Matterhorn: a novel of the Vietnam War

by Karl Marlantes

  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, usually by pulling manually on an attached cord, 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, Sa
lem, 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.

  E-tool Entrenching tool. A small folding shovel about two feet long, carried by all combat Marines. Designed primarily to dig fighting holes, it was also used to dig latrines, bunkers, and firing pits and to clear brush for fields of fire. On rare occasions it was used as a weapon.

  executive officer, XO The second in command of a Marine company. The XO handled the administrative details of the company and acted as general counsel to the commanding officer (CO) and platoon commanders. On combat operations, the CO and the XO were usually physically separated so that if the commanding officer was hit the executive officer would probably be able to take command.

  FAC The forward air controller, an enlisted man from the air wing who was attached to a company-size unit to coordinate all air support from resupply to bombing and strafing. An officer pilot usually occupied the same position at battalion headquarters. The Marine Corps pioneered close air support tactics and procedures in World War II, and the close working relationship between Marine Air and Marine Ground is a specialty of the Marines.

  FAC-man Nickname commonly given to the enlisted forward air controller.

  fire team Smallest unit in a rifle company. A fire team was designated to be four riflemen, but under combat conditions, because of attrition, fire teams quite often consisted of only three riflemen.

  Five In radio code, the company executive officer, the second in command; for example, Bravo Five.

  flat-hatting Flying extremely close to the ground.

  FLD The final line of departure, an imaginary line behind which the assaulting troops wait for the signal to move forward. Once this imaginary line is crossed, the unit is irrevocably committed.

  football team Radio brevity code for a platoon (forty-three Marines).

  foxtrot whiskey Fixed-wing aircraft (as opposed to helicopters). Marine Corps, and occasionally Navy or Air Force, fixed-wing jet aircraft delivered almost all the close air support.

  fragging Murdering someone, usually an unpopular officer or sergeant, by throwing a fragmentation grenade into his living quarters or fighting hole. The Marine Corps had forty-three fragging incidents during the Vietnam War, although not all ended in fatalities.

  frag order Fragmentary order. This term has nothing to do with fragging. It was an addendum to a larger original order. Frag orders were usually more prevalent than original orders and were done for the sake of efficiency (at least as far as issuing orders was concerned). For example, an original order might have told a unit to enter a certain valley, destroy what it found, and return. A frag order could amend that original order, telling the unit to continue the mission for another week, or to proceed to a certain place, with the same mission but without having to repeat everything over the radio.

  G-2 Also, G2. Division intelligence. American military organizations designate staff functions and organizations with letters and numbers. G stands for a division-level staff, R for regimental level, and S for battalion level. Staff functions are designated by numbers: 1 for administrative, 2 for intelligence, 3 for operations, and 4 for supply. So, at the division level, the intelligence staff would be G-2 and at the battalion level it would be S-2. The officer in charge of that staff function would be called “the S-2,” or “the Two.” Major Blakely, as head of operations at the battalion level, is called “the Three,” because he is in charge of battalion operations, S-3.

  grid coordinates All military maps are divided into one-kilometer squares (that is, each side of a square is six-tenths of a mile). A baseline point is established and designated 000000. The first three digits refer to the distance east from the base in tenths of a kilometer, and the last three refer to the distance north. For example, grid coordinates 325889 would refer to a point 32.5 kilometers (about 20.3 miles) east and 88.9 kilometers (about 55.5 miles) north of 000000.

  gunjy Slang for zealous and combative, or overly zealous and overly combative, depending on the context and the tone of voice. It is probably derived from “gung ho,” a Marine expression borrowed from Chinese meaning “work together.”

  gunny A company gunnery sergeant. During the Vietnam War, with the companies operating at long distances from headquarters, the company gunny was usually the highest-ranked noncommissioned officer out in the bush. The company first sergeants, one rank higher, usually handled administrative functions in permanent headquarters at locations like Quang Tri. The company gunny, who reported directly to the company commander, handled most of the supply functions and had a strong tactical and personnel advisory role. Although the gunny was not directly in charge of the platoon sergeants, who reported to their platoon commanders, he had a very strong dotted-line relationship with the platoon sergeants. A gunny’s “request” was the equivalent of an order. A platoon sergeant could go around the gunny by working through his commanding officer, but this was exceedingly rare. In peacetime the company gunny would normally be an E-7 gunnery sergeant, but because of wartime shortages this position was often filled by E-6 staff sergeants.

  H & S Stands for headquarters and supply.

  heat tabs Blue 1, 3, 5-Trioxane (sometimes called trioxin) wafers about one inch in diameter that could be placed in the bottom of “field stoves” made by punching holes in C-ration tin cans. Because the heat tabs didn’t oxidize well in the field stoves, they gave off noxious fumes that stung the nose and eyes. Heat tabs also took too long to heat anything. In the bush, most Marines preferred to cook with C-4 plastic explosive, often digging apart claymore mines (this was very dangerous and strictly forbidden) to get something less noxious with which to heat their C-rations.

  heli team The weight, or load, that a helicopter can carry varies with the altitude and temperature. The higher the altitude and temperature, the lower the possible load. Although tactically it would be most effective to load entire organizational units, most often tactical units ha
d to be divided into units called heli teams in accordance with the weather and altitude. Upon arrival in the landing zone, the heli teams would immediately disband, and the Marines would re-form into standard tactical units such as fire teams, squads, and platoons.