Vietnam

[DingBat]

Some of these I've asked before, but collected here for your enjoyment...

1) What even triggered the commitment of U.S. ground troops?
2) The Vietnam war generated huge amounts of slang. What was:

a) A BUFF?
b) A Thud?
c) Puff the Magic Dragon?
d) A slick?
e) Lurps?
f) A cherry?
g) A REMF or Pogue?
h) A Spad or a Sandy?
i) A Thumper?
j) A Zippo?

3) What sort of strange beast was an Ontos?
4) What was the official designation of the Black Horse Regiment?
5) What was a Wild Weasel?
6) The first major battle between US Army units and NVA regulars took place took place at LZ XRay in Nov 14, 1965.

a) What unique US unit was involved?
b) What NVA unit was involved?
c) In what infamous location did the battle take place?

7) At least two other nations made significant commitments of combat troops in South Vietnam. Name them.
8) What was the Iron Triangle?
9) This bombing campaign was designed to force the North Vietnamese government back to the bargaining table.
10) What was the name of the operation to relieve Khe Sanh?

/bruce

 

[andycapp]

1. Gulf of Tonkin incident.

7. Australia and New Zealand - hmm, not sure about the Kiwis

Have to think about the rest.

 

[Knight-Dragon]

"7) At least two other nations made significant commitments of combat troops in South Vietnam. Name them."

South Korea and Taiwan too.

 

[DingBat]

I was thinking of Australia and South Korea.

Here's an interesting bit of trivia for you. Two SAS members may be awarded the Victoria Cross for action in Afghanistan.

When was the last Victoria Cross awarded and to whom?

/bruce

 

[Gruntboy]

1) Gulf of Tonkin incident
2) The Vietnam war generated huge amounts of slang. What was:

a) A BUFF? Big Ugly Fat Fella
b) A Thud? F101?/F105? Thunderchief - a bomber
c) Puff the Magic Dragon? Dakota with rotary cannon
d) A slick? A Huey, a helicoper
e) Lurps? Long Range Recce Patrol
f) A cherry? New guy, replacement
g) A REMF or Pogue? Rear Echelon M*F*
h) A Spad or a Sandy? Fixed wing, prop driven ground attack, forget the designation
i) A Thumper? Mortar?
j) A Zippo? Lighter (or flamethrower)

3) What sort of strange beast was an Ontos? 6 recoiless rifles on a tank chasis
4) What was the official designation of the Black Horse Regiment? 1st Air Cav?
5) What was a Wild Weasel? Attack mission focusing on SAM sites
6) The first major battle between US Army units and NVA regulars took place took place at LZ XRay in Nov 14, 1965.

a) What unique US unit was involved? 7th Cav.
b) What NVA unit was involved? 9th Bn of the 66th Regiment of the Peoples Army of Vietnam - This is the only one I looked up.
c) In what infamous location did the battle take place? Ia Drang Valley

7) At least two other nations made significant commitments of combat troops in South Vietnam. Name them. S.Korea, Australia
8) What was the Iron Triangle? Tunnel complex near saigon
9) This bombing campaign was designed to force the North Vietnamese government back to the bargaining table. Linebacker
10) What was the name of the operation to relieve Khe Sanh?Pegasus

 

[Gruntboy]

Regarding Ia Drang. The book "We were Soldiers Once... and Young", being made into a film, featured a young Lt. Called Rick Rescorla.

Rescorla is missing as of 11/9, he was head of security at Morgan Stanley. He lived as he had done in Vietnam. His last actions saved the lives of 2,700 Morgan Stanley employees.

God Bless.

 

[DingBat]

Great work, Gruntboy!

Puff the Magic Dragon: These are actually AC-130 gunships mounting miniguns and even 75 and 105mm cannon. I know there were also Dakota versions.

Spad or Sandy refers to the A-1 Skyraider.

A thumper refers to a grenade launcher.

The Black Horse regiment was actually the 11th Armored Cavalry regiment.

I've read "We were soldiers once". Great book. Looking forward to the movie.

/bruce

 

[SunTzu]

Since all of the questions are answered, i'll add some more facts, most of the wild weasel missions were flown by F-4 Phantom II's which gave them the nickname, WildWeasel.

We have one on display at the VFW here in town, very cool jet.

 

[smokeyjoe]

9) This bombing campaign was designed to force the North Vietnamese government back to the bargaining table. Linebacker

wasn't there also a linebacker II, or was that merely a continuation of the first? (or am I just wrong?)'

Last VC must have been awarded in the Falklands, I think to a Para Major. The VC can only be awared in "in the face of the enemy", so soldiers in Northen Ireland, former Yugoslavia etc cannot qualify. Interestingly, my great, great, great uncle was awarded the VC in the crimean war.

 

[SunTzu]

Yes there was Linebacker II

 

[DingBat]

Originally posted by smokeyjoe
9) This bombing campaign was designed to force the North Vietnamese government back to the bargaining table. Linebacker

wasn't there also a linebacker II, or was that merely a continuation of the first? (or am I just wrong?)'

Last VC must have been awarded in the Falklands, I think to a Para Major. The VC can only be awared in "in the face of the enemy", so soldiers in Northen Ireland, former Yugoslavia etc cannot qualify. Interestingly, my great, great, great uncle was awarded the VC in the crimean war.

Actually, according to the story, the last VC was awarded to an Australian soldier in Viet Nam.

/bruce

 

[andycapp]

A posthumous VC was awarded to Lieutenant Colonel Herbert Jones who was killed leading the 2 Para assault on Argentine positions at the battle of 'Goose Green' during the Falklands War.

 

[DingBat]

Well, there you go. Learn something new every day.

/bruce

 

[jacques]

I have a question about Puff the magic dragon.
I think there's a song with the lyrics "puff the magic dragon lives by the sea" or something like that... what's the relation with rotary cannons?

 

[Gruntboy]

The song came first.

Troops named the gunships "puffs" after the song.

Not quite sure why but the ROF was so fast on these things, a solid line of tracers used to reach to the ground. Coupled with a proliferation of mind-altering drugs, someone came up with the association.

 

[DingBat]

The rate of fire on the 20mm six barrel rotary cannon used in most American warplanes is around 5-6 thousand rounds a minute. Most actually fire at a reduced rate to avoid wasting ammo.

Btw, I believe these guns are also used in the Phalanx point defense systems on many NATO ships.

Anyway, I suspect that the ammo fired by an AC-130 had a much higher proportion of tracer since most action would take place at night and you kind of need to see where the rounds are going.

/bruce