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Project Jenny KLIK - 1st Inf Di v Women in Vietnam RELATED-- To AFVN To Saigon To Vietnam Further Afield Index
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S & D - Search and Destroy. This was the military tactic of General William Westmoreland.
SAC - Strategic Air Command
Saigon - The original name of present day Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam., The capital of South Vietnam.
SAM - Surface to Air Missile.
Same-same – Sometimes "samo-samo.") Slang for “same as.”
Sampan - A common means of river transportation for the Vietnamese.(USS)
Sanctuary(USS) - One of two US Navy hospital ships used during the Vietnam War. The other was the USS Repose.
Sappers – North Vietnamese Army or Viet Cong demolition commandos that specialized in stealth attacks (crawling through
the perimeter wire) on base camps.
SAR – Search and Rescue.
SAS - Specail Ai Service
Satchel Charge - An explosive device used primarily in VC/NVA tunnels.
SC - Submarine Chaser
SC - Supply Corps
SCATTOR - Small Craft Assets, Training, and Tunover of Rewsources
Screaming Eagles - 101st Airborne Division (US Army).
Script - See: MPC
SDS - Students for a Democratic Society. A dissident group formed by two University of Michigan students.
These two young students were also responsible for creating the Port Huron (Michigan) manifesto.)
SEA – Southeast Asia.
SeaBees - US Navy construction engineers. Formed during WWII, their true name is derived from Navy “Construction
Battalion (C-B’s).
Sea King - The SH-3A helicopter which was used extensively by the US Navy for air-sea rescue.
Seafood - Any kind of fish or shell fish (eels, fish, etc.). An important part of the Vietnamese diet.
SEAL - Sea, Air, and Land Team. Highly training Naval Special Warfare Forces.
SEALORDS - Southeast Asia Lake, Ocean, River and Delta Strategy
SEASHARP - Southeast Asia Semi-Permanent Harbor Protection
Sea Sprite - UH-2C sea rescue helicopter used by the US Navy.
Search and Destroy – (S&D) Offensive operations designed to find and destroy enemy forces rather than establishing permanent
government control. Slang – Zippo missions.
Search and Destroy – Early US offensive operations designed to sweep through areas to locate the enemy and destroy them and
their infrastructure.
SEATO - South East Asian Treaty Organization.
Segregation now... segregation forever!- The slogan of Governor George Wallace when he campaigned for the US Presidency.
He later said that he didn't believe his slogan, it was just politics.
Serette (Morphine) – Disposable needles containing morphine carried by soldiers. If wounded the soldier was injected with
the morphine serrete was pinned to his fatigue jacket.
SERVPAC - Service Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet
Seventeenth Parallel – The temporary dividing line established by the 1954 Geneva Accords between North and South Vietnam.
Shadow – A Fairchild C-119 twin-boom cargo plane converted into a gun ship that had 7.62 and/or 20 mm mini guns
mounted in side windows. Early pilots used grease pencils to mark sights on their side windows.
Later models used a spider web device on the pilot side window for sighting.
Shaped Charge - An explosive device that detonates in a predetermined direction.
Shake-'n-bake - A soldier who went to Basic Training and Advanced Individual Training, then to NCO school and promoted to E-5 – Sergeant. They arrived in country as an NCO with relatively no time in service or combat experience.
The term s also used to describe officers who attend and graduate from Officer Candidate School (OCS).
Shawnee - CH-21 helicopter.
Shell – A “round” or projectile from a military weapon
Shithook – Slang term for CH-47 “Chinook” helicopter.
Short / Short-timer - Someone near the end of their service or tour in Vietnam.
Signal 300 - Code for enemy attack.
Sihanouk, Prince - The leader of Cambodia who was sometimes a friend to the US, but basically a communist.
Sihanoukville (Kampot) - The Cambodian Port were arms shipments were delivered to the VC/NVR.
Sijan, Captain Lance P. - The only Air Force Academy graduate to win the Medal of Honor (he died in a North Vietnamese POW
camp). A hall is dedicated to Captain Sijan at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Sin Loi - Vietnamese (slang) for sorry, that's too bad, or tough luck.
SITREP - Situation Report.
Six – Radio code name for a commander in Vietnam, or the position directly behind the person talking as in “my 6
o’clock”.
Skate(d) - (As in, “I skated”) Have it easy; normally in the rear. To goof off.
SKS - Communist Simonov semiautomatic rifle used by VC/NVA, 7.62mm.
Sky Pilot - The slang name for a chaplain/minister in Vietnam.
Sky Soldiers - Members of the 173rd Airborne Brigade.
Skycrane - CH-54 helicopter.
Skyhawk - A-4 jet.
Skyraider - A1-E plane. Commonly called "Sandy" also A-1G/A-1H.
Slack man - Second man in a patrol; walked directly behind the point man.
SLAM - Search, Locate, Annihilate, Monitor.
Sleeper – An undercover agent or mole.
Slick - UH-1D helicopter; troop carrying helicopter, usually mounted two M-60 machine guns – one on either side of
the troop/cargo compartment.
SLF - Special Landing Force
Slope – (Also slope-head) A derogatory term that refers to any oriental person.
Smack - Heroin.
Smoke - Smoke grenades or smoke generators used to conceal troop movements or identify positions.
Smoke - Marijuana.
Snake - Slang for a Cobra gunship.
SNCC - Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee. Stokley Carmichael was its leader in 1966. The organization
was originally non-violent.
Snoopy Blanket - Nickname for a camouflage poncho liner.
Snuffy – A term for a Marine.
SOG - Studies & Observation Group. Originally called "Special Operations Group", the name was changed to reflect
"political correctness".
SOI - “Signal Operating Instructions” contained call signs and frequencies of most military units in Vietnam.
SOP - Standard Operating Procedure.
Sortie – One aircraft making one takeoff and one landing in the conduct of a mission. The number of sorties referred to
the number of planes (take off and landing) used in the operation. Three sorties were three landings
and take offs.
SOS – The international three letters signaling distress. Also an abbreviation for “shit on a shingle” - slang used to
describe creamed beef on toast.
Soul Alley - The section of Saigon that catered almost exclusively to African-American soldiers.
Soul Brother - A black (African American).
South China Sea - The body of water directly East of Vietnam
Special Capital Zone - The name of the area around Saigon.
Special Forces – An elite small unit (A/B/C teams) of US Army soldiers designed to train local residents in fighting and guerrilla war
techniques. President John Kennedy awarded the group the distinctive headgear, the “Green Beret” as
they became known. The most widely held image is that of a 12-man “A” team. The other teams became
progressively bigger and more complex.
Spider Hole - The opening of a tunnel complex from which the VC would fire.
Spooky - AC-47 gunship, also known as Puff The Magic Dragon, equipped with several 7.62 mm miniguns.
Squad - A basic military unit of 8 personnel, organized in two, 4-man groups, usually commanded by a Sergeant.
Square - A cigarette.
SR-71 - A US top-secret spy plane used during the Vietnam era (if you saw it, you never acknowledged it). They operated
in the clear (daylight takeoffs) from Kadena AB, Okinawa and out of select US bases in Vietnam.
SS - Steamship
SS - Submarine
SS Columbia Eagle - A munitions ship that was hijacked to Cambodia, and then returned because the Cambodian government
found they couldn't use the equipment on board.
STAB - Strike Assault Boat
STABSEAL - Team Assault Boat
Stand Down – Period of rest and refitting in a base camp in which all operational activity, except for security, is stopped.
Starfighter - F-104 jet.
Starlifter - C-141 cargo jet.
Starlight scope - Night vision scope.
Starlite - See: Operations
STAT - Seabee Technical Assistance Team
Steel Pot - A helmet.
Strac - Adherence to strict military code, and dress. I.E., "He is strac."
Stratofortress - B-52 jet
STCAN/FOM - French-designed River Patrol Craft
Super Constellation - C-121. A plane rigged with radar and electronics. The EC-121 (Early-Warning-Radar equipped plane)
broadcast a code yellow when it detected movement of enemy aircraft in North Vietnam. The C-121s
were also used in Project Jenny, the airborne broadcasting of radio and TV in Vietnam.
Super Sabre - F-100 jet. More commonly known as the "Hun".
Surrender - The South Vietnamese surrendered on April 30, 1975, to the VC/NVA.
Swift Boat - A US Navy patrol boat used in conjunction with Operation Market Time – an operation to deny the use of
coastal waters as a means to infiltrate men and weapons into South Vietnam. The boats were
designated PCF – Patrol Craft Fast.
An "Unofficial" Vietnam
Dictionary
Written by Paul Kasper
Edited by Bob Nelson
Dedicated to all Vietnam Veterans--"Especially those who didn't come home."