NOTE: This was copied from "The Sacramento Union" by my father in 1970 and it carries the language of 1970. Nothing was edited with any regard for the sensibilities of 2012. The Association does not endorse any language or offer any apology for what appeared in "The Sacramento Union" in 1970. This is simple unedited history. It should also be noted that this list is incomplete. Many of these "language" examples can be found on the Internet. This one happens to be personnel because it was done by my father. R. Brown
GIs Speak No English, Vietnamese
SAIGON (AP) – American servicemen in Vietnam, like those who served in other wars, have coined a vocabulary to describe their environment and almost everything that happens in it.
Full of imagination, improvisations and humor, it’s a living language that constantly changes.
HERE IS A SAMPLE glossary of the language currently spoken by Americans in Vietnam:
A-Cav – An armored cavalary unit’ also an armored cavalary assault vehicle.
A-K – The AK 47 automatic assault rifle, basic weapon of North Vietnamese and Viet Cong infantry.
ARVN – Soldier or unit of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. (South Vietnam)
Blown Away – To be killed or wounded, especially by shelling.
Blu Max – A cobra helicopter gunship with extra rocket pods.
Boonies, bush – The boondocks, wilderness, jungle, rural area.
Brown water Navy – Navy boats used on inland waterways.
C-Rats – Combat rations.
Charlie, Cong, V-C, Sir Charles, Clyde – The Viet Cong.
CHARLIE - Charlie – A command and control helicopter.
Chuck – Negro soldier’s term for whites.
Dai-Uy – Vietnamese for captain, hence any officer or leader, pronounced “die-wee.”
Dink – North Vietnamese soldier.
Dustoff – Medical evacuation (medevac) helicopter.
Eleven Bravo 1 – An infantryman; derived from the U.S. Army’s numerical classification of jobs.
FAC – Forward Air Controller, a pilot who marks targets and directs artillery and air strikes.
Firefly – Helicopter equipped with a powerful searchlight to illuminate the battlefield, also a night mission teaming such a lightship with armed helicopters.
Green Beanies 1 – Green Berets.
Grunt, Snuffy – Foot soldier or Marine, an infantryman.
Gunship – Armed helicopter, used to provide fire support.
Hardcore – Originally used to describe dedicated Viet Cong, now often used as a term for overenthusiastic or career American Soldiers.
Having your stuff together – Being well organized or successful, especially in battle; high praise when a commander say it to his men.
Hook – A CH 47 Chinook helicopter, capable of carrying heavy loads of troops or cargo, the latter slung underneath from an external hook.
Hootch – Hut, living quarters.
Horn – Field radio, telephone
Huey – Any of the UH1 utility helicopter series, the workhorse aircraft in Vietnam.
Hump – To make a long march, also to carry, as to hump artillery shells.
IN-COUNTRY – Within Vietnam; as in “How long you have been in-country?”
Lifer -1 Draftee’s term for career soldier.
Number one – Okay, excellent, the best. Number 10 – bad, undesirable, the worst.
Pink Team – A hunter-killer team made up of a loach (code-named White) and a Cobra gunship (code-named Red), working together to find and attack enemy troops or weapons positions.
Pop smoke – To fire a colored smoke signal grenade.
Punch out, bang out – To eject from a disabled aircraft.
R and R – Rest and recuperation leave.
Ruff-Puffs – South Vietnamese Regional and Popular Forces (RF-PF).
Short, Short-timer – One who has completed most of his 12-month tour in Vietnam, or better yet, most of his time in the service.
SLICK-TROOP – Carrying Huey helicopter, so called because it is “slick” of external armament (as opposed to a gunship).
Spooky, Shadow – Fixed-wing prop planes rigged with Gatlin-type guns that fire 6,000 rounds a minute each: used in support of ground troops or bases under attack.
Waxed, greased, zapped – Killed or shot.
World – Home, the United States ; originally “the real world.”
Yard – Montagnard, mountain tribesman.
Z, DMZ – The demilitarized zone.
Zippo – A tracked vehicle equipped with a flame thrower.