WAKE-UP: As in "13 and a wake-up" -- the last day of a soldier's Vietnam tour.
WAKEY: The last day in country before going home.
WALKING WOUNDED: Wounded who are still able to walk without assistance.
WALLABEE: An Australian Caribou aircraft.
WALTER WONDERFUL: Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, D.C.
WART HOG: A-10 aircraft. So slanged due to its 'ugly' appearance.
WASTED: Killed.
WATCHER: Enemy.
WATER TAXI: Small engine-powered boat with a sheltered passenger compartment. These native craft plied the major canals and rivers of Vietnam and provided a means of transportation from one village to the next.
WEB GEAR: Canvas belt and shoulder straps used for packing equipment and ammunition on infantry operations.
WEED: Marijuana.
WESPAC: Navy and Coast Guard terms for Western Pacific operations, which extended to the Asian Pacific. A WESPAC tour, then, was a tour of duty in the Western Pacific, generally synonomous with service in/around Vietnam.
WHISKEY: Military phonetic for the letter 'W'.
WHITE MICE: Derogatory name for South Vietnamese police. The nickname came from their uniform white helmets and gloves.
WHITE PHOSPHOURUS: A type of explosive round from artillery, mortars, or rockets. Also a type of aerial bomb. The rounds exploded with a huge puff of white smoke from the hotly burning phosphorus, and were used as marking rounds or incendiary rounds. When white phosphorus hit the skin of a living creature it continued to burn until it had burned through the body. Water would not extinguish it.
WIA: Wounded In Action.
WIDOW MAKER: Nickname for the M-16 rifle.
WILLIE PETER/WILLIE PETE/WHISKEY PAPA/W-P: Popular nicknames for white phosphorus mortar or artillery rounds or grenades. Also, rockets used by FACs to mark placement for bomb runs.
WO: Warrant Officer.
WOBBLY ONE: Warrant Officer, Grade W1.
WOC: Warrant Officer Candidate.
WOOD LINE: A row of trees at the edge of a field or rice paddy.
WORLD, THE WORLD: The United States
WP: White phosphorus.
WWII: World War II.
