Fact #157833

Staff Sergeant Matthew McKeon, an instructor at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, South Carolina, USA, marches his platoon into Ribbon Creek, a swampy tidal creek. This action results in the deaths of six US Marine Corps recruits. McKeon will be found guilty of acting while under the influence of alcohol. The action will become known as The Ribbon Creek Incident, and will inspire Pete Seeger to write the song Waist Deep In The Big Muddy in 1967. It will come to be seen as a thinly veiled criticism of American actions during the Vietnam War, and will face censorship as a result.