Agent Orange — a herbicide and defoliant sprayed by the U.S. military to
clear large sections of vegetation and jungle to expose the enemy and make it difficult for the Viet Cong to hide or move around. It contaminated the water, soil, plants and trees throughout Vietnam and persisted long after
the U.S. military left the country. It is linked to many cancers and other diseases, such as diabetes, and skin and gastrointestinal disorders suffered by the Vietnamese and U.S. soldiers who were exposed to it.
ARVN soldier — A South Vietnamese soldier.
AK-47 — an automatic Russian assault rifle.
Angel’s Wing — a section of Vietnam near the Cambodian Border, so
called because of its shape on a military map.
APC — U.S. armored personnel carrier.
B-52’s — a U.S. bomber capable of dropping large, highly destructive bombs.
Berm — The dirt mound that surrounds a rice paddy; a dirt mound constructed around the perimeter of a fire base or base camp.
Bien Hoa — a large U.S. Air Force base near Saigon.
bomb water — brackish pools of water found in bomb craters; water in empty overhead 250-pound bomb shells equipped with a pipe, valve and pull chain for use by GI’s in bathing.
Cau Dai — a Vietnamese religious sect whose patron saints are Buddha, Jesus and Victor Hugo. Their temple outside Tay Ninh is famous for its gold furnishings and a large sphere with the painting of an eye that symbolizes the Divine Eye overseeing the universe.
Chieu Hoi — translates to “open arms.” The U.S. Army instituted the Chieu
Hoi program to induce Viet Cong to surrender. They were given amnesty in
exchange for information or duty as scouts and informers. Many had been fighting in the jungle, living in tunnels and caves, since they were small
children. Many of them were executed by the victorious North Vietnamese
during the American withdrawal in 1975.
Chinook — a large transport helicopter with two sets of propellers used for transporting troops and supplies.
Claymore Mine — a small antipersonnel mine hand detonated by a hand trigger device; sometimes placed inside an empty ammo can with nuts, bolts, nails and birdshot for maximum effect.
Cu Chi — main base camp of the U.S. 25th Infantry Division located not far from Saigon
Dominoes — a reference to the Domino Theory, one of the primary reasons
espoused by John Foster Dulles, Secretary of State under President Eisenhower, and others Cold War ideologues for engaging in the Vietnam conflict. The theory held that if Vietnam fell to the socialist army of Ho Chi
Minh the entire region would fall under Communist rule and Russian influence like a toppling series of standing dominoes lined up in a row.
Dau Tieng — a town in South Vietnam near the Michelin rubber plantation,
a Viet Cong stronghold and the site of a large U.S. fire base. A unit dubbed
“The Rubber Squad,” was purportedly assigned the mission of counting and
cataloguing the rubber trees in the plantation that were damaged or destroyed so that the U.S. government could reimburse the Michelin
Rubber Company for its losses. The Rubber Squad “turned over” or
had to be replaced often because of the high number of casualties they sustained. The mission of the Viet Cong hiding underground with a small space to allow room for the barrels of their weapons was not to kill the members of the squad, but to shoot off the bottoms of their legs or otherwise cripple them so that Americans at home would see them hobbling about on crutches and theoretically intensify their protests of the war.
Gold — For many of the Vietnamese, gold — whether as teeth or fillings in their teeth, or in the jewelry that they wore or hid in makeshift cellars in the floors of their hooches — served as their savings accounts.
Hooch — a rural Vietnamese hut usually made of mud, bamboo or wooden
posts and boards with a thatched or tin roof. The term was used by G.I.s for any small building or house where people lived.
LZ — landing zone.
McNamera — Robert McNamara, former president of Ford Motor Company and U.S. Secretary of State under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson. He
resigned when Johnson refused to follow his advice to negotiate an end to the war which McNamara thought was a lost cause.
Mekong — a long, wide, muddy river that runs from headwaters in Tibet through South Vietnam into the South China sea. It was a busy route of
commerce throughout the region and the scene of many battles with the
Viet Cong. The area in the southern most section of South Vietnam was known as the Mekong Delta. The river and the delta were often simply referred to as the Mekong.
Napalm — a jellied gasoline mixture exploded on South Vietnamese military and civilian targets to cause horrifying burns and suffocation. Napalm sticks
to the skin and flammable materials so that its effects are continuous and
difficult to remove.
Nui Ba Din — The area in Tay Ninh Province was flat, in many ways resembling the American plains. Nui Ba Din was a lone mountain in the middle of the plain of very rough terrain where Buddhist monks were buried and Cambodian tigers often spotted leaping from the flat ledges of the mountain side. The U.S. Army maintained a large radar facility at the top of the mountain which was overrun on a regular basis. Duty at Nui Ba Din was considered highly hazardous. The Viet Cong often broadcast ghostly sounds and propaganda at night towards the camp. When seen at certain times of day, the mountain took on a dark cast for which it earned the name, “Black Virgin Mountain.” Today the mountain top is a theme park and the site of several Buddhist shrines that can be reached only by a ski lift.
RPG — rocket-propelled grenade.
Sapper — a Viet Cong or North Vietnamese commando. Sappers often slipped into U.S. or ARVN military fire bases or base camps with satchel charges made of plastic explosives.
Tay Ninh — a province of South Vietnam located in the northwestern corner of III Corp along the Cambodian Border. The U.S. Army maintained a large base near Tay Ninh City under the command of the 25th Infantry Division that looked out from one side onto Nui Ba Din.
Tet — an annual celebration of Buddha’s birthday at the end of January coinciding with the start of the lunar new year. First Tet is the name given to Tet, 1968, in which the Viet Cong staged a large countrywide uprising that included an invasion of Saigon and dispelled the U.S. military’s contention that the Viet Cong had been defeated. The following year the
Viet Cong engaged in a smaller, less notorious attack known to G.I.’s as Second Tet.
Ton Son Nhut — a South Vietnamese air base used regularly by the U.S. military. For many U.S. troops it was the first location in country where
their feet hit the ground when they stepped off the transport plane from
the U.S.
Tunnel — Over the years beginning with their insurrections against the French colonialist regimes, the Viet Minh and Viet Cong painstakingly
constructed intricate underground complexes that they used for a variety
of purposes, including hideaways, ambushes, storage of weapons and ammunition, food, water and other supplies, field hospitals and resting
places. During First Tet sappers emerged from tunnels into the heart of
Cu Chi Base Camp. It is said that the Viet Cong dug the complexes one cupful at a time, handing cups or other small containers filled with dirt and rock down the line until it reached the Viet Cong at the entrance of the tunnel where their contents were dispersed under cover of darkness.
Tracer — a round of ammunition lit by phosphorous used to track the direction of a bullet. Outgoing tracers looked red; incoming tracers looked
blue, at least from where the author of this book was located.
Victor Charlie — a male or female Viet Cong soldier or combatant.
Wire — the perimeter or berm of a fire base or base camp constructed with barbed wire or rolls of barbed wire.