by Eric Helm
SHIT HOOK — Name applied by troops to the Chinook helicopter because of all the ‘shit’ stirred up by the massive rotors.
SHORT — Term used by a GI in Vietnam to tell all who would listen that his tour was almost over.
SHORT-TIMER — GI who had been in Vietnam for nearly a year and who would be rotated back to the World soon. When the DEROS (Date of Estimated Return from Overseas Service) was the shortest in the unit, the person was said to be Next.
SIX — Radio call sign for the Unit Commander.
SKS — Simonov 7.62mm semiautomatic carbine.
SMG — Submachine gun.
SOI — Signal Operating Instructions. The booklet that contained the call signs and radio frequencies of the units in Vietnam.
SOP — Standard Operating Procedure.
STEEL POT — Standard U.S. Army helmet. It consisted of a fiber helmet liner with an outer steel cover.
STORMY WEATHER — Code name for the Cambodian border.
TAI — Vietnamese ethnic group living in the mountainous regions.
TEAM UNIFORM — UHF radio frequency on which the team communicates. Frequencies were changed periodically in an attempt to confuse the enemy.
THE WORLD — The United States. Always referred to as ‘the World.’
THREE — Radio call sign of the Operations Officer.
THREE CORPS — Military area around Saigon. Vietnam was divided into four corps areas.
TOC — Tactical Operations Center.
TO&E — Table of Organization and Equipment. This is the plan used to determine the equipment and the personnel for a unit. Everything, down to the last rifle bullet, was in the TO&E.
TOT — Time Over Target. Refers to the time the aircraft are supposed to be over the drop zone with the parachutists, or the target if the planes are bombers.
TRIPLE A — Or AAA refers to antiaircraft artillery. This is actually anything used to shoot at airplanes and helicopters, although it usually refers to weapons designed to shoot at aircraft.
TWO — Radio call sign of the Intelligence Officer.
TWO-OH-ONE (201) FILE — Military records file that listed all a soldier’s qualifications, training, experience and abilities. It was passed from unit to unit so that the new commander would have some idea of the incoming soldier’s capabilities.
VC — Viet Cong. Also Victor Charlie (phonetic alphabet) or just Charlie.
VIET CONG — Contraction of Vietnam Cong San (Vietnamese Communist Party, established in 1956).
WIA — Wounded in Action.
WILLY PETE — WP. White Phosphorus. Smoke Rounds. Also used as antipersonnel weapons.
XO — Executive Officer of a unit.
ZIPPO — Slang for flamethrower, derived from the cigarette lighter popular with the troops.
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Copyright © Eric Helm, 1988
Eric Helm has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work.
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No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organisations, places and events, other than those clearly in the public domain, are either the product of the author’s imagination, or are used fictitiously.
Any resemblances to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales are purely coincidental.
eBook ISBN: 978-1-80055-218-0
