Vietnam War~era Terminology, letters A-L
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Page 1 ~ Vietnam War~era Terminology (A-L)
4-F: classification given to those deemed unfit for military service
50 (or 50-cal): .50 caliber machine gun
51-cal: heavy machine gun used by the enemy
60 mm: 60 mm light mortar used by U.S. Marines
79: the M-79 40 mm grenade launcher
81 mm: 81 mm mortar
82 mm: a mortar used by the enemy
105: 105-mm howitzer
155: 155-mm howitzer
175: 175-mm howitzer
201 file: a U.S. Army personnel file
ALPHA
AAR: after-action report
AC: aircraft commander
acting Jack (or AJ): a person of lower rank temporarily holding the position of sergeant or above and authorized on special orders to wear the rank insignia.
actual: the unit commander. Used to distinguish the commander from the radioman when the call sign is used.
ADSID: air-delivered seismic intruder-detection device; microphone and transmitter dropped into suspect areas
Advance Guard Youth: Vietnamese student social and sports organization that evolved into a non-Communist nationalist movement by 1945.
Advanced Individual Training: specialized training taken after Basic Training, also referred to as Advanced Infantry Training
AFVN: Armed Forced Vietnam Network radio station
Agency: the Central Intelligence Agency
AGL: above level ground
A-gunner: assistant gunner
AHB: assault helicopter battalion
AID: Agency for International Development
Airborne: refers to soldiers who are qualified as parachutists
air cav: air cavalry; helicopter-borne infantry; helicopter gunship assault teams
Airmobile: helicopter-borne infantry
AIT: advanced infantry training
AK-47: Soviet-manufactured Kalashnikov semi-automatic and fully automatic combat assault rifle, 7.62-mm; the basic weapon of the Communist forces. Known as the Type 56 to the Chinese, it is characterized by an explosive popping sound.
AK-50: newer version of the AK-47. Some have a permanently mounted "illegal" triangular bayonet,
which leaves a sucking wound that will not close.
ALPHA: military phonetic for the letter 'A'
ammo dump: location where live or expended ammunition is stored
amtrack: U.S. Marine amphibious armored vehicle used to transport troops and supplies, armed with a .30-caliber machine gun
angel track: an armored personnel carrier used as an aid station
AO: area of operations
AOD: administrative officer on duty
ao-dai: traditional dress of Vietnamese women. A brightly colored silk top worn over loose fitting silk trousers.
APC: M113-series armored personnel carrier. A tracked vehicle used to transport Army troops or supplies, usually armed with a .50-caliber machine gun.
ACAV: armored cavalry assault vehicle. An APC (M113A1) modified for use as a fighting vehicle with turret armor for the track commander, gun shield for the .50-caliber machine gun and two side mounted gun shields and mounts for M60 machines.
APL: barracks ship
APO: Army post office located in San Francisco for overseas mail to Vietnam.
AR: Army regulation
ARA: aerial rocket artillery. A Cobra AG-1H helicopter with four XM-159C 19-rocket (2.75 inch) pods.
arc light: code name for B-52 bombers strikes along the Cambodian-Vietnamese border. These operations shook earth for ten miles away from the target area.
Article 15: section of the Uniform Military Code of Justice. A form of non-judicial punishment.
arty: shorthand term for artillery
Arvin: soldier in the ARVN, or the ARVN itself
ARVN: Army of the Republic of Vietnam; the South Vietnamese Regular Army
A-team: basic ten man team of the U.S. Special Forces. The A-teams often led irregular military units which were not responsible to the Vietnamese military command.
AWOL: absent without leave; leaving a post or position without official permission
azimuth: a bearing from North
BRAVO
B-40 rocket: a shoulder-held rocket-propelled grenade launcher
B-52: U.S. Air Force high-altitude bomber; also, slang for a can opener
ba: married woman; used as a title, like "Mrs."
bac bac: bastardized Vietnamese for "to shoot"
bac-si: doctor; also used to refer to medic in the U.S. Army
ballgame: an operation or a contact
Ba Mu'o'i Ba: brand name of a Vietnamese beer
band-aid: medic
bandoliers: belts of machine gun ammunition
BAR: Browning automatic rifle. A .30-caliber magazine-fed automatic rifle used by U.S. troops during World War II and Korea.
base camp: a resupply base for field units and a location for headquarters of brigade or division size units, artillery batteries and air fields. Also known as the rear area.
Basic: basic training
bac si de: home-brewed rice whiskey
basketball: an illumination-dropping aircraft mission, capable of lighting approximately a square mile of terrain
battalion: a military unit composed of a headquarters and two or more companies, batteries, or similar units
battery: an artillery unit equivalent to a company. Six 105mm or 155mm howitzers or two 8-inch or 175mm self-propelled howitzers.
battle-sight zeroing: process of adjusting a weapon's sights and windage to an individual soldier so the weapon, when fired, will hit the object of aim.
BCD: bad conduct discharge
BDA: bomb damage assessment
beans and dicks: military C-ration hot dogs and beans
beans and motherfuckers: military C-ration lima beans and ham
beaten zone: area where the majority of bullets will strike when a machine gun is laid-in to cover a part of a defensive perimeter or part of an ambush zone.
beehive round: an explosive artillery shell which delivered thousands of small projectiles, "like nails with fins," instead of shrapnel.
berm: perimeter line of a fortification; usually raised above surrounding area
Big Boys: artillery; slang for tanks
Big Red One: nickname for the 1st Infantry Division
Binh Xuyen: the organized crime syndicate that controlled much of the Vietnamese underworld and Saigon police until deposed by Diem's forces in 1955.
bird: any aircraft, but usually refers to helicopters
bird dog: forward air controller, usually in a small, maneuverable single-engined prop airplane
BK amputee: below-the-knee amputation of the leg
blood trail: a trail of blood on the ground left by a fleeing man who has been wounded
blooper: the M-79 grenade launcher. A 40-millimeter, shotgunlike weapon that shoots spin-armed "balls" or small grenades.
blue feature: any water feature. So called because of the color used to designate water on topographic maps.
body bag: plastic 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.
boo-coo: bastardized French, from beaucoup, meaning "much" or "many".
boom-boom: sex
boondoggle: any military operation that hasn't been completely thought out. An operation that is absurd or useless.
boonie hat: soft hat worn by a boonierat in the boonies
boonierat: a combat infantryman
boonies: infantry term for the field; jungles or swampy areas far from the comforts of civilization
boot: a soldier just out of boot camp; inexperienced, untested
BOQ: bachelor officer quarters; living quarters for officers
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.
bowl: pipe used for smoking dope
BRAVO: military phonetic for the letter 'B'
Bravo: Army designation for the infantry man
breaking squelch: disrupting the natural static of a radio by depressing the transmit bar on another radio set to the same frequency
brigade: a tactical and administrative military unit composed of a headquarters and one or more
battalions of infantry or armor, with other supporting units.
bro: a black soldier; also, at times, boonierats from the same unit
bronco: twin-engine observation aircraft equipped with rockets and miniguns
Bronze Star: U.S. military decoration awarded for heroic or meritorious service not involving aerial flights
brother: a fellow black Marine; sometimes used as slang for all black males
brown bar: a lieutenant; denotes the single bar of the rank. In the field, officers wore camouflage rank
which was often brown or black instead of brass.
Brown Water Navy: term applied to the U.S. Navy units assigned to the inland boat patrols of the Mekong
River delta.
BS: bullshit, as in chewing the fat, telling tall tales, or telling lies
buckle: to fight. "Buckle for your dust" means to fight furiously
bummer: bad luck, a real drag
bush: infantry term for the field
bust caps: Marine Corps term for firing a rifle rapidly
butter bar: see brown bar
CHARLEY
C-4: plastic, putty textured explosive carried by infantry soldiers. It burns like sterno when lit, and was used to heat C-rations in the field.
C-54: largest of the American helicopters, strictly for cargo. Also called Flying Crane or Skycrane.
C-123: small cargo airplane; the Caribou
C-130: large propeller-driven Air Force planes that carry people and cargo; the Hercules
C-141: large cargo airplane; the Starlifter
CA: combat assault. The term is used to describe dropping troopers into a hot LZ
cache: hidden supplies
camies: World War II term for camouflage uniforms
can cuoc: an identification card
C&C: command and control helicopter used by reconnaissance or unit commanders
Can Lao: the powerful semisecret political party of the Diem government headed by Ngo Dinh Nhu, Diem's brother. It permeated the entire administrative, intelligence, and defense structures of South Vietnam.
Cao Dai: a religious and political sect formed in the 1920s by a group of South Vietnamese intellectuals, combining the three major religions of Vietnam --Buddhism, Confucianism, and Christianity -- with the worship of Vietnamese and Western heroes. With a strength of more that 1,500,000 followers, groups of Cao Dai still waged a stubborn resistance war against the Communists (especially in Tay Ninh Province) even after the U.S. troop withdrawal.
CAP: civil action program. U.S. military personnel working with Vietnamese civilians.
capping: shooting at
CAR-15: a carbine rifle
carbine: a short-barreled, lightweight automatic or semiautomatic rifle
Caribou: small transport plane for moving men and material
Cav: Cavalry; the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile)
CC: company commander
CG: commanding general
chao: hello or goodby, depending upon the context
CHARLIE: military phonetic for the letter 'C"
Charlie: Viet Cong; the enemy
Charlie-Charlie: C&C
Chas: Viet Cong; the enemy
cheap Charlie: GI who is frugal with his money while in a bar
cherry: slang term for youth and inexperience; a virgin
Chicom: Chinese communist
Chicom mine: Chinese mine; can be made of plastic
Chieu Hoi: the "open arms" program, promising clemency and financial aid to Viet Cong and NVA soldiers and cadres who stopped fighting and returned to South Vietnamese government authority.
Chinook: CH-47 cargo helicopter
choi oi: exclamation of surprise
chop chop: slang for food
chopper: helicopter
chuck: term used by black marines to identify white individuals; often derogatory
Chuck: the Viet Cong; the enemy
CIB: combat infantry badge. The Army award for serving as an Infantryman in a combat zone for 30 days or more, or for being wounded while serving as an Infantrytman in combat.
CIDG: civilian irregular defense groups
CINCPAC: commander in chief of all American forces in the Pacific region; based at Camp Smith, Hawaii.
Civilian Irregular Defense Group: American financed, irregular military units which were led by members of Special Forces A-teams. Members of these units were Vietnamese nationals, but were usually members of ethnic minorities in the country.
clacker: a small hand-held firing device for a claymore mine
claymore: an antipersonnel mine carried by the infantry which, when detonated, propelled small steel cubes in a 60-degree fan-shaped pattern to a maximum range of 100 meters
clearance: permission from both military and political authorities to engage the enemy in a particular area
clutch belt: cartridge belt worn by Marines
CMH: Congressional Medal of Honor. The highest U.S. military decoration awarded for conspicuous gallantry at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty.
Co: unmarried woman; used as a title, like "Miss"
CO: commanding officer
Cobra: an AH-1G attack helicopter. Also known as a gunship, armed with rockets and machine guns.
Cochin-china: the French name for its southern Vietnam colony, encompassing the III Corps and Mekong Delta rice-producing lowlands, which earlier was part of Cambodia.
Co Cong: female Viet Cong members
Code of Conduct: military rules for U.S. soldiers taken prisoner by the enemy
comics: topographic maps
commo: shorthand for "communications"
commo bunker: bunker containing vital communications equipment. Usually included in the last redoubt of established defensive positions.
commo wire: communications wire
company: a military unit usually consisting of a headquarters and two or more platoons
compound: a fortified military installation
concertina wire: coiled barbed wire used as an obstacle
conex container: corrugated metal packing crate for standard transport by sea, air or land vehicles, usually 6 feet wide, 8 feet high and available in standard lengths.
contact: firing on or being fired upon by the enemy
CONUS: continental United States
CORDS: civil operations and revolutionary development support. Created by civilian administration, MACV, and the CIA to coordinate American pacification efforts.
COSVN: central office of South Vietnam. Communist headquarters for military and political action in South Vietnam.
counterinsurgency: antiguerrilla warfare
country team: the staff and personnel of an American embassy assigned to a particular country
co van: advisor. American assigned to Vietnamese military units or to political division within the country to help direct and train Vietnamese military and civilian officials.
coxwain flat: the area where the coxwain (driver) stands when he steers a boat or ship
CP: command post
CP pills: anti-malarial pills
CQ: charge of quarters. An officer officially in charge of a unit headquarters at night.
C-rations: combat rations. Canned meals for use in the field. Each usually consisted of a can of some basic course, a can of fruit, a packet of some type of dessert, a packet of powdered coca, a small pack of cigarettes, and two pieces of chewing gum.
crispy critters: burn victims
CS: a riot-control gas which burns the eyes and mucus membranes
cumshaw: unofficial trading, begging, bartering, or stealing from other branches of the service
cyclo: motorized rickshaw
DELTA
DA: Department of the Army
Dac Cong: Viet Cong special forces
Dai Doan Ket: Party of Great Solidarity. Organized in 1954 to unify the non-Communist nationalist organizations in South Vietnam in the period before Ngo Dinh Diem came to full power. Headed by Diem's brother, Ngo Dinh Nhu, this was the forerunner of the Can Lao.
daily-daily: daily anti-malarial pill
dai uy: captain
Dai Viet: formed in 1930 as a non-Communist revolutionary and political organization throughout Vietnam. Though more widespread and with a larger membership than Ho Chi Minh's Viet Minh or Lao Dong Party, the Dai Viets were fragmented into regional factions. The assassination of Truong Tu Anh, the Dai Viet leader, in 1946 by Ho's agents further fragmented the Dai Viets. By the mid-1960s the Dai Viets had evolved into two major parties that both played key roles in opposing or supporting the various South Vietnamese governments. Since 1975, there has been severe repression against Dai Viet members, some of whom still carry on resistance to the Communist government.
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.
DCI: the Director of the CIA
DELTA: military phonetic for the letter 'D'
DEROS: date of expected return from overseas. The day all soldiers in Vietnam were waiting for.
det-cord: detonating cord used with explosives
deuce-and-a-half: two-and-a-half ton truck
dew: marijuana
DH5: Viet Cong claymore mine
DH10: Viet Cong claymore mine
di: go
dicks: derogatory expression referring to both male genitalia and the enemy
diddy-bopping: walking carelessly
didi: slang from the Vietnamese word di, meaning "to leave" or "to go"
didi mau: slang Vietnamese for "go quickly"
dink: derogatory term for an Asian
dinky dau: to be crazy, from "dien cai dau"
district team: American personnel assigned to act as advisors to Vietnamese military and civilian officials at the district level.
District Mobile Company: the major Viet Cong fighting unit organized within each district in Vietnam. The District Mobile Company was assigned to carry out various assignments from direct offensive operations to sabotage and terrorism.
DMOS: duty MOS (military occupational speciality); the MOS of the job you were doing (whether trained for it or not).
DMZ: demilitarized zone. The dividing line between North and South Vietnam established in 1954 at the Geneva Convention.
doc: medic or corpsman
dong: unit of North Vietnamese money about equal to a penny
doo-mommie: English approximation of the Vietnamese du ma, meaning literally "fuck mother"
double veteran: Having sex with a woman and then killing her made one a double veteran. Perhaps apocryphal, perhaps not.
DP: displaced person
D-ring: a D-shaped metal snap link used to hold gear together
DRO: dining room orderly
drops: reduction in length of tour caused by overall reduction and withdrawal of American forces from Vietnam.
DTs: defensive targets
dung lai!: stop!
dust-off: medical evacuation by helicopter
DX: direct exchange. Also, to discard or dispose of, or to kill someone.
ECHO
eagle flights: large air assault of helicopters
Early-Outs: a drop or reduction in time in service. A soldier with 150 days or less remaining on his active duty commitment when he DEROSed from Vietnam also ETSed from the army under the Early Out program.
ECHO: military phonetic for the letter 'E'
elephant grass: tall, razor-edged tropical plant indigenous to certain parts of Vietnam
Eleven Bravo: the MOS of an infantryman
EM: enlisted man
EOD: explosive ordinance disposal. A team that disarms explosive devices.
E-tool: entrenching tool. Folding shovel carried by infantrymen.
ETS: date of departure for overseas duty station; estimated time of separation from military service.
evac'd: evacuated
expectants: casualties who are expected to die
FOXTROT
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.
FAC: forward air controller; a person who coordinates air strikes
fast mover: an F-4
fatigues: standard combat uniform, green in color
FB: firebase
FDC: fire direction control center
finger charge: explosive booby-trapping device which takes its name from the size and shape's being approximately that of a man's finger
fire base: temporary artillery encampment used for fire support of forward ground operations
firefight: a battle, or exchange of small arms fire with the enemy
Fire Track: flame-thrower tank
five: radio call sign for the executive officer of a unit
flack jacket: heavy fiberglass-filled vest worn for protection from shrapnel
flaky: to be in a state of mental disarray, characterized by spaciness and various forms of unreasoning fear
flare: illumination projectile; hand-fired or shot from artillery, mortars, or air
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: fucking new guy
FO: forward observer. A person attached to a field unit to coordinate the placement of direct or indirect fire from ground, air, and naval forces.
foo gas: a mixture of explosives and napalm, usually set in a fifty-gallon drum
fours: F-4s
FOXTROT: military phonetic for the letter 'F'
frag: fragmentation grenade
fragging: the assassination of an officer by his own troops, usually be a grenade
freak: radio frequency. Also, a junkie or a doper.
Freedom Bird: the plane that took soldiers from Vietnam back to the World
free fire zone: free strike zone
free strike zone: area where everyone was deemed hostile and a legitimate target by U.S. forces
French fort: a distinctive triangular structure built by the hundreds by the French
freq: radio frequency
friendly fire: accidental attacks on U.S. or allied soldiers by other U.S. or allied soldiers
fuck: along with fucked and fuckin, the most commonly used word in the GI vocabulary other than the article 'a'
fucked up: wounded or killed. Also, to get stoned, drunk, or to be foolish or do something stupid.
fugazi: fucked up or screwed up
FULRO: United Front for the Struggle of Oppressed Races. Resistance organization in the highlands of Vietnam made up of Montagnards, Cham, and ethnic Khmer. FULRO is still conducting resistance against Communist operations to subjugate the indigenous tribal peoples.
FUNCINPEC: National United Front for an Independent, Neutral, Peaceful, and Cooperative Cambodia. Prince Sihanouk's non-Communist political and military organization which attempted to drive the Vietnamese occupation forces out of Cambodia and reestablish independence. In 1982 FUNCINPEC joined the Cambodian Coalition Government and shared the seat at the United Nations.
funny papers: topographic maps
FWMAF: Free World Military Assistance Forces. The Allies.
GOLF
G-3: division level tactical advisor; a staff officer.
Garand: the M-1 rifle
ghosting: goldbricking or sandbagging; fucking off
GI: government issue. Usually refers to an American soldier.
Glad bag: slang term for body bag
GOLF: military phonetic for the letter 'G'
gook: derogatory term for an Asian; derived from Korean slang for "person" and passed down by Korean war veterans
Green Berets: U.S. Special Forces
greenline (or perimeter): outer limits of a military position. The area beyond the perimeter belongs to the enemy.
greens: Army Class A uniform
GR point: graves registration point. That place on a military base where the identification, embalming and processing of dead soldiers takes place as part of the operations of the quartermaster.
grids: map broken into numbered thousand-meter squares
grunt: infantryman. Originally slang for a Marine fighting in Vietnam but later applied to any solder fighting there; a boonierat.
GSW: gunshot wound
the Gun: the M-60
gung ho: enthusiastic (usually about military matters and killing people)
gunship: armed helicopter
GVN: Government of South Vietnam
HOTEL
HALO: high-altitude, low-opening jumping for insertion of troops behind enemy lines. The jump is begun from 15,000 feet, with an average free-fall time of approximately seventeen minutes.
hamlet: a small rural village
hammer and anvil: an infantry tactic of surrounding an enemy base area, then sending in other units to drive the enemy out of hiding.
hand frag: a fragmentation grenade thrown by a soldier
H&E: high explosive
H&I: harassment and interdiction. Artillery bombardments used to deny the enemy terrain which they might find beneficial to their campaign; general rather than specific, confirmed military targets; random artillery fire.
hardstand: a pierced steel plate (PSP) platform over sand
hard-stripe sergeant: sergeant in the grade of E5 or up, as opposed to Acting Jack (temporary holder of the position but not the rank).
Heart: a Purple Heart award for a wound; the wound itself
heat tabs: flammable tablet used to heat C-rations. Often in short supply.
Hercules: a C-130
HES: Hamlet Evaluation System. An evaluation system devised and run by Americans in Saigon which required monthly computerized reports from all the DSAs in the country.
HHC: headquarters and headquarters company higher-higher: the honchos; the command or commanders
HM: Navy hospital corpsman; a medic
Hmong: A dominant Laotian hill tribe, around sixty percent of whom opposed the North Vietnamese and Pathet Lao, in alliance with the Americans and Royal Lao government. After 1975 the Communists stepped up repression against the Hmong, who refused to be collectivized. Massive numbers of Hmong have been killed or driven into Thailand.
Hoa Hao: a Buddhist sect of two million in the western Mekong Delta, founded in the 1930s. Since the assassination of the founder and prophet, Huynh Phu So, by Ho Chi Minh's forces, the Hoa Hao have been fiercely anti-Communist.
Ho Chi Minh slippers: sandals made from tires. The soles are made from the tread and the straps from inner tubes.
Hoi-Chanh: Vietnamese Communist soldiers and cadre who rallied to the South Vietnamese government under the Chieu Hoi amnesty program.
honey-dippers: people responsible for burning human excrement
hooch / hootch: a hut or simple dwelling, either military or civilian
hoochgirl: Vietnamese woman employed by American military as maid or laundress
hook: a radio; a radio handset
horn: radio microphone
hot: area under fire
HOTEL: military phonetic for the letter 'H'
hot LZ: a landing zone under enemy fire
howitzer: a short cannon used to fire shells at medium velocity and with relatively high trajectories
HQ: headquarters
Huey: nickname for the UH-1 series helicopters
hump: march or hike carrying a rucksack; to perform any arduous task
INDIA
I Corps: the northernmost military region in South Vietnam
II Corps: the Central Highlands military region in South Vietnam
III Corps: the densely populated, fertile military region between Saigon and the Highlands
IV Corps: the marshy Mekong Delta southernmost military region
IG: Inspector General
illum: an 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.
in-country: Vietnam
increments: removable charges attached to mortar fins. If they become wet, the mortar round misfires and falls short.
INDIA: military phonetic for the letter 'I'
insert: to be deployed into a tactical area by helicopter
Iron Triangle: Viet Cong dominated area between the Thi-Tinh and Saigon rivers, next to Cu Chi district
JULIETT
JAG: judge advocate general, the legal department of the Armed Services
jet jockey: Air Force fighter pilot
Jody: the person who wins your lover away while you are in the Nam. From the marching song or cadence
count, "Ain't no use in goin' home / Jody's got your girl and gone / sound off...."
john wayne: can opener; also, cookie which comes in C-rats. Also used as a verb to describe the actions of someone who exposes himself to danger.
JULIET: military phonetic for the letter 'J'
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 fatigues (or jungle utilities): lightweight tropical fatigues
KILO
k: kilometer
KBA: killed by artillery
K-bar: combat knife
KCS: Kit Carson scout
KIA: killed in action
killing zone: the area within an ambush where everyone is either killed or wounded
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
KILO: military phonetic for the letter 'K'
Kit Carson scout: former Viet Cong or NVA soldiers who act as guides for U.S. military units
khong xau: don't worry about it; literally, not bad
klick: kilometer
Kool-Aid: killed in action
KP: kitchen police; mess hall duty
KPNFL: Khmer People's National Liberation Front. The major non-Communist Cambodian political and resistance organization fighting against the Vietnamese occupation force. Formed in 1979 by former prime minister Son Sann, the KPNFL is responsible for caring for and protecting nearly two-thirds of the 250,000 Cambodian refugees on the Thailand border from attacks by both the Khmer Rouge and the Vietnamese. Also called the Sereika by Cambodians, the KPNLF joined the resistance coalition government (CGOK) in 1982 and shared Cambodia's seat at the United Nations.
LIMA
L: a type of ambush set-up, shaped like the letter 'L'
lager: a night defensive perimeter
Lao Dong: the Vietnamese Workers Party
LAW: light antitank weapon; a 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
lay chilly: to freeze; to stop all motion
LBJ: Long Binh Jail, a military stockade on Long Binh post
LCM: a mechanized landing craft used in harbors and inland waterways
leg: slightly contemptuous term used by airborne-qualified troops when they are talking about regular infantry
lego: infantry unit
lien doi: company group. A Vietnamese military unit consisting of three militia infantry companies lifer: career military man. The term is often used in a derogatory manner.
LIMA: military phonetic for the letter 'L'
lima-lima: land line. Refers to telephone communications between two points on the ground.
litters: stretchers to carry dead and wounded
little people: the enemy
lit-up: fired upon; shot and killed or wounded
LLDB: Luc Luong Dac Biet. The South Vietnamese Special Forces.
LMG: light machine gun. The Soviet made RPD, a bi-pod mounted, belt fed weapon similar to the American M-60 machine gun. The RPD fires the same cartridge as the AK-47 and the SKS carbine.
loach: a LOH, or light observation helicopter
Log Bird: logistical (resupply) helicopter
LP: listening post. A two- or three-man position set up at night outside the perimeter away from the main body of troopers, which acted as an early warning system against attack. Also, an amphibious landing platform used by infantry for storming beaches from the sea.
LRRP: Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol (also called LRP). An elite team usually composed of five to seven men who go deep into the jungle to observe enemy activity without initiating contact.
LSA: small arms lubricant
LST: troop landing ship
LT: lieutenant
lurps: members of Long Range Reconnaissance Patrols
LZ: landing zone. Usually a small clearing secured temporarily for the landing of resupply helicopters. Some become more permanent and eventually become base camps