B-40 rocket: A shoulder-held rocket-propelled grenade launcher also called RPG
B-52: U.S. Air Force high-altitude bomber – dropped 500# bombs leaving hundreds of craters.
Bandolier: A cloth cummerbund filled with two-hundred rounds of .223 caliber ammunition for the M16. Soldiers usually refill their magazines with these rounds and then store the filled magazines in the five pouches of the bandolier; laces on both ends allow the rifleman to secure it almost anywhere.
Basecamp: A large, permanent base in the “rear area” that supports brigade or division size units, artillery batteries and airfields. It is here where all new recruit training and standown occur, and where headquarters, mail, supplies, aircraft and ammo are stored.
Basic: Basic training – first eight weeks of military training when one enters the service.
Battalion: A military unit composed of a headquarters and two or more companies, batteries, or similar units comprised of 400 + personnel.
Beehive round: An artillery shell, containing thousands of small flechettes (nails with fins) that exit the barrel when the weapon fires. This mimics a shotgun. A 40mm version is also available for M79’s.
Berm: Perimeter fortification comprised of bulldozed earth raised higher than the surrounding area - usually found surrounding smaller firebases.
Bird: Any aircraft, but usually refers to helicopters
Blasting cap: An electronic detonator similar in size to a short silver pencil - two-fifty foot long attached thin wires send an electrical charge to the cap – either by battery or manually via a detonation clacker. When exploding by itself, it sounds like a small firecracker.
Blood trail: A trail of blood left on the ground or vegetation by a wounded man, who is trying to get away. The amounts vary from periodic droplets to puddles.
Body bag: Thick, plastic, zippered bag used to transport dead bodies from the field.
Body count: The number of enemy killed, wounded, or captured during an operation. The term was used by Washington and Saigon as a means of measuring the progress of the war.
Boony hat: Soft cloth hat with a brim, similar to a fishing hat, worn by infantry soldiers in the boonies.
Boonies: Infantry term for the field; jungles or swampy areas far from the comforts of civilization.
Bouncing Betty: Antipersonnel mine with two charges: the first propels the explosive charge upward, and the other is set to explode at about waist level.
Breaking squelch: Disrupting the natural static of a radio by depressing the transmit bar on another radio set to the same frequency, also called keying the mike.
Bro / Brother: A black soldier; also, at times, referencing fellow soldiers from the same unit
Bronze Star: U.S. military decoration awarded for heroic or meritorious service in combat
BS: Bullshit, as in chewing the fat, telling tall tales, or telling lies
Bummer: Bad luck, a real drag
Bush: Infantry term for the field
C-4: Plastic, putty textured explosive carried by infantry soldiers to blow up bunkers and weapon caches. When not compressed, it burns like sterno and was sometimes used to heat C-rations in the field.
Cache: Hidden supplies
C&C: Command and control helicopter used by reconnaissance or unit commanders
Cav: Cavalry; the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile)
Charlie: Viet Cong; the enemy
Cherry: Slang term for youth and inexperience; a virgin
Chinook: Twin bladed CH-47 cargo helicopter used to transport troops and equipment
Chop chop: Vietnamese slang for food
Chopper: Any helicopter
Chuck: Term used by black soldiers to identify white individuals; often derogatory
CIB: Combat infantry badge. An Army award received after coming under enemy fire in a combat zone.
Clacker: A small hand-held firing device for a claymore mine
Claymore: An antipersonnel mine carried by the infantry which, when detonated, propels small 25mm steel balls in a 60-degree fan-shaped pattern to a maximum distance of 100 meters.
Clearance: Permission from both military and political authorities to engage the enemy in a particular area – usually near populated areas.
Cobra: Narrow, two-man AH-1G attack helicopter / gunship, armed with rockets and machine guns.
Commo: Short for "communications"
Commo bunker: Bunker containing vital communications equipment normally within a battalion-sized firebase, where communications is maintained with all the battalion elements outside of the camp. Usually houses the Colonel and Executive Officer.
Commo wire: Communications wire similar to phone wire
Company: Military unit usually consisting of a headquarters and two or more platoons usually comprised of 150 + personnel.
Compound: Any fortified military installation
Concertina wire: Coiled barbed wire used as an obstacle and normally surrounding compounds
Contact: Engaged with the enemy in a firefight
C-rations: Combat rations. Canned meals for use in the field; each consisting of a basic course, a can of fruit, a packet of some type of dessert, a packet of powdered coca, a four-pack of cigarettes, and two pieces of chewing gum.
CS: Riot-control gas which burns the eyes and mucus membranes
Dai uy: Vietnamese for captain
Dap: Handshake and greeting which may last up to ten minutes and is characterized by the use of both hands and often comprised of slaps and snaps of the fingers. Used by black soldiers, highly ritualized and unit specific.
Det-cord: White, rope like cord used with explosives or as a stand along
Deuce-and-a-half: Two-and-a-half ton truck – ten wheeler with cab and large bed used for transporting equipment and personnel; usually covered with a canvas roof.
DMZ: Demilitarized zone. The dividing line between North and South Vietnam established in 1954 at the Geneva Convention.
Doc: Any medic or corpsman
Dust-off: Medical evacuation by helicopter
Elephant grass: Tall, razor-edged tropical plant that grows in dense clumps up to ten feet high. The grass is the favorite meal for elephants and also for feeding livestock and wildlife.
Eleven Bravo: The military occupation specialty description for an infantryman
E-tool: Entrenching tool. Folding shovel carried by infantrymen.
Evac'd: Evacuated
F-4: Phantom jet fighter-bombers. Range: 1,000 miles. Speed: 1400 mph. Payload: 16,000 lbs. The workhorse of the tactical air support fleet.
Fast mover: An F-4 jet
Fatigues: Standard combat uniform, green in color
FSB: Fire support base
Firebase: Temporary artillery encampment used for fire support of forward ground operations
Firefight: A battle or exchange of fire with the enemy
Flak jacket: Heavy fiberglass-filled vest worn for protection against shrapnel
Flare: Illumination projectile; hand-fired or shot from artillery, mortars, or dropped by aircraft. They float on parachutes and depending upon size, could last several minutes.
Flechette: A small dart-shaped projectile clustered in an explosive warhead. A mine without great explosive power containing small pieces of shrapnel intended to wound and kill.
FNG: Acronym for fucking new guy or cherry
Frag: Fragmentation grenade
Fragging: The assassination of an officer by his own troops, usually by a grenade
Freak: Radio frequency, also, a junkie or doper.
Freedom Bird: The plane taking soldiers from Vietnam back to the World after their tours end
Free fire zone: Designated zone where soldiers are free to fire upon suspected targets without having to await permission - area where everyone was deemed hostile and can be fired upon.
Friendly fire: Accidental attacks on U.S. or allied soldiers by other U.S. or allied soldiers
Fucked up: Wounded or killed, also, stoned, drunk, foolis
h or doing something stupid.
GI: Government issue. Usually refers to an American soldier or supplies owned by the military.
Gook: Derogatory term for an Asian, most often-used name for enemy soldiers
Grunt: Infantryman in Vietnam
Gung ho: Enthusiastic and ready to go
Gunship: Armed helicopter with rocket pods and side mounted mini-guns.
H&I : Harassment and Intimidation - random artillery fire into suspected hostile areas to keep the enemy off balance.
Hard-stripe sergeant: Rank indicated by three chevron insignia, equivalent to an E5 – lowest grade of a non-commissioned officer.
Heart: Purple Heart award for a wound; the wound itself
Heat tabs: Flammable tablet used to heat C-rations that were always in short supply. These tabs were not a hot as C4 and took longer to cook a meal that wasn’t as hot.
Ho Chi Minh sandals: Sandals made from tires. The soles are made from the tread and the straps from inner tubes. All VC and many local villagers wore these.
Hooch / Hootch: A hut or simple dwelling, either military or civilian where people can sleep.
Hoochgirl: Vietnamese woman employed by American military as maid or laundress
Horn: Radio microphone
Hot LZ: Landing zone under enemy fire
HQ: Headquarters
Huey: Nickname for the UH-1 series helicopters
Hump: March or hike carrying a rucksack and full supplies
Illum: Illumination flare, usually fired by a mortar or artillery weapon
Immersion foot: Condition resulting from feet being submerged in water for a prolonged period of time, causing cracking and bleeding. Also called jungle rot or trench foot.
In-country: Within the country of Vietnam
Iron Triangle: Viet Cong dominated area between the Thi-Tinh and Saigon rivers, next to Cu Chi district; an area laced with enemy supply trails, which transport goods into South Vietnam from the Ho Chi Minh trail in Cambodia.
Jungle boots: Footwear that looks like a combination of combat boot and canvas sneaker used by the U.S. military in a tropical climate, where leather rots because of the dampness. The canvas structure also speeds drying after crossing streams, rice paddies, etc.
Jungle penetrator: Winch and cable device used by Medevac helicopters to extract wounded soldiers from dense jungle locations where an LZ is not available. They are usually used in conjunction with either a seat or a flat platform where the patient is tied in and pulled up through the thick, overhead canopy and into the helicopter.
Jungle rot: Skin disease common in tropical climates. Symptoms are similar to trench foot and immersion foot where the skin cracks, itches, and blisters may form, followed by skin and tissue dying and falling off. This was difficult to treat because of the harsh tropical environment.
KIA: Killed in action
Kill zone: The radius of a circle around an explosive device within which it is predicted that 95 percent of all occupants will be killed should the device explode
Kit Carson scout: Former Viet Cong who act as guides for U.S. military units
Klick: Kilometer – one-thousand meters or six-tenths of a mile
KP: Kitchen police; mess hall duty
LAW: Shoulder-fired, 66-millimeter rocket, similar in effect to a 3.5-inch rocket, except that the launcher is made of Fiberglass, and is disposable after one shot
LBJ: Long Binh Jail, a military stockade on the Long Binh post
Lifer: Career military man. The term is often used in a derogatory manner.
Litters: Stretchers to carry dead and wounded
Loach: Small two passenger LOH helicopter used by military as decoys to lure the enemy into firing upon this small craft. Usually, they are part of a hunter-killer team, and after identifying the enemy, gunships attack the suspect area
LP: Listening post. A two or three-man position set up at night outside the perimeter away from the main body of troopers, which acts as an early warning system against attack.
LRRP: Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol. An elite team usually composed of five to seven men who go deep into the jungle to observe enemy activity without initiating contact.
L-T: Acronym for lieutenant and used primarily in the field
LZ: Landing zone. A clearing designated for the landing of helicopters. Used for combat assaults, resupply and medical evacuation.
M-16: Standard U.S. military rifle used in Vietnam from 1966 onward
M-60: Standard lightweight machine gun used by U.S. forces in Vietnam. It weighs twenty-three pounds and fires 7.62mm ammunitions – same as an AK-47.
M-79: U.S. military hand-held 40mm grenade launcher sometimes called a blooper
MA: Mechanical ambush - an American set booby trap using claymore mines.
Mad minute: An all-out weapons free-fire, used for testing weapons or firing into suspected enemy locations prior to an element sweeping through the area.
MARS: Military Affiliate Radio Station. Used by soldiers to call home via Signal Corps and ham radio equipment.
Marker round: First round fired by mortars or artillery, used for confirming a location on a map or an adjustment point when firing upon the enemy.
Mechanized platoon: A platoon operating with tanks and/or armored personnel carriers
Medevac: Medical evacuation from the field by helicopter
MIA: Missing in action
Minigun: Electronically controlled, extremely rapidly firing machine gun. Most often mounted on aircraft to be used against targets on the ground – similar to a Gatling gun.
Mortar: A muzzle-loading cannon with a short tube in relation to its caliber that throws projectiles with low muzzle velocity at high angles.
MOS: Military occupational specialty
MP: Military police
MPC: Military payment currency. The scrip U.S. soldiers were paid in.
Nam: Vietnam
Napalm: A jellied petroleum substance which burns fiercely, and is used as a weapon against personnel. The burst is so hot that the oxygen is literally removed from the air and some enemy soldiers had died from suffocation instead of the flames.
NCO: Noncommissioned officer, usually a squad leader or platoon sergeant.
NDP: Night defensive position where platoon-sized or larger units set-up sleeping and defensive positions in a circle. Claymore mines and trip flares are used outside of the perimeter and a guard position routinely positioned in the center where individuals rotate on hourly watches.
Net: Radio frequency setting, from "network."
No sweat: Slang for easy or simple
NVA: North Vietnamese Army – these soldiers complete formal training just like the Americans
Observation post: Similar to a listening post but implemented during the day
Papa san: Used by U.S. servicemen for any older Vietnamese man
Perimeter: Outer boundaries of a military position. The area beyond the perimeter belongs to the enemy.
PFC: Private first class – enlisted rank achieved usually after completing AIT
Platoon: A subdivision of a company-sized military unit, normally consisting of two or more squads or sections containing 40 + personnel
Point: The forward man or element on a combat patrol
Poncho: The five-foot square, plastic coated nylon poncho had a permanently attached hood in the center, and snap fasteners down both sides. Used as a rain cape, blanket, sleeping bag cover, ground cover for sleeping, tent half and litter to carry wounded soldiers.
Poncho liner: Thin, lightweight, nylon comforter used as a blanket or insert for a poncho.
Pop smoke: Request to ignite a smoke grenade to signal an aircraft.
PRC-25: Portable Radio Communications, Model 25. A back-packed FM receiver-transmitter used for short-distance communications. The range of the radio was 5-10 kilometers.
Prick 25: Slang for the PRC-25 radio
R&R: Short for rest and recreation, this is usually a three to seven-day vacation
from the war for a soldier.
Red alert: The most urgent form of warning, this signals an imminent enemy attack.
REMF: Acronym for rear area support soldiers; infantry soldiers refer to them as (rear-echelon motherfuckers)
RIF: Reconnaissance in force.
Rome plow: Mammoth bulldozer used to flatten dense jungle and create berms on perimeters
ROTC: Reserve Officer's Training Corps. Program offered in many high schools and colleges, geared to prepare students to become military officers.
RPG: Rocket-propelled grenade, a Russian-made portable antitank grenade launcher.
RTO: Radio telephone operator, carries his unit's radio on his back in the field.
Ruck/rucksack: Backpack issued to infantry in Vietnam to carry rations and other supplies
Saddle up: Command given to put on one's pack and get ready to march
Sapper: A Viet Cong or NVA commando armed with explosives, his goal is to infiltrate defensive perimeters prior to a planned ground attack, opening lanes of attack for the enemy.
Satchel charges: Pack used by the enemy containing fused explosives that is dropped or thrown; they are powerful and can destroy bunkers and other equipment.
Search and destroy: An operation in which Americans searched an area and destroyed anything which the enemy might find useful
Shit burning: The burning of waste at remote firebase locations using kerosene and diesel fuel, this duty, considered the worst overall, was dreaded and looked upon as punishment.
Short: A term used by soldiers in Vietnam to signify that his tour was almost over
Short-timer: Soldier nearing the end of his tour in Vietnam
Shrapnel: Pieces of metal sent flying by an explosion, i.e. bomb, grenade, mortar, artillery.
Sit-rep: Short for a situation report, command personnel routinely contacted units in the field hourly for these updates
Cherries - A Vietnam War Novel - Revised Edition Page 47