Matterhorn: a novel of the Vietnam War

by Karl Marlantes

  HM2 Also HM-2: hospital corpsman second class. Sheller, the senior squid, has this rank.

  HM3 Also HM-3: hospital corpsman third class Fredrickson, the platoon corpsman, has this rank.

  hooch Any shelter, permanent or temporary. A hooch could be anything from a rough plywood building in a rear area to a couple of rubberized ponchos strung together over some communication wire out in the bush. Sometimes spelled “hootch.”

  Huey The UH-1 single-rotor helicopter. There were several variations, such as UH-1B and UH-1G, ranging from a “slick” (which had little armament and firepower and was used for evacuating the wounded and inserting ground forces) to a “gun ship” (which was armed with rockets, machine guns, or 20-millimeter cannons and was used for close air support). Hueys had many uses, including close air support, medical evacuations, inserting and extracting reconnaissance teams, and transporting high-ranking officers. The Army used them as assault helicopters, and Army airborne and cavalry units had the use of many times more Hueys than similar-sized Marine units.

  humping Aside from the obvious sexual connotation, humping meant hiking out into the bush with seventy or more pounds of gear on one’s back, the normal weight carried by the Marine infantryman. “They humped me to death” was a common complaint about being forced to do more walking than one thought reasonable.

  huss A favor granted by a superior or by the system in general. Example: “He caught a huss when he got out of the bush to pick up the paychecks.”

  IFR Stands for instrument flight rules. These “rules” were procedures and standards put into effect whenever visibility was so limited by bad weather or darkness that the pilot had to rely on flying with instruments. When IFR was not in effect, VFR—visual flight rules—would be used.

  immersion foot Condition in which the foot becomes numb and then turns red or blue. As the condition worsens, the feet swell and open sores break out, leading to fungal infections and ulcers. If left untreated, immersion foot usually results in gangrene, which can require amputation. Immersion foot develops when the feet are constantly cold and damp and are enclosed in constricting footwear. It is also known as trench foot.

  ITR Stands for infantry training regiment. Upon graduation from boot camp, Marines are assigned their military occupational specialty, or MOS. They then undergo training in their MOS at various bases. Those assigned an MOS of 03, infantry, went on to the Infantry Training Regiment at Camp Pendleton, California. “Oh-three” was far and away the most common Marine MOS.

  John Wayne Small thumb-size can opener that folds the blade against itself and is usually worn with the Marine’s identification tags (dog tags). Its official military designation is the P-38 can opener.

  K-bar Knife with a seven-inch blade and a wrapped-leather handle. It looked like a large bowie knife and has been standard issue to all Marines since World War II. It could be a lethal and effective weapon, but it was most often used for numerous more utilitarian jobs, such as cutting brush, opening cans, whittling short-timer’s sticks, and cleaning fingernails. The name is of obscure origin, but the likely source is “Knife Accessory Browning Automatic Rifle.”

  KIA Stands for killed in action.

  Kit Carson scout North Vietnamese and Vietcong soldiers who surrendered were offered the opportunity (and good pay) to become scouts for Marine units, using their knowledge of NVA tactics and the terrain to help direct the Marine units on operations. Often these men were disillusioned with communism and fought from idealistic motives, but sometimes they were simply cynical mercenaries fighting for whoever would pay them the most. They were generally regarded as traitors by the Marines, however unfair that image may have been.

  KP Stands for kitchen police, i.e., the menial chores of running a kitchen: peeling potatoes, washing dishes, etc. Usually, in peacetime, KP is considered something to avoid and is often assigned as a punishment for mild infractions. In Vietnam, however, if a Marine got KP duty, he got out of the bush and into a place of safety, so the punishment became not allowing the Marine to get KP duty.

  lifer Someone who is making the military a career. “Lifer” was quite often a derogatory label, obviously connoting a prison sentence. It also implied that the lifer put career, military rules, and decorum above the welfare of the troops.

  Loco Cocoa Loud and clear. Any other combination of L and C, such as Lime and Coke or Lickety Clit, that struck a radio operator’s imagination could also mean loud and clear.

  louie Slang for lieutenant.

  LP A listening post, usually a team of two Marines placed outside the defenses at night with a radio. Their job was to listen (since they could not see) for enemy movement and warn their unit of an enemy attack. All Marines on LP hoped they could hear the enemy coming, give their warning, and make it back to safety or simply hide in the jungle until the fight was over. They were well aware, however, that the job was sacrificial. A company in the jungle would normally have three LPs out at the same time, one in front of each platoon.

  LZ A landing zone for helicopters. Such zones ranged from uneven, often sloping, cleared patches of ground deep in the jungle or elephant grass, whose diameter was only about twice the expected chopper’s length, to larger, better-constructed zones on permanently occupied hilltops. LZ could also refer to something as sophisticated as a large, permanent, often blacktop area at a rear base that accommodated several choppers at the same time.

  M-16 Standard-issue automatic rifle used during the Vietnam War. It fired a 5.56-millimeter spitzer boat-tail bullet at a very high velocity, the object being to wound rather than kill. (Wounds tax an army’s medical and personnel systems more than kills do.) The M-16 is still in use today, but the bullet is slightly heavier (62 grains versus 55 grains) and is fired at a slightly slower velocity (3,100 feet per second versus 3,250 feet per second).

  M-26 Standard-issue fragmentation grenade during the Vietnam War. It was also referred to as a “Mike twenty-six,” or a “frag” (as opposed to a “smoke” or an “illume”) It weighed 21 ounces, and looked like a fat egg with an olive drab smooth steel skin. It came with a “spoon” on the top—a spring-loaded arming device that was activated by removing a wire ring holding the spoon to the grenade’s side. Once the ring was removed, the thrower had to keep the spoon in place by holding it against the grenade with his hand. Once the grenade was thrown, the spoon was released and started a chemical reaction that set the grenade off in four to five seconds. The grenade was filled with coiled perforated metal, which blew into pellet-like projectiles that could kill people within a radius of about fifty feet. The effective killing radius of the grenade, however, was actually only about ten feet. An average Marine could toss an M-26 thirty or forty yards. The explosive was composition B, a mixture of mostly TNT and cyclonite (or hexogen).

  M-60 machine gun Standard-issue Marine machine gun in Vietnam. Its maximum range was 3,725 meters (2.3 miles), although its effective range was closer to 1,100 meters (about 0.7 mile or twelve football fields). It fired the standard NATO 7.62-millimeter round (.308 caliber) using linked belts with 100 rounds each. These belts were often carried crossed over the body, but in jungle warfare carrying them that way would expose them to small sticks and leaves, which would stop the firing, so the belts had to be contained in metal cans that were very heavy and very awkward to carry. The M-60 was designed to be manned by three Marines: a gunner and two assistants to help carry the ammunition. In Vietnam, however, because of attrition, the teams were usually only two men. A good gunner could fire 100 rounds per minute at a sustained rate. Firing at the gun’s maximum rate of 550 rounds per minute would soon generate too much heat and destroy the barrel. The M-60 had a folding bipod on the front of the barrel and weighed 18.75 pounds. Marines loved this weapon and generally admired the guys who carried and fired it.

  M-79 Grenade launcher that looks very much like a short, fat shotgun. It can fire high-explosive grenades (HE round), heavy buckshot (shotgun round), or fléchettes, small arrowlike projectiles, in a wide arc, so it is a very good jungle
weapon where targets are hard to locate quickly.

  MAG Marine Air Group.

  Marine amphibious force (MAF) Two or more Marine divisions plus necessary Marine air support. During the Vietnam War the MAF was led by a lieutenant general (three stars) and based in Da Nang. It reported operationally to MAC-V, Military Assistance Command Vietnam, headed by an Army general (four stars) located in Saigon. For administrative and logistical support it reported to the commanding general, Fleet Marine Force Pacific (three stars), located in Hawaii. MAC-V reported to U.S. Pacific Command, headed by a four-star admiral.

  mast See request mast.

  medevac Medical evacuation.

  MIA Stands for missing in action.

  mike mike Millimeter.

  Mike 26 The M-26 hand grenade.

  montagnard From the French for mountain dweller. In this context, any person belonging to one of the many indigenous tribes that inhabited the western mountains and jungle of Vietnam.

  motor-T Motor transportation. Support troops that operated and maintained trucks and other vehicles used primarily to move people and matériel on the ground. This vital function is often overlooked, much as football fans overlook linemen who seldom score, but without whose contribution no team can win.

  mustang Officer who came up from the enlisted ranks.

  Mutter’s Ridge Strategically important east-west chain of high hills in northern Quang Tri province that paralleled the DMZ. The origin of the name is uncertain, but it has been attributed to several Marines named Mutter, most prominently Staff Sergeant Alan Mutter, USMC, who was killed there. The name has also been attributed to the radio call sign of Third Battalion Fourth Marines, which fought an early battle there. Mutter’s Ridge paralleled Route 9 for most of its eastern half and was vital to the control of Route 9 and the valley of the Ben Hai River to the north, another access route to penetrate from Laos and North Vietnam into the Quang Tri plain. In the novel it extends much farther west than it does in reality.

  Nagoolian Usually a name for the enemy, specifically the North Vietnamese Army, but often used to designate any Vietnamese unit or even a hypothetical individual. It is derived from Nguyen, the most common Vietnamese name.

  NCO Noncommissioned officer.

  NCOIC oncommissioned officer in charge.

  NIS Naval Investigative Service. This organization was like the detective force of the Navy, as opposed to the shore patrol, whose members acted more like uniformed police. NIS also was involved in covert operations that attempted to find criminal activity such as drug dealing.

  numby or numbnuts A stupid or incompetent person. Numby is pronounced “nummy.”

  NVA North Vietnamese Army, the regular army of the People’s Republic of Vietnam, a well-equipped and well-trained regular fighting force, in contrast to the VC or Vietcong, which was a guerrilla force.

  Oley Radio brevity code for wounded in action.

  on line When not fighting, infantry units normally move in columns, one man behind the other. In the jungle, there is almost no other way to move and maintain any control. When men who are in a column have to engage an enemy in front of them, they would be able to use only the fire of the first two or three people, otherwise the others could get shot in the back. The solution is to “go on line.” This means that the column spreads out in a long line facing the enemy so that every rifle can be brought to bear on the enemy without the risk of shooting a friend in the back. This maneuver was easier to think about than to accomplish while under fire, particularly in a jungle, where visual contact could be lost within twenty feet.

  OP Stands for outpost. An OP served the same purpose as a listening post (LP) but was used in daylight. It was less frightening than an LP because one could see as well as hear and smell and the company usually had small units patrolling out beyond the OPs; these units afforded the OPs extra protection and warning time.

  op-con Verb formed from operational control. Often, Marines will simply switch units from one command to another if that serves a tactical situation. For example, if a company from one battalion found itself operating to support a company from a different battalion, the battalion commander of the first company would hand over operational control to the commander of the second battalion, thereby eliminating the useless and even possibly destructive delays and misunderstandings that could arise if the two battalion commanders had to coordinate with each other. The first battalion’s company would thus be “op-conned” to the second battalion.

  OV-10 The OV-10 Bronco was a two-engine, twin-boom observation and close-air-support plane. With its twin booms and large connecting horizontal stabilizer it looked much like the old P-38 Lightning. It carried four M-60 machine guns and two 4-missile Zuni pods outboard on each wing, as well as smoke rockets. It could also be configured for small bombs.

  patrol Mission assigned to a smaller unit. A patrol involved walking outside the sight and rifle range of the larger unit and would range anywhere from five to ten kilometers (about three to six miles) and last up to a full day, depending on the terrain. Patrols were used to locate the enemy and enemy supplies and to destroy them or fix them in place until reinforcements could arrive. Patrols also were used to screen the enemy from approaching the larger unit and give warning if an enemy approach was detected.

  platoon Three squads form a platoon. During the Vietnam War a platoon was designated to be forty-three Marines, but in combat conditions the platoon was usually manned at levels in the low to mid-thirties. A platoon was supposed to have either a second lieutenant (one gold bar) or a first lieutenant (one silver bar) as its leader, a platoon sergeant (four stripes), a platoon guide (three stripes), and the platoon leader’s radio operator. In Vietnam by the late 1960s, there was a shortage of staff NCOs, so three-stripe sergeants often became platoon sergeants. Platoon guides were often done away with, and a second radio operator was added (along with a second radio) to assist the platoon sergeant—who in mountain and jungle fighting often operated independently from the platoon commander. Both the platoon sergeant and the platoon commander led squad-sized patrols.

  poag An overweight rear-area do-nothing. The term is derived from the time when the Marines were in China before World War II. They were issued candy (Baby Ruth, Tootsie Rolls, etc.) to supplement their rations. Sugar and other sweets were rare commodities in China, so the troops found the candy useful for barter in towns. The Chinese word for prostitute sounded something like “pogey.” Thus, the candy became “pogey bait” and the expression eventually became Marine slang for junk food and candy bars in general.

  point The first man in front of a column is said to be the point man or simply the point. The act of being the first in the column is called “walking point.” It is probably the most frightening and nerve-racking job, short of an actual assault, that an infantryman does—and some claim it’s worse than an actual assault.

  poncho liner Thin blanket of camouflaged nylon (5 feet 8 inches by 6 feet 10 inches) quilted to a polyester fill. It was tied, by attached strings, underneath a Marine’s rubberized-canvas poncho to provide warmth. It was most often used as a blanket, the only source of warmth for most Marines in the field.

  pos rep Position report.

  PRC 25 Pronounced “prick twenty-five.” This was the AN/PRC 25 FM radio used by all Marine infantry units in Vietnam. It used early solid-state technology and weighed about twenty pounds, with its battery. It was carried like a backpack by the radio operator. It had 1.5 watts of power and could broadcast three to seven miles, depending on the terrain. Unfortunately, high hills blocked the signal, making it less effective in the mountains. Also, although the radio itself was waterproof, the handset was not. The handset looked like a black 1960s telephone handset attached by a long spiral cord. When the radio was turned to maximum volume, a person could hear easily with the handset a couple of feet from the ear. The handsets were often wrapped in plastic to protect them from the constant rain of monsoons. Radio operators were prime targets, easily spotted by the large FM antenna,
which also identified the person closest to the radio as the unit leader.

  R & R Stands for rest and recreation. Marines were given a five-day R & R once during their thirteen-month tour of duty in Vietnam. Because some places were more popular than others, the most desired places to go on R & R were allocated according to how much time a Marine had spent in-country. Sydney was a first choice among white Marines. Bangkok was a favored choice among black Marines. Hawaii was a favorite of married Marines. Some Marines waited until their twelfth month in order to get enough seniority to go where they wanted.