make the soldier in my story a bit uncertain and scared in the beginning. It ought to
make him interesting.

On “ I’m a Marine. Semper fi, man. We love this stuff. War for breakfast, lunch, and dinner -- and
a little more thrown in for a midnight snack. ”

Lakshita Paidipati

1:31 PM Sep 30

I also like that. Scared, but playing it tough.

On “Lucky I’m so completely cool, or I might feel kind of sorry for myself. ”
Lakshita Paidipati

6:47 AM Oct 1

I'll use an informal tone. It makes it feel more realistic than if I use formal language because it can emphasize
better the nervous anxiety of a rookie but the willingness to tough it up anyways.

On “ The Sunday before I shipped (okay, okay, I flew),”

Lakshita Paidipati

6:46 AM Oct 1

So the Vietnam Vets got to vietnam through plane. I thought they went by boat.

On “He was in the Army in World War II, and fought from Italy, to France, and all the way to
Germany. ”

​
Lakshita Paidipati

6:33 AM Oct 1

Maybe I can add a diary entry of a supporter of the war, and make it a WWII veteran. WWII and Vietnam
veterans were treated very differently after their respective wars.

Lakshita Paidipati

6:33 AM Oct 1

I could make the father of my soldier a WWII vet as well! That could influence his decision to join the army.

On “The book had these sections called “My Buddies” and “Officers I Have Met” and “Places I
Have Been.””
Lakshita Paidipati

6:33 AM Oct 1

I could make the father of my soldier a WWII vet as well! That could influence his decision to join the army.

On “ obscene”

Lakshita Paidipati

1:33 PM Sep 30

This word means, according to the dictionary:

(of the portrayal or description of sexual matters) offensive or disgusting by accepted standards of morality
and decency.

I just decided to include that because I had no idea what that word meant.

On “Molly’s my little sister, and she’s a reading nut. Never goes anywhere without a book.”

Lakshita Paidipati

1:38 PM Sep 30

She sounds a lot like me. I guess I'm a bit of a reading nut as well.

On “ Smart as hell, that kid.”

Lakshita Paidipati

1:40 PM Sep 30
"Hell" is supposed to be a cuss word isn't it? Yet, that's exactly what I picture a soldier would say. I'll have to
figure out if this is appropriate to use in my entries.

On “Then, if I get bored, I think of stuff to bug my older sister, Brenda, too. Makes life pretty
entertaining.”

Lakshita Paidipati

1:42 PM Sep 30

That adds a bit of a human side to these characters. Instead of just being that tough warrior soldier, I can have
my soldier in the diary entries do something a normal person would do as well. Like bug their sister. It would
make him seem more relatable.

On “And I’m the dumb, gung-ho idiot who blew of three football scholarships, went down to the
recruiting station, and volunteered.”

Lakshita Paidipati

1:35 PM Sep 30

Volunteered? But what about the draft lottery and stuff like that?

On “The Patriots got totally wiped out.”

Lakshita Paidipati

1:37 PM Sep 30

That is an interesting allusion. That could allude to the Vietnam War being the US's first major defeat.

These next annotations are from Inside Out And Back Again, by Thanna Lai
On “I was as red and fat
 as a baby hippopotamus”

Lakshita Paidipati

7:40 AM Oct 1

I googled an image of a baby hippo and they do not look like that!

On “when he first saw me,

inspiring the name
Há Mã,
River Horse.”

Lakshita Paidipati

7:45 AM Oct 1

So I will have to use formal language for refugee entries. We have a completely different language in
English and most of the time we use it informally, so this will be different.

On “We each have but one pair,

much needed
during this dry season
when the earth stings.”

Lakshita Paidipati

7:45 AM Oct 1

So I will have to use formal language for refugee entries. We have a completely different language in
English and most of the time we use it informally, so this will be different.

On “after Golden (Kim) River (Há),

 where Father and I”

Lakshita Paidipati

7:43 AM Oct 1

I'll have to include some Vietnamese language words and names in my diary entries to make it seem
Vietnamese.

On “My parents had no idea

What three older brothers
can do
to the simple name
Há.”

Lakshita Paidipati

7:48 AM Oct 1

I think I'll do it in the perspective of a child, that way I can explain more vividly and imaginatively than
an adult can. A child typically has more naivety than an adult does.

On “Mother tells me,

They tease you
because they adore you.”

Lakshita Paidipati

7:47 AM Oct 1

That is pretty relatable. I'll have to include something that makes my refugee a little more relatable
despite the circumstances.

On “My papaya tree.

 I will offer her
Its first fruit.”

Lakshita Paidipati

7:47 AM Oct 1

SPOILERS: Reader discretion is advised.

Later in the book, she leaves behind her papaya tree, so I'll have to have my refugee leave behind
something precious to him/her as well.