presents

by Shirley Lauro
suggested by the book by Keith Walker

GLOSSARY
compiled by Kelli Lynn Harrison
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ARVN (Ar-vin) Army of the Republic of Vietnam (Army of South Vietnam)

BOUNCING BETTY a land mine that shoots an explosive charge up to waist level before detonation.

C-130 a large propeller-driven Air Force plane that carried people and cargo.

CHARLIE the enemy.

CHINOOK Army’s largest supply and transport helicopter

CLAYMORE MINE an antipersonnel land mine designed to produce a directionalized, fan-shaped pattern of fragments similar to the effect of an oversized shotgun.

C.O. commanding officer.

DEROS date a person’s tour in Vietnam was estimated to end (Date, Established Return (from) Overseas Service) the acronym was used by personnel as both noun and verb.

DOG SCOUT UNITS over 9,000 handlers (Army, Air Force, & Marine combined) and 4,000 dogs (Scout, Combat Tracker, Sentry, Mine & Tunnel) served in Vietnam from 1965-1969.

DONUT DOLLY female American Red Cross Volunteer assigned to help the morale of the troops.

FREEDOM BIRD the plane that took soldiers from Vietnam back to the U.S.  Also called a "fini flight."

G.I. government issue; an Army enlisted man.

GOOKS a derogatory slang expression coined by Korean War Vets referring to those of Asian descent.

GRUNT a popular nickname for an infantryman in Vietnam; derived from the sound one made from lifting up his rucksack.

HOOCH living quarters or a native hut.

J2 Joint Forces Military Intelligence Director

LIFER career soldier.

M-16 the standard American rifle used in Vietnam, nicknamed the widow-maker.

MACV (Mac-vee) Military Assistance Command, Vietnam

MEDEVAC a medical evacuation, also called "evac" and "dustoff," almost always associated with evacuation by helicopter during or after a battle.  97% of those wounded in Vietnam were evacked from the battlefield alive, and no battlefield was more than an hour’s flight from a hospital.  The term “Dustoff” came into use after the death of Lieutenant Paul B. Kelley while on a medevac mission in 1964 (Dustoff was his radio call sign).

M.O.S. military occupational specialty

NAPALM an anti-personnel weapon which ignited petroleum and shot the flaming streams.

POW prisoner of war

PTSD posttraumatic stress disorder; known in earlier carnations as shell-shock, battle fatigue and delayed stress disorder.

PUNGI STICKS long sharp sticks designed to pierce through a body with the weight of the soldier’s fall into a booby trapped hole in the ground.

ROUND EYE slang term used by American soldiers to describe another American or an individual of European descent

R & R rest-and-recreation vacation taken during a one-year duty tour in Vietnam. Out-of-country R & R was at Bangkok, Hawaii, Tokyo, Australia, Hong Kong, Manila, Penang, Taipei, Kuala Lampur or Singapore. In-country R & R locations were at Vung Tau, Cam Rahn Bay or China Beach.

SAPPERS North Vietnamese Army or Vietcong demolition commandos

SCRUB NURSE one who hands the surgeon his instruments during an operation.

SHORT-TIMER individual with little time remaining in Vietnam. An expression which indicated you were close to your Fini Flight and the Freedom Bird. In your last couple of weeks, you were so “short” you were invisible.

SHRAPNEL metal fragments from an explosive device

SLOPE a derogatory term used to refer to any Asian

STAND-DOWN period of rest and refitting in which all operational activity, except for security, is stopped.

TET Vietnamese Lunar New Year holiday period

TRACERS color left by the ammunition fired from enemy AAA or AK-47s whereby you could track/trace its path.

TRACHEOTOMY opening a patient’s windpipe to facilitate breathing when the airway is obstructed or collapsed.

TRIAGE the procedure, or staging area, for deciding the order in which to treat casualties

TOC Tactical Operations Center

V.A. Veteran’s Administration

V.C. Viet Cong; used to refer to guerillas in South Vietnam, as opposed the formal uniforned North Vietnamese Army (NVA).

VVA Vietnam Veterans of America; not affiliated with the Veteran’s Administration

WALTER WONDERFUL Walter Reed Army Hospital

THE WORLD back home in the U.S.

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