LA VAY: Beer.
LAAW: A shoulder-fired, 66-millimeter rocket, similar in effect to a 3.5-inch rocket, except that the launcher is made of Fiberglass, and is disposable after one shot
LAGER: A night defensive perimeter.
LAI DAI: "Bring to me" or "Come to me."
LAO DONG: The Vietnamese Workers Party
LAW: M72 Light Antitank Weapon. A shoulder-fired, 66mm rocket with a one-time disposable fiberglass launcher.
LAY CHILLY: To freeze; to stop all motion, lie motionless.
LBGB: Little bitty gook boat (small watercraft, usually one or two people, sometimes made from reeds).
LBJ: Long Binh "Jail" Stockade. (L-B-J) the Long Binh Jail. The last word was changed to make a pun on the initials of President Lyndon Baines Johnson.
LCM: A mechanized landing craft used in harbors and inland waterways.
LEATHERNECK: Term for MARINE..(Marines wore a Leather neckband 1798-1880 for protection of the neck during sword combat.)
LEG: Slightly contemptuous term used by airborne-qualified troops when they are talking about regular infantry.
LEGO: infantry unit.
LIEN DOI: Company group. A Vietnamese military unit consisting of three militia infantry companies
LIFER: Career military man. The term is often used in a derogatory manner.
LIGHT UP: To fire on the enemy.
LIMA: Military phonetic for the letter 'L'.
LIMA-LIMA: Land line. Refers to telephone communications between two points on the ground.
LITTERS: Stretchers to carry dead and wounded.
LITTLE PEOPLE: The enemy.
LIT-UP: Fired upon; shot and killed or wounded.
LLDB: Luc Luong Dac Biet. The South Vietnamese Special Forces.
LMG: Light machine gun. The Soviet made RPD, a bi-pod mounted, belt fed weapon similar to the American M-60 machine gun. The RPD fires the same cartridge as the AK-47 and the SKS carbine.
LO DUN: Land mines. Referred to as such by tiger scouts.
LOACH OR LOH: Light observation helicopter, notably the OH-6A.
LOC: Library of Congress.
LOCK AND LOAD: Meaning to chamber a round in your weapon. Lock and load comes from the rifle range training exercises, when ordered to chamber a round in our rifles. Lock means mounting the magazine; load means chambering a round.
LOG BIRD: Logistical (resupply) helicopter.
LONG GREEN LINE: Column of infantry advancing through jungle terrain.
LONG KNIFE: Call sign of the Army Air Cav Hueys: also "Long Knives" as a generic term for the Air Cav.
LONG TIME: "Long time" sex with a prostitute, when you stayed overnight, typically cost $15-$20. The price varied depending upon when the miltary got paid.
LONG TIMER: Someone who had just arrived in Vietnam and had their whole tour ahead of them.
LORAN: A "long-range radio-navigation" position fixing system using the time difference of reception of pulse type transmissions from two or more fixed stations. The USCG operated four "LORAN" stations in SE Asia. "LORAN" is being made obsolete by the global positioning system (GPS).
LP: Listening post. A two- or three-man position set up at night outside the perimeter away from the main body of troopers, which acted as an early warning system against attack. Also, an amphibious landing platform used by infantry for storming beaches from the sea.
LRP OR LRRP (Lurp): Long-range reconnaissance patrol. An elite team usually composed of five to seven men who go deep into the jungle to observe enemy activity without initiating contact.
LSA: Small arms lubricant.
LST: Troop landing ship. Derived from the term "landing ship tank".
LT: Lieutenant.
LURPS: Long-range reconnaissance patrol members. Also, an experimental lightweight food packet consisting of a dehydrated meal and named after the soldiers it was most often issued to.
LZ: Landing zone. Usually a small clearing secured temporarily for the landing of resupply helicopters. Some become more permanent and eventually become base camps.
LZ CUT: Performed from C-130 aircraft usually by rolling a large bomb out the rear which was attached to a 6' fuse. The bomb blew horizontally, not creating a crater but making an instant LZ.
