Matterhorn (83 page)

battery
Artillery unit roughly equivalent in size to a rifle company. A battery in Vietnam had six 105-millimeter howitzers. One
battery was normally assigned to one infantry battalion and whenever possible was situated on the highest ground in the area
it was intended to support.
The battery often sent out forward observers to move with the infantry to help call in artillery missions. All Marine infantry
officers and noncommissioned officers (NCOs) can call in artillery fire; however, lacking detailed knowledge of the immense
amount of technical difficulties faced by artillerymen, they are usually more impatient than the forward observers.

bingo fuel
Out of gas.

bird
Any helicopter, but for the Marines it was usually a CH-46 helicopter.

blowing a dump
Destroying an ammunition supply storage site (or ammo dump) by setting off explosive charges in the midst of the ammunition.

Brown, H. Rap
A 1960s black radical and defense minister of the Black Panther Party.

Butterbar
A second lieutenant, often new and inexperienced, so called because the rank was designated by a single gold bar.

CAG
Acronym for combined action group. This was a small group composed of Marines and local militiamen called popular forces
(in slang, ruff-puffs, from Republic of Vietnam Popular Forces) that was placed in a small specific area to protect villages
from intimidation and terror. This idea achieved considerable success, and the Marines who fought in CAG units were brave
and competent, having to operate on their own away from traditional unit structures. Unfortunately, following the iron law
of manipulation—that if a system can be invented, a countersystem can be invented—Marine infantry commanders would often “volunteer”
shirkers and troublemakers for duty with CAG to get them out of their own units.

C-4
Composition C-4 plastic explosive was used for virtually anything from cooking coffee to blowing up ammunition dumps and
clearing landing zones. It came in white bars about one foot long, one inch thick, and three inches across, wrapped in olive
drab cellophane. It could be safely dropped, cut, pulled into long cords, or stuffed into cracks. It
was detonated by blasting caps, which had to be carried in special small wooden boxes and were much more dangerous. When ignited
in the open, C-4 burned with an extremely hot white flame but did not explode. Its primary use in this configuration, strictly
against policy, was for heating C-ration cans. When detonated by a blasting cap, C-4 was a powerful explosive. A thin cord
wrapped around a two-foot-diameter tree would cut the tree in two, although a preferred method was to put one charge slightly
higher than another on opposite sides and cut the tree between the two offset blasts.

CH-46
Twin-rotor assault helicopter called the Sea Knight, used by the Marines for assaults, resupply, and medevacs. It had a crew
of five: pilot, copilot, crew chief, and two aerial machine gunners. It had a long fuselage and a ramp at its tail where Marines
got on and off. This ramp was pulled up to serve as the rear door when the CH-46 was airborne. Depending on the altitude,
temperature, how many gunners were carried aboard, and how much risk the pilot was willing to take, a CH-46 would carry from
eight to fifteen Marines as far as 150 miles. In emergencies more people were carried, but then the risks went much greater.
Alternatively, the CH-46 could carry about two tons of “external load,” slung beneath it in a cargo net. Its maximum speed
was approximately 160 miles per hour. The CH-46 Sea Knight was smaller and carried less load than the more familiar CH-47
Chinook used by the Army, although the two helicopters looked similar. Because of the requirement for folding rotors and efficient
storage aboard ships, the Marine CH-46 was not capable of carrying the heavier loads that the Army CH-47 helicopter—with its
permanent rotor blades and larger engines—could manage. The Marine Corps depended primarily on the CH-46 to deliver its units
to combat. The CH-46 also doubled as the supply and medevac workhorse because the Marines were insufficiently supplied with
the more mobile and versatile Huey.

CH-47
Twin-rotor turbine-driven helicopter called the Chinook and used by the Army. It was made by Boeing Vertol and from a distance
looked like a very large CH-46. Its crew consisted of a pilot, a copilot, a crew chief, and one or two waist machine gunners.
The Army chose
the CH-47 as more of a workhorse supply vehicle and depended on the smaller Hueys to deliver its infantry units into combat.

chi-comm
Hand-thrown antipersonnel fragmentation grenade used by the NVA and Vietcong. It had a wooden throwing handle and a round
cylindrical form; hence the nickname “potato masher.”

chopper
Any helicopter.

chuck
Among Marines in the bush in Vietnam, a non-derogatory term for a white Marine, used by both races, as in “He’s a chuck dude.”
It was more along the lines of jive talk, like calling someone a cat. It most likely was derived from “Charles,” also slang
for “the man.” It was usually opposed to “splib,” commonly used slang for a black Marine.

CID
Acronym for criminal investigation division. The Marine Corps CID was responsible for investigating and uncovering criminal
activity taking place within Marine units. Major concerns during the Vietnam War were drug dealing and fragging. Agents, in
many cases civilians, often worked under cover posing as ordinary Marines. They had roughly the same standing among Marines
as narcs or snitches did among civilians who used drugs. Most Marines saw drug use in rear areas as a victimless crime and
the penalties—long prison terms and dishonorable discharges—as unfair. Drug use in the bush, where lives could be lost as
a result of failure to perform, particularly on watch, was discouraged through what could politely be described as self-policing
activities.

claymore
Popular fan-shaped antipersonnel land mine that used composition C-4 as its explosive. It produced a directional, fan-shaped
pattern of fragments and was usually placed aboveground in front of a fighting hole or alongside a trail for an ambush. When
detonated, from a fighting hole using an electric detonator wire, the M18A1 Claymore delivered 700 spherical steel balls over
a sixty-degree fan-shaped pattern that was more than six feet high and fifty yards wide by the time the fragments reached
fifty yards out. It was named after a large Scottish sword by its inventor, Norman A. MacLeod. One side of the mine was inscribed
with the bold embossed words,
THIS SIDE TOWARD ENEMY
.

CO
commanding officer.

COC
combat operations center. This was usually a tent with sandbag walls, or, if the unit had been in place long enough, a bunker
made entirely of sandbags with a roof usually made from steel runway mat, also covered with sandbags. It contained all the
maps, radios, and personnel that ran a battalion or regimental combat headquarters. It was the tactical nerve center of the
battalion or regiment.

company
During the Vietnam War a Marine rifle company consisted of 212 to 216 Marines and seven Navy hospital corpsmen. It was designed
to be led by a captain (two silver bars), and at the beginning of the war the majority of companies were. By 1969, however,
many were being led by a first lieutenant (one silver bar); and during intense periods of fighting, a second lieutenant (one
gold bar) could end up running a company until a higher-ranking replacement arrived. The company consisted of three rifle
platoons and a weapons platoon. The weapons platoon was designed to have a second or first lieutenant in charge and consisted
of nine M-60 machine-gun crews and three 60-millimeter mortar crews. But in the jungle and mountain fighting during the Vietnam
War, machine guns, which were originally in the weapons platoon, were attached directly to the rifle platoons, usually one
per squad. This left only the 60-millimeter mortar squad as the entire weapons platoon, usually led by a corporal or sergeant
who reported directly to the company commander. Companies usually operated with 160 to 180 Marines, because of attrition.

conex box
Short for “container, express.” A conex box was a heavy corrugated-steel shipping container about eight feet long, six feet
high, and six feet wide. One end was hinged and could be opened like a heavy door to facilitate loading.

Coors
Radio brevity code for “killed in action.” These codes changed frequently.

cordon and search
Operation in which an entire village or even an area (if enough troops were used) was surrounded: i.e., “cordoned off.”
Units were then sent in to search the houses and hiding places for NVA or Vietcong. If any were flushed out, they could not
escape through the ring of surrounding troops.

CORDS
Civil Operations and Revolutionary Development Support. A hybrid civilian and military organization under the Department
of State that was formed to coordinate the U.S. civil and military pacification programs. Some of its personnel actively tried
to make pacification work, exposing themselves to danger, but far too many were seen as rear-area fat-asses.

corpsmen
Navy medical personnel assigned to Marine units, the equivalent of the Army medics. They provided the first medical care
received by a wounded Marine and were highly respected. Many sacrificed their lives trying to save wounded Marines. At full
strength, every Marine rifle company had two Navy corpsmen assigned to each of the three platoons, and one additional senior
corpsman, usually an HM-1, their boss, assigned to the small company command post or CP. Because of shortages later in the
Vietnam War, many platoons got by with a single corpsman, and companies got by with HM-2s instead of HM-1s.

CP
A command post. Technically, the term refers to a spot on the ground where the company or platoon commander set up with his
radio operators and staff. An equally common use of the term referred to the group of people, not the place, as in “the CP
group.” In a typical Marine company in Vietnam, there was no “post”—that is, no physical structure such as a bunker (as seen
in movies). Instead, there were just fighting holes like those on the lines or, when a unit was on the move or in action,
simply any place from which a company or platoon commander would direct the unit.

C-ration
Often called C-rats or by less neutral nicknames. The standard C-ration, used beginning in World War II and believed by most
Marines in Vietnam to have been packed at the same time, came in three “styles” or “units,” contained in thin cardboard boxes.
The B1 style had a single small can, the size of a tuna fish can, full of chopped ham and eggs, ham slices, beef, or turkey
loaf; and a larger can of fruit, such as
applesauce, fruit cocktail, peaches, or pears. The B2 had larger cans of beans and wieners, spicy meatballs, beefsteak and
potatoes, spaghetti and meatballs, and ham and lima beans (considered inedible except under extreme duress). This package
also contained a small can of pound cake, pecan roll, or fruit cake, and cheese spread (caraway and pimento) and thick crackers.
The B3 unit contained meat loaf, chicken and noodles, spiced meat, and boned chicken. All three styles also came with an accessory
pack containing a white plastic spoon, instant coffee, sugar and nondairy creamer, two Chiclets, cigarettes in a four-smoke
mini pack (Winston, Marlboro, Salem, Pall Mall, Camel, Chesterfield, Kent, and Lucky Strike), a small roll of toilet paper,
moisture-resistant paper matches, and salt and pepper.

Crotch, the
Slang for the Corps, the Marine Corps.

cumshaw
A bribe. Pidgin English, from Chinese (Amoy)
gamsia
, an expression of thanks.

dee-dee
To run away or exit quickly. From the Vietnamese
didi mao
, “go away.” One example would be “Let’s dee-dee,” meaning, “Let’s get out of here fast.” Another would be “The enemy dee-deed,”
meaning that they left quickly.

division
Large unit, approximately 13,000 to 14,000 Marines, usually commanded by a major general (two stars). It included an artillery
regiment, three infantry regiments, and supporting units such as engineers, heavy artillery, intelligence, reconnaissance,
and supply.

DMZ
A demilitarized zone. In Vietnam the DMZ was a zone about five kilometers (just over three miles) wide on both sides of the
seventeenth parallel, established by a treaty that attempted to disentangle the French forces from the Vietminh forces. It
came to form the border between North and South Vietnam. The Ben Hai River ran through its center in its eastern half. The
eastern end stopped at the China Sea. The western end stopped at the Laotian border.

dozens
The dozens is an African-American oral contest in which two competitors, usually males, go head-to-head in usually good-natured,
ribald trash talk. Example: “Your momma’s so fat I had to take two buses to get on her good side.” They take turns insulting
each other or their adversary’s mother or other family members until one of them has no comeback.

DShKM .51-caliber machine gun
A Soviet machine gun similar to the American .50-caliber Browning machine gun, although its round had a somewhat longer case.
The initials stand for Degtyraov and Shpagin, the two people most instrumental in the weapon’s development. The K is for
krupnokalibernyi
, large caliber, and the M is a development model designation. This weapon was used extensively by the North Vietnamse Army
as an antiaircraft device, primarily for shooting down helicopters.

elephant grass
Huge stalks of bamboo-like grass. It grew higher than a man’s head in thick, nearly impenetrable stands that could cover
an entire valley floor. Its sharp edges drew blood.