S & S: Supply & Service; designation of a support unit.
SADDLE UP: Put on one's pack on and get ready to move out
SAF: Small arms fire.
SAIGON TEA: Term used to denote a "non-alcoholic" drink drunk by prostitutes in bars in Saigon. If you hoped to get anywhere, you had to buy her Saigon tea at grossly outrageous prices. That is the way the bars got their cut of the prostitute trade.
SALVO: Firing a battery in unison.
SAME-SAME: Same as....
SAMPAN: A Vietnamese peasant's boat.
SANDY: Another nickname for the propeller drive A-1E single seat "Skyraider" dive bomber used extensively in Vietnam, especially by the Vietnamese Air Force (VNAF).
SAPPER: A Viet Cong or NVA solder who gets inside the perimeter, armed with explosives
SATCHEL CHARGES: Pack used by the enemy containing explosives that is dropped or thrown and is generally more powerful than a grenade.
SEA: Southeast Asia.
SEA HUTS: Southeast Asia huts. Standard-designed buildings of corrigated tin roofs; walls of horizontal-louvered boards four feet up from the bottom, and screen from the bottom to the roof inside; some were on concrete pads and some were on blocks; some had sandbags around.
SEABEES: Naval construction engineers. Derived from C.B.--Navy construction battalion.
SEAL: Highly trained Navy special warfare team members search and destroy: an operation in which Americans searched an area and destroyed anything which the enemy might find useful.
SEARCH AND CLEAR: Offensive military operations to sweep through areas to locate and attack the enemy.
SEARCH AND DESTROY: Offensive operations designed to find and destroy enemy forces rather than establish permanent government control; also, called "Zippo missions."
SEATO: Southeast Asia Treaty Organization
SEMINAR CAMP: The Laotian Communist version of the reeducation camp for political prisoners.
SEMPER FI: Short for "Semper Fidelis," Latin for "Always Faithful." Used extensively by the U.S. Marine Corps.
SEREIKA (Khmer Serei): The non-Communist Cambodian resistance force.
SERETTE: Little disposable needle with morphine.
SERTS: Screaming Eagle Replacement Training School
SET: A party.
SEVENTEENTH PARALLEL: Temporary division line between North and South Vietnam established by the Geneva Accords of 1954. Also, see DMZ.
SF: Special Forces.
SFTG: Special Forces Training Group.
SHACKLE: Encrypt, a method of encoding sensitive information, such as unit locations.
SHADOW: C-119 gunship: 7.62 and/or 20mm mini guns mounted in side windows.
SHAKE'nBAKE: An officer straight out of OCS (Officer Candidate School) without any combat experience. This term could also be applied to sergeant who attended NCO school and earned rank after a few months in service.
SHAMMING: Goofing off or getting by with as little effort as possible.
SHAPED CHARGE: an explosive charge, the energy of which is focused in one direction.
SHELL: Artillery projectile.
SHIT BURNING: The sanitization of latrines by kerosene incineration of excrement. See also "Honey-Dippers".
SHIT: A catchall multipurpose term, ie, a firefight was 'in the shit', a bad situation was 'deep shit', to be well prepared and alert was to have your 'shit wired tight.'
SHITHOOK: Slang for a CH-47 "Chinook" Helicopter.
SHORT ORBIT: Aircraft circling to land; small, close orbit by aircraft overhead.
SHORT TIME: "Short time" sex with a prostitute, typically cost $3-$5.
SHORT TIMER: Soldier nearing the end of his tour in Vietnam short-timer's stick: when a soldier had approximately two months remaining on his tour in Vietnam, he might take a long stick and notch it for each of his remaining days in-country. As each day passed he would cut the stick off another notch until on his rotation day he was left with only a small stub.
SHORT, SHORT-TIME, SHORT-TIMER: Individual with little time remaining in Vietnam. An expression which indicated you were close to your Fini Flight and the Freedom Bird. In your last couple of weeks, you were so "short" you were invisible.
SHORT: A term used by everyone in Vietnam to tell all who would listen that his tour was almost over
SHOTGUN/SHOTGUNNER: Armed guard on or in a vehicle who watches for enemy activity and returns fire if attacked. Also a door gunner on a helicopter.
SHRAPNEL: Pieces of metal sent flying by an explosion.
SIERRA: Military phonetic for the letter 'S'.
SILVER STAR: U.S. military decoration awarded for gallantry in action.
SIN LOI, MINOI: Too bad, honey. (see "XIN LOI.")
SIN LOY: See "SIN LOI."
SIT-REP: Situation report.
SIX TYPE: A medic; Doc.
SIX: From aviation jargon: "my 6 o'clock"--directly behind me; hence, my back--cover my back or rear of operation. Also infantry term for Commanding Officer
SIX-BY: A large flat-bed truck usually with wooden slat sides enclosing the bed and sometimes a canvas top covering it. Used for carrying men or anything else that would fit on it.
SKATE: A task that required little effort or pain; verb form means to take it easy. Goof off.
SKS: Simonov 7.62 mm semi-automatic carbine.
SKY CRANE: Nickname for the huge Sikorsky UH-54 double-engine helicopter used for lifting and transporting heavy equipment.
SKY OUT: To flee or leave suddenly.
SKY PILOT: Another name for the Chaplain.
SKY: to leave.
SKYRAIDER: Douglas A-1E aircraft, single propeller aircraft used for Close Air Support (CAS). Also called Sandy's.
SKYSPOT: Ground directed bombing conducted by the 1st Combat Evaluation Group of the Strategic Air Command. Directed and released ordinance from B-52, B-57, F-4 and other aircraft of the US, Austrailian and RVN. Ground sites were located on Vietnam and Thailand.
SLACK MAN: Second man in a patrol, behind the POINTMAN.
SLANT: Derogatory term for a Vietnamese person.
SLEEPER: An undercover agent or a mole.
SLICK: Helicopter used to lift troops or cargo with only protective armaments systems. Also, see Huey Slick.
SLOPE: A derogatory term used to refer to any Asian.
SLOW MOVER: Propeller driven AF fighter aircraft.
SMG: Submachine gun.
SMOKE GRENADE: A grenade that released brightly colored smoke. Used for signaling choppers. Yellow was a safe LZ and Red was a hot LZ.
SNAFU: Situation Normal All Fucked Up.
SNAKE: In reference to the AH-1G Cobra.
SNAKE: Snake-Eye bombs used for close air support, as in "Snake N' Nape" (bombs and napalm).
SNEAKY PETES: U.S. Army Special Forces or Rangers
SNOOP 'N' POOP: Marine search and destroy offensive mission.
SNOOPY: This was a mission flown often in Nam (129th Assault Helicopter Co.). One ship flew at tree-top level, trying to draw enemy fire from hidden troops (this was "Snoopy"). The second ship (at high elevation) would then observe where the shots came from and dive and attack. These were Snoopy Missions.
SNUFFY: Was/is the term Marines use in the same way Army calls themselves grunts. This term's footnoted in one of the major books on Khe Sahn and was in common use in I Corps (1/67-7/68). It has triple meaning to Marines: 1. to snuff is the mission, 2. we don't grunt under our loads, and 3. a wry reference to the historical willingness of Marine leaders to expend their lives for what may seem like small gains (arising from the fact that this small service just doesn't have the logistical ability to throw much ordnance on an objective beforehand). It is a most fundamental term.
SOG: Studies and Observations Group. Also, Special Operations Group.
SOI: Signal Operating Instructions. The booklet that contained all of the call signals and radio frequencies of the units in Vietnam.
SOLACIUM: Payment standard amount paid by the U.S. government to Vietnamese civilians when U.S. forces were deemed responsible for a wrongful civilian death.
SOP: Standard operating procedure.
SORTIE: One aircraft making one takeoff and landing to conduct the mission for which it was scheduled.
SOS: "Shit On A Shingle." Creamed meat on toast. A breakfast standard in every military chow hall.
SP PACK: Cellophane packet containing toiletries and cigarettes which was sometimes given along with C-rations to soldiers in the field.
SPECIALIST: 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.
SPECIAL FORCES OR SF: U.S. Army soldiers; also called "Green Berets," trained in techniques of guerrilla warfare.
SPIDER HOLE: Camouflaged enemy foxhole.
SPOOKY: AC-47 is a propeller-driven aircraft with 3 Miniguns -capable of firing 6,000 rounds per minute per gun for a total of 18,000 rounds per minute - The mini guns were on one side of the plane. The plane would bank to one side to fire. Also, see Puff the Magic Dragon.
SQUAD: A squad is a basic organizational institution in the United States Army and Marine Corps. A sergeant usually commands the squad, and the squad is composed of two teams of four men each. A tank and its crew is considered the squad for an armored unit, as is the howitzer or gun and its crew in an artillery unit.
STAND-DOWN: Period of rest and refitting in which all operational activity, except for security, is stopped.
STANSIONS: Stabilizing devices.
STARBOARD: On the right when facing forward.
STARLIFTER: Nickname for the C-141 aircraft, the largest military cargo transport airplane in the Air Force inventory until the introduction of the C-5 "Galaxy".
STARLIGHT SCOPE: An image intensifier using reflected light to identify targets at night steel pot: the standard U.S. Army helmet. The steel pot was the outer metal cover.
STAY BEHIND (LEAVE BEHIND): Ambush tactic wherein a small group is left behind after a unit breaks camp in order to ambush enemy sweeping thru the 'deserted' area.
STEEL POT: The standard U.S. Army helmet. The steel pot was the outer metal cover.
STERILIZED: Restore a site to its original condition before moving out of it, particularly if there was a more than remote possiblility of enemy troops coming across where American troops had been. This included not leaving any C-ration cans, bending bushes back that may have been leaned on, brushing the ground free of footprints or other impressions left by sitting or lying, etc. This was not always possible; but it was worth the effort because 6 (and even 10) men could be, and often where, outnumbered. Success (survival) depended upon not being discovered by their counterparts.
STERN: Back of a ship or boat.
STOL: Short takeoff and landing. C-123 and C-130 aircraft were noted for using little runway when not over-loaded.
STRAC: Smart, sharp, well prepared (from STRategic Air Command).
STRAP HANGER: Comes from the Airborne--someone who is not a part/regular member of the organization/team but is along for the ride.
STRATEGIC HAMLET PROGRAM: A controversial pacification and village self-defense program implemented by the Diem government that attempted to turn all sixteen thousand South Vietnamese hamlets into fortified compounds.
STROBE: Hand held strobe light for marking landing zones at night
SWIFT BOAT: U.S. Navy patrol boat, designated PCF (patrol craft fast), part of operation Market Time, used to patrol coastal waters and rivers of Vietnam.
SYRETTES: A hypodermic needle connected to a collapsible tube. Contained morphine in most cases. After inserting the needle in the body one would squeeze the morphine tube like tooth past.
