M-1: World War II vintage American rifle/carbine. The 8 shot, .30 caliber "M-1" was superceded by the M-14 and subsequently by the 18 shot .223 M-16. Also called the Garand rifle.
M11: Large, anti-malaria pill (Chloroquine). Taken every Monday, produced persistant diarrhea.
M-14: Wood stock .30 cal, select-fire rifle used in early portion of Vietnam War.
M-16: The standard U.S. military rifle used in Vietnam from 1966 on. Successor to the M-14. Nicknamed the "Widow Maker".
M-3 MEDICAL AID BAG: Smaller of the the two medical aid bags medics carried
M-5 MEDICAL AID BAG: The larger of the two medical aid bags carried. It was strapped to a medal pack frame.
M-60: American-made 7.62mm (.308 cal) machine gun. Standard lightweight machine gun used by U.S. forces in Vietnam.
M-79: Single-barreled, break-action grenade launcher, which fired 40mm projectiles, nicknamed the "Blooper." aka "Thumper" or "Thumpgun"
MA: Mechanical ambush. Euphemism for an American set booby trap.
MAC-SOG: Military Assistance Command Studies and Observation Group.
MACV (Mac-Vee): Military Assistance Command / Vietnam. The main American military command unit that had responsibility for and authority over all U.S. military activities in Vietnam. Based at Tan Son Nhut.
MACV-CORDS: Computer program designed to monitor the strength, size, location and effectiveness of the RF/PFs. Input supplied by MACV Advisors.
MAD MINUTE: Concentrated fire of all weapons for a brief period of time at maximum rate; also called "Mike-mike."
MAGS: Magazines where ammunition kept/stored until placed in a weapon.
MAIN FORCE BATTALION: The primary Vi?t C?ng fighting force within each province of South Vietnam. These units were often large enough and well enough equipped to participate in direct attacks on large Vietnamese and American installations and units.
MAMA-SAN: Slang for a Mature Vietnamese woman.
MARKER ROUND: The first round fired by mortars or artillery. Used to adjust the following rounds onto the target.
MARS: Military Affiliate Radio Station. Used by soldiers to call home via Signal Corps and ham radio equipment.
MAS-CAL: Mass casualty.
MASH: Mobile Army Surgical Hospital.
MAT TRAN: The Vietnamese Liberation Front.
MAT: Mobile advisory team. Five-man teams of American advisors who were assigned to live and work in the Vietnamese villages.
MECH: Mechanized infantry.
MECHANIZED PLATOON: A platoon operating with tanks and/or armored personnel carriers.
MED CAP: Medical Civil Action Program in which U.S. medical personnel would go into the villages to minister to the local populace.
MEDEVAC: Medical evacuation by helicopter; also called an "evac" or "Dustoff." "Medevac" was an acronym for medical evacuation, almost always associated with evacuation of casualties by helicopter during or after a battle. Consequently, the helicopters used for these missions also were called "medevac helicopters," or simply "medevacs." The use of the helicopter in a variety of missions was a distinguishing feature of the Vietnam War. For American and Allied troops, the sound of the helicopter was perhaps the most nearly ubiquitous sound of the war. Usually it evoked positive feelings for troops in the field, since the helicopter almost always meant relief in some form, be it additional troop reinforcements; supplies such as ammunition, food, and medicine; or evacuation of the wounded and/or dead. The use of the helicopter for medical evacuation contributed substantially to the military performance of American and Allied troops during the Vietnam War, and medevacs resulted in many wounded being saved who might otherwise have died.
MERMITE: Large insulated foot containers.
MET MESSAGE: Weather conditions report sent from a meteorological unit.
MFW: Multiple fragmentation wounds.
MG: Machine gun.
MI TEAM: Military intelligence team.
MIA: Missing In Action.
MIC: Microphone.
MIG 21: NVA fighter.
MIG: Soviet fighter plane.
MIGHTY MITE: Commercial air-blower used for injecting gas into tunnels.
MIHN OI: Sweetheart.
MIKE FORCE, MSF: Special Forces Mobile Strike Force; composed of indigenous personnel and used as a reaction or reinforcing unit.
MIKE: Minute. Such as, "Move out in two-zero Mikes..." (20 minutes).
MIKE: Military phonetic for the letter 'M'
MIKE-MIKE: Shorthand for millimeter as in "..a 60 Mike Mike" (60mm mortar).
MILLION DOLLAR WOUND: A non-crippling wound serious enough to warrant return to the U.S.
MINIGUN: Electronically controlled, rapid fire machine gun with multi-barrels that is electronically controlled, capable of firing up to 6,000 rounds a minute primarily used on choppers and other aircraft.
MINI-POUNDER: Small radar transmitter used to mark locations on the ground for radar-carrying aircraft.
MONDAY PILLS: Anti-malarial pills taken once a week
MONSOON: The torrential seasonal rains which come to Southeast Asia annually and usually lasted from June until December, with occasional variations. There were two seasons in Vietnam, Hot and Dry and Hot and Wet………
MONTAGNARD: A French term for several tribes of mountain people inhabiting the hills and mountains of central and northern Vietnam. Vietnam was a former French Colony and some of their phrases carried forth from their French Colonial days.
MOONBEAM: Nighttime name of "Hillsboro." Moonbeam was a night-time command and control aircraft that flew with BIG searchlights at fairly low altitudes, illuminating the ground.
MOOSE: A Korean war term for a Vietnamese mistress.
MORTAR: A muzzle-loading cannon with a short tube in relation to its caliber that throws projectiles with low muzzle velocity at high angles.
MOS: Military Occupational Specialty: The Army's designation of the job you had; one's job title.
MOST RICKY-TICK: Immediately, if not sooner.
MOUA: Rain.
MP: Military police.
MPC: Military payment currency; military script, used instead of U.S. dollars.
MR IV: Viet Cong military region surrounding and including Saigon
MR. CHARLES: The Viet Cong; the enemy
MULE: Small, motorized platform originally designed to carry a 106-millimeter recoilless rifle, but most often used for transporting supplies and personnel.
