Tim O'Brien'sThe Things They Carried
G L O S S A R Y O F T E R M S U S E D I N T H E N O V E L
Compiled by Prof. G. William Koon, English Department, Clemson University
(For a printable version of this glossary, click here.)
This glossary is organized by page. It explains terms, especially military terms, that may not be familiar to a general audience. Italicized material has been added by the faculty at the Community College of Baltimore County.
Page 1
- Mount Sebastian College in New Jersey: the fictional school attended by Martha, the girl loved by First Lt. Jimmy Cross. She writes him chatty, dispassionate letters about poetry and her professors, never mentioning the war. She is a virgin, often see in white. She may be an unattainable ideal for Cross, a woman he can never really love. The biblical references—Martha, Cross and Sebastian—support this ideal image. Cross's love is like the war itself—impossible. He is fighting for a girl he can't have in a war he can't win. But maybe he needs the ideal to keep him going. (See the top of p. 17.) The story "Love," with its ironic title, sees the two of them together again briefly. We learn that Martha will become a Lutheran missionary (p.28).
- Virginia Woolf (1882-1941): major British novelist, essayist, and critic. One of the leaders in the literary movement of modernism.
- P-38 can openers: small, collapsible GI field can opener.
- Military
Payment Certificates: used in place of U.S. currency. Covered all the
usual denominations of U.S. currency and coins. Often refered to as MPC.
- C-rations: combat rations. Individual meals issued to troops where no hot food or kitchen facilities were available.
- R&R:
rest and relaxation. A GI's vacation from the war. U.S. soldiers in
Vietnam were eligible for one 7-day R&R, sometimes in Hawaii, Thailand, or
Australia.
- SOP:
Standard Operating Procedure. Set of instructions, produced by a
grouping or unit, which explained exactly how various duties and tasks
should be carried out.
- RTO: Radio Telephone Operator. Soldier in the field who carried and/or maintained radio equipment. One of the prime targets of snipers or gunners.
- legs or
grunts: terms for enlisted men. Somewhat demoralizing in that they see
people in terms of parts or actions. On page 6, another term, KIA
(Killed In Action), is similar as it suggests not really a person but
an event. These references, where parts represent wholes, seem to be
consistent with the title; men are known by "the things they carried."
To the military establishment, they are known by their equipment;
meanwhile, they carry personal items to hang on to some kind of
meaningful, personal identity.
- Bonnie and Clyde: 1967 film about the notorious bank robbers, starring Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway.
- PRC-25 radio: standard field radio, man transported. Had 920 FM channels and weighed 23 pounds.
- M-60: standard infantry machine gun used during the 1960's and early 70's.
- PFCs: Private First Class. A soldier ranking above a private and below a corporal or Specialist Fourth Class in the U.S. Army.
- Spec 4s:
Specialist Fourth Class. An Army rank immediately above Private First
Class. Most enlisted men who had completed their individual training
and had been on duty for a few months were Spec-4s. Probably the most
common rank in the Vietnam-era Army.
- LSA oil: lubricant extensively used in the M-16 rifle to keep the bolt from jamming.
- dustoff: a medivac helicoptor
- M-14s: standard U.S. infantry rifle from 1959-66, when it began to be replaced by the M-16.
- CAR 15s: commando rifle with a shorter barrel than the M-16 and a short, expendable metal stock.
- Swedish Ks: Swedish-made submachine gun used by U.S. Special Forces and Navy SEALS in Vietnam.
- AK-47s: Soviet-designed 7.62mm assault weapon.
- Chi-Coms: Chinese Communists. Common reference to military equipment made in China.
- RPGs: Soviet designed hand-held anti tank rocket.
- Simonov carbines: Soviet-designed rifle with an approximately 22-24 inch barrel.
- Uzis: Israeli-designed 9mm submachine gun.
- 66mm LAWs: man-carried Light Antitank Weapons, shoulder-fired, single shot and short ranged.
- C-4 plastic explosives: Composition 4 explosives. Soft, gritty plastic explosive used by the military.
- Claymore antipersonnel mine: American-designed device that fires a quantity of ball-bearings in a specific direction. Can be initiated electronically or by means of a trip-wire.
- M-18 colored smoke grenades: generated red, green, yellow or purple smoke. Used for signaling and to provide cover or screening for troops.
- CS or tear
gas grenades: type of tear agent. Normally used by riot police for
crowd control.
- bug juice: military-used insect repellent.
- AOs: Area of Operation. Area where a unit is assigned to reduce the chance of friendly fire.
- Toe poppers: small pressure-detonated mine with the power to blow off a hand or part of a foot, used for booby traps.
- Bouncing betties: cone-shaped mine buried in ground. When triggered it bounced 3 feet in the air, then exploded, causing extensive shrapnel damage to the lower body.
- Starlight
scope: type of image intensifier.
- Chu Lai:
major U.S. base constructed on the coast of South Vietnam in Quang Tin
Province. Chu Lai is not a
Vietnamese word. It is the Chinese Mandarin pronunciation of the
last name of Marine General Krulak. See map.
- Paladin: western hero, a gunslinger, of the T.V. show "Have Gun, Will Travel." The several references to cowboy heroes, all of them wholesome and heroic, contrast with the realistic portrayal of the combat solders of the book.
- USO: United Services Organization. Private, nonprofit organization formed to support members of the U.S. Armed Forces. Provided social clubs and facilities for overseas military personnel.
- Sterno: fuel used for a small portable gas stove.
- Joss sticks: incense.
- grease pencils: black and green grease used to camouflage the hands and face during military operations.
- The Stars and Stripes: a patriotic military newspaper.
- Psy Ops leaflets: designed to lower the enemies' morale (psychological operations).
- Mermite cans: large vacuum sealed, insulated food containers used for transporting hot food to the field.
- PRC-77 scrambler radio: field radio with a scrambler/descrambler attached. Used to make radio calls over a secure net.
- code of
conduct: the rules of war, particularly
as they apply to soldiers who are captured by the enemy. Ironic
since the rules don't seem to apply
here.
- entrenching tool: military shovel.
- greased, offed, lit up, zapped: impersonal terms for being killed.
- freedom birds: airplanes that fly
soldiers out of Vietnam
- Sin Loi!: Vietnamese for "sorry about that."
- police:
to clean up
- GI: Government Issue, another impersonal term for the men.
- Poppa-san: GI slang for an old Vietnamese man or head of a family. "San" is actually a Japanese term of respect, but the term lost any sense of respect with its use in Vietnam.
- Batangan Peninsula: peninsula centered southeast of Chu Lai along the coast of Quang Ngai Province, I Corps. See map.
- dink:
Vietnamese nickname for U.S. soldiers. Adopted by GIs to refer to all
Vietnamese, friend or foe.
- AWOL: Absent Without Leave. Away from a military unit without permission.
- Danang:
port city in Quang Ngai Province, I Corps, on the mouth of the Ca De
Song River.
- My Khe:
beach located about 15 km from the town of Quang Ngai. See map.
- The Lone Ranger: another cowboy hero who is always honorable, always victorious.
- Macalester College: private undergraduate liberal arts college located in St. Paul, Minnesota. Tim O'Brien graduated from here in 1968 before his tour of duty in Vietnam.
- USS Maddox: U.S. Navy destroyer attacked by North Vietnamese gunboats on August 2, 1964. After another attack two days later, the U.S. retaliated with the bombing of the North Vietnamese port city of Vinh, the first bombing of that country by the U.S.
- Gulf of Tonkin: off the coast of North Vietnam. The Maddox was patrolling here in international waters when attacked.
- Ho Chi Minh: ruled North Vietnam from 1954 until his death in 1969. His goal was to unite all of Indo-China under the Communist Party.
- Geneva Accords: Vietnamese peace agreement that ended the first Indo-China War between France and the Viet Minh in July 1954.
- SEATO:
Southeast Asia Treaty Organization.
Conceived by the U.S. and formed in 1954 to fight the spread of
communism among its member nations.
- Gene McCarthy: Democratic presidential candidate in the 1968 election, defeated by Richard Nixon.
- Phi Beta
Kappa: American honor society for college
students.
- LBJ: Lyndon Baines Johnson. President, 1963-69.
- Westmoreland:
General William C. Westmoreland,
commander of Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, June 1964-July 1968.
Later, became President of the Citadel.
Page 43
- graduate school deferments: potential draftees could receive an exemption from fighting in Vietnam if they were in college or graduate school.
- CO status: conscientious objector.
- Bao Dai: last emperor of Vietnam (1925-46 and 1949-55). Ruled Vietnam before its division into North and South Vietnam. Exiled to Paris.
- Jane Fonda: actress who in 1972 made a pro-North Vietnamese propaganda trip to Hanoi.
- Barbarella:
Fonda was remembered by many GIs for
her nude scenes in this film.
- My Khe:
beach located about 15 km from the town of Quang Ngai. See map.
- LZ Gator: Landing Zone. The particular landing zones were all named for animals. See map.
- wheelchair bound: a completely debilitating wound.
- cooze: derogatory term for a woman.
- Quang Ngai: capital of Quang Ngai Province in South Vietnam. See map.
- LP: Listening Post. Acted as early warning to the rest of the unit for enemy advance or attack.
- Radio Hanoi: North Vietnamese radio programs that targeted U.S. troops in South Vietnam.
- Haiphong Boys Choir: Haiphong was North Vietnam's major port city. "Haiphong Boys Choir" was a phrase, probably invented by Sanders, to describe the chanting voices the soldiers in the field started to hear after weeks of fighting.
- Cobras: American-designed AH-1 attack helicopter.
- F-4s: American-designed multirole fighter aircraft, suitable for use from aircraft carriers, aka the Phantom.
- Willie Peter: white phosphorus. Long burning material used in bombs, rockets, etc.
- HE: high explosive.
- Brigadoon:
1954 musical/fantasy starring Gene
Kelly, set in the Scottish highlands. Scotland has much of the same
type of mountain fog described in this story.
- Chu Lai:
major U.S. base constructed on the coast of South Vietnam in Quang Tin
Province. Chu Lai is not a
Vietnamese word. It is the Chinese Mandarin pronunciation of the
last name of Marine General Krulak. See map.
- Song Tra Bong: river near the Batangan Peninsula. See map.
- Culottes: women's baggy calf-length pants.
- Danang: port city in Quang Ngai Province, I Corps, on the mouth of the Ca De Song River.
- NCO: Non Commissioned Officer, typically a sergeant.
- E-6: staff sergeant. Normally led a platoon or platoon-sized unit of 22-40 men.
- Darvon: commonly prescribed pain medication in the Army.
- RFs, PFs, ARVN: South Vietnamese territorial forces, defensive in nature, usually lacking training and poorly equipped.
- ruff-and-puffs:
another name for RF/PFs.
- EM club: club for enlisted men.
- C-130: American designed transport aircraft, aka the Hercules.
- MP: military policeman.
- CID:
Criminal Investigations Division. Military
organization that investigated crimes. During the Vietnam War, it
focused much energy on controlling drugs and smuggling. Generally
disliked by all GIs worldwide.
- Friar Tuck: a genial priest in the Robin Hood stors.
- The Man I Killed: a play on the Thomas Hardy poem, "The Man He Killed," an ironic statement about killing people we might befriend in circumstances other than those of war.
- My Khe:
beach located about 15 km from the town of Quang Ngai. See map.
- Quang Ngai: capital of Quang Ngai Province in South Vietnam. See map.
- Trung sisters: two Vietnamese sisters who led the first national uprising against the Chinese, who had conquered them, in the year 40 A.D. The Trungs gathered an army of 80,000 people to help drive the Chinese from their lands
- Tran Hung Dao ( 1213-1300): In 1284, Kublai Khan lead a 500,000-man Chinese army into Vietnam. Guerrillas organized by Tran Hung Dao virtually destroyed the invasion force
- Le Loi: Vietnamese general and emperor who won back independence for Vietnam from China in 1428, founded the Later Le Dynasty, and became the most honored Vietnamese hero of the medieval period.
- Tot Dong:
location of Le Loi's final victory
against the Chines
- Silver Star: U.S.'s third highest award for valor, awarded by the president for bravery in combat.
- Chu Lai: major U.S. base constructed on the coast of South Vietnam in Quang Tin Province. Chu Lai is not a Vietnamese word. It is the Chinese Mandarin pronunciation of the last name of Marine General Krulak. See map.
- Karl Marx (1818-1883): German founder of communism who wrote The Communist Manifesto.
- Hanoi:
capital, from 1976, of Vietnam ; capital,
1954–76, of North Vietnam ; and former capital of French
Indochina. See map.
- Saigon: capital of South Vietnam from 1954-1976, when it was renamed Ho Chi Minh City and is now the capital of Vietnam. See map.
- Cu Chi:
home of the U.S. 25 th Infantry Division
in Vietnam.
- Tri Binh:
village in the Chu Lai area. See map.
- Gene
Autry: still another cowboy hero, a righteous
winner.
- Harmon Killebrew: American baseball hero who played for the Minnesota Twins in the 1960's.
- Charlie Cong: nickname for Viet Cong soldiers.
- Audie Murphy: WWII hero who later became a movie star.
- Cisco Kid:
another valiant cowboy hero.
- Mary Hopkin: British singer, popular in the late 1960's and early 1970's.
- Hitchcock/The Birds: a 1963 Hitchcock thriller starring Rod Taylor and Tippi Hedren. Vicious birds attack an isolated California community.
- NoDoz: an inexpensive stay-awake medicine.
- The Man Who Never Was: a 1956 British film starring Clifton Webb; a WWII spy story.
- Mama-san: GI name for an aged or mature Vietnamese woman. "San" is actually a Japanese term of respect, but the term lost any sense of respect with its use in Vietnam.