Vocabulary of the Vietnam War

Activity Overview

Starting a unit or lesson with the key terms aids in overall comprehension and retention. In this activity, students will create a storyboard that defines and illustrates key terms related to the Vietnam War. It is helpful for students to preview vocabulary and important terms when studying historical events to help give them context. It also provides students with a way to distinguish between different offensives that were launched and groups involved in the war. Students should create a spider map with 3-10 words, at the teacher's discretion.

Examples of Vocabulary Related to the Vietnam War

Agent Orange: Agent Orange is a toxic chemical used as an herbicide and defoliant. It was used by the U.S. military as a weapon to destroy forest cover and crops for North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops from 1961 to 1971. It was found to also cause serious health problems like cancer, birth defects, severe psychological, and neurological problems to the Vietnamese people as well as U.S. troops and their children.

ARVN: ARVN is short for the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. They were the ground forces of the South Vietnamese military from 1955 to the Fall of Saigon in April 1975.

battalion: A battalion is a military unit comprising two or more companies and between 300 and 1,000 men. A battalion is usually commanded by an officer of lieutenant colonel rank or similar.

body count A body count is the number of enemy soldiers killed in an engagement or operation. During the Vietnam War, the U.S. military often used body counts as an indicator of success in a particular mission.

The Cold War: The Cold War was a long period of tension and hostility between democratic-capitalist nations (led by the United States and western Europe) and communist nations (led by the Soviet Union, eastern Europe and China). The Cold War unfolded after the end of World War II and lasted until the early 1990s. The political and ideological tensions of the Cold War provided a context for the Vietnam War.

communism Communism is a political and economic philosophy based on the writings of German philosopher Karl Marx. The aim of communists is to produce a society where there are no classes, no inequalities of wealth or ownership, and no oppressive structures of government.

containment: Containment was a Cold War foreign policy, adopted by the United States and their Western allies during the late 1940s. Its aim was to limit the spread of communism, initially in eastern Europe and later in Asia.

The Draft: Conscription, or the draft, is compulsory service in the armed forces. It has been used six times in the US: the Revolutionary War, Civil War, World War I, World War II, Korean War, and Vietnam War. During the Vietnam War from 1964 and 1973, 2.2 million American men were drafted. 25% of the military in combat zones were draftees. Many soldiers supported the war, others felt the draft was forcing them to fight in a war they did not believe in.

Domino Theory: The Domino Theory theorized that if one country in a region became communist, then it would lead to communist takeovers in neighboring countries, like dominoes falling. U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower first mentioned it in a speech in 1954, when arguing why the U.S. should support the French against communists in Vietnam who were trying to overthrow French colonial rule.

DMZ: DMZ stands for Demilitarized Zone. It was the border line established between North and South Vietnam from July 1954 to 1976 after the First Indochina War. It was located on the 17th parallel north latitude and extended from the Laos border to the coast. The DMZ saw heavy fighting during the Vietnam War.

Easter Offensive (or Spring Offensive): The Easter Offensive or Spring Offensive was a mass incursion into South Vietnam by North Vietnamese Army (NVA) forces. It was launched in late March 1972 and ground to a halt in seven months.

First Indochina War (also Anti-French War and Anti-Colonial War): The First Indochina War was a military struggle for control of Vietnam, between the Viet Minh and French colonial forces. It began in 1946 and ended with the Viet Minh victory at Dien Bien Phu in 1954.

fragging: ‘Fragging’ is American military slang for the deliberate murder of a superior officer, usually by intentional ‘friendly fire’ or booby traps. A common motive for fragging was the removal of an unpopular or incompetent officer, or to avoid dangerous combat orders.

free fire zones: Free fire zones were areas supposedly evacuated of civilians, usually through loudspeaker announcements, leaflet drops, or patrols. Once the area was evacuated it could be bombed, napalmed, or strafed to kill concealed Viet Cong. The evacuations were not always thorough, however, so there were often civilian casualties.

guerrilla warfare: Guerrilla warfare describes unconventional and unpredictable combat tactics, such as small scale battles, ambushes, surprise attacks, lightning raids, and sabotage. It is often utilized by smaller forces against a larger or better-equipped enemy.

Gulf of Tonkin incident:The Gulf of Tonkin incident refers to alleged attacks on American naval vessels by North Vietnamese torpedo boats in early August 1964. This alleged act of aggression was used as a pretext for direct U.S. military involvement in Vietnam.

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution: The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was passed by the U.S. Congress on August 10th, in response to the Gulf of Tonkin incident. It authorized the president to deploy U.S. military forces in south-east Asia, in defense of American interests, though it stopped short of declaring war.

Hồ Chí Minh Trail: The Hồ Chí Minh Trail was a colloquialism for Viet Cong and NVA supply lines into South Vietnam. The Hồ Chí Minh Trail ran from North to South Vietnam, with branches and supply dumps in eastern Laos and Cambodia.

Indochina: Indochina is a French colonial name for Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.

land reform: Land reform is the process of redistributing land, either to reduce inequality or increase agricultural production. In socialist North Vietnam, large tracts of land were seized from wealthy landlords and redistributed to peasants.

Marxism: Marxism is a political movement, based on the writings of 19th-century philosopher Karl Marx. Elements of Marxism have been embraced by nationalist and socialist movements, such as factions of the Viet Minh.

MIA: MIA is an abbreviation for ‘missing in action’.

Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (or MACV): MACV was the United States joint service (Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines) command headquarters in Vietnam. It was formed in February 1962 and dissolved in 1973. MACV was responsible for all American military activity in South Vietnam, beginning with training, support, and liaison with the South Vietnamese. It was later responsible for commanding U.S. combat operations in Vietnam. MACV was headed by four generals: Paul Harkins (1962-1964), William Westmoreland (1964-1968), Creighton Abrams (1968-1972) and Frederick Weyand (1972-1973).

napalm: Napalm is a gelatinous petroleum-based substance, sometimes used as an incendiary weapon. It is sprayed from flamethrowers or dropped from aircraft. It can be used as an anti-personnel weapon or to burn away heavy foliage or jungle.

Nguyen: Nguyen was the surname of the last dynasty or royal family to rule Vietnam. It is a common family name in Vietnam.

NVA: Short for the North Vietnamese Army, today known as the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) or Vietnamese People's Army (VPA). While the Viet Cong were irregular or guerilla forces in South Vietnam, the NVA were regular army forces of North Vietnam.

Pentagon Papers: A dossier of top-secret Department of Defense documents that was leaked to the press and published in 1971. They revealed the U.S. government’s strategy, secret agendas, and concealment of events in Vietnam. The exposure of the Pentagon Papers fuelled the anti-war movement and contributed to the US withdrawal from Vietnam.

platoon: A platoon is a group of 16-50 soldiers, usually divided into two or more squads and commanded by a lieutenant and one or more sergeants.

Politburo: The Politburo is the cabinet or executive committee of a communist government, such as that of North Vietnam.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (or PTSD): Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is a medical term for a range of physiological, psychological and neurological defects, caused by exposure to combat, weapons fire and the casualties of fellow soldiers. It was formerly known as ‘shell shock’ or ‘nervous shock’. PTSD was common among veterans of the Vietnam War.

POW: prisoner of war

Tet Offensive: A major joint offensive by the North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong. It was launched during Tet, a local holiday in January 1968.

tour of duty: The specified time of service in an operational area or combat zone. For most American soldiers the average tour of duty in Vietnam was 12 months.

Viet Cong: Viet Cong is the name given to the Vietnamese rebels or guerrilla fighters in the South who fought against the Southern Vietnam government and the United States. They called themselves the People's Liberation Armed Forces of South Vietnam (PLAF), they were the army of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam (NLF). The "Vietcong" flag was the a Communist flag with a blue half.

Viet Minh: The abbreviated name of the Vietnam Independence League, a coalition of left-wing and nationalist groups formed in 1941. Its first objective was to resist the Japanese occupation of Vietnam. The Viet Minh later defeated the French in the First Indochina War.

Vietnam War (also called the Second Indochina War): In Western countries the Vietnam War usually refers to the conflict of 1964-75, involving the North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong against the United States, its Western allies and South Vietnamese forces. In Vietnam, this conflict is usually called the ‘American War’ or the ‘Second Indochina War’.

Vietnamization: Vietnamization was the war policy of the Nixon administration, introduced in late 1969. Its aim was to wind back America’s commitment to Vietnam by reducing U.S. troop numbers and giving greater responsibility and resources to South Vietnamese forces.

VVAW: An abbreviation for Vietnam Veterans Against the War, an anti-war organization formed in 1966. Its members were all military personnel with a record of service in Vietnam.

war crime: An action that breaches the accepted rules of war. The most common war crime is the unjustified killing of unarmed civilians or prisoners of war.

war of attrition: A conflict where combatants seek to ‘wear down’ the enemy by prolonging the war and inflicting regular troop losses.

War Powers Act: The War Powers Act was passed by the US Congress in November 1973. It sought to limit the president’s ability to deploy American troops abroad for prolonged periods.

Watergate: A political scandal that led to the resignation of U.S. president Richard Nixon. It began in mid-1972 with a burglary at the Watergate Hotel in Washington DC. The scandal unfolded over the following two years and led to allegations of corruption and concealment within the White House. Nixon resigned in August 1974 as the Congress was taking steps to impeach him.