The A to Z of the Vietnam War

Contents:

Comments:

Chronology: The Chronology begins with the Geneva Accords of 1954, and runs to 2005, but coverage of the years 1954-1958 and 1976-2005 is brief. Twenty-one pages are devoted to the years 1959-1975.

Introduction: Comments on the war, with particular reference to issues that are in dispute.

The Dictionary: The 622 articles in the main body of the dictionary (see list below) provide strong coverage of military and paramilitary forces, military operations, weapons and technology, major and minor ethnic groups, the politics of the war, and its diplomatic environment. The greatest focus is on Vietnam and the United States, but there is also significant coverage of Laos and Cambodia, and of the other countries that were in various ways involved in the conflict.
        The main thing I chose not to cover at length was order of battle. Several existing historical dictionaries and encyclopedias provide orders of battle—lists of military units, at least down to division level, sometimes with the names of their commanding officers—of ARVN, PAVN, and sometimes other forces. I could have spent a great deal of time compiling orders of battle no better than those in the existing works. I thought my efforts would be better devoted to matters I could cover significantly better than the existing works did.

Name Index: I felt this index was important partly because it allows the reader to look up people who are mentioned in the dictionary but not given a separate entry. Perhaps more important, it allows readers who have seen a name in abbreviated form to look up the individual. The entry in the dictionary for Nguyen Khanh (the ARVN general who became Premier of the Republic of Vietnam early in 1964) is alphabetized under his family name Nguyen; this follows the best practice for dealing with Vietnamese names. But he is often referred to as General Khanh or Premier Khanh. A reader who has seen such a reference can find him in the index under Khanh, and from this can learn that his full name is Nguyen Khanh.

Operations Index: Many named operations and projects that were not important enough to be given a separate entry are mentioned at various points in the dictionary. The operations index allows the reader to locate these references.

Errata: A historical dictionary of this sort is usually written by dozens of authors, sometimes rather carelessly chosen. I have written this one entirely by myself. I believe that having a single author has allowed this volume to have more coherence than competing works, and also I am confident that it is more accurate. But while some errors in the original Historical Dictionary of the Vietnam War have been identified and corrected (I am particularly grateful to Chuck Gutzman for pointing out a number of these), I doubt that all have been found. I would be grateful if readers who spot any remaining errors inform me. My e-mail address is: eemoise@clemson.edu

pp. xl, xli, 101: In my discussion of the Cooper-Church amendment forbidding the introduction of American ground combat troops into Laos or Thailand, passed by Congress in December 1970 and signed into law in January 1971 (Public Law 91-653), I neglected to note that this was simply a reprise of an identical Cooper-Church amendment that had become law in December 1969 (Public Law 91-171).

p. 163: Alexander Haig was supreme allied commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization from 1974 to 1979, not 1974 to 1978.

p. 230: Le Duan "does not seem to have taken conspicuously extreme positions on war policy from the mid-1960s onward." This was seriously inaccurate. See Lien-Hang T. Nguyen, Hanoi's War (University of North Carolina Press, 2012), chapter three, for Le Duan's very aggressive advocacy of "General Offensive and General Uprising" in 1967-68.

Articles in the body of the Dictionary. The longest articles, over two pages, are listed in bold type.

A-6
A-7
A Shau
Abrams, Creighton Williams
Acheson, Dean Gooderham
Adams, Samuel A.
Advisers
Aerial refueling
Agent Orange: see herbicides
Agnew, Spiro Theodore
Air America
Air Commandos
Air Cushion Vehicle
Air Force, U.S
Air War
Airborne
Airborne Battlefield Command and Control Centers
Airborne Brigade, Airborne Division. (single entry)
Airmobile
American Friends of Vietnam
Amtrac
Anti-Aircraft Artillery
Anti-war movement
Ap Bac, Battle of
Arc Light
Arizona Territory
Armored personnel carriers
Army, United States
Artillery
ARVN (Army of the Republic of Vietnam)
Attleboro, Operation
Australia

B-26
B-52
Bac Bo
Bahnar
Bajaraka
Ball, George Wildman
Ban Me Thuot
Barrel Roll, Operation
Ben Het
Ben Tre
Berrigan, Daniel J.
Berrigan, Philip Francis
Bien Hoa
Binh Dinh
Binh Gia, Battle of
Binh Xuyen
Boi Loi Woods
Bolo, Operation
Bombing halts
Bombs
Bong Son Plain
Booby traps
Boun Oum Na Champassak
Browne, Malcolm Wilde
Bru
Buddhist religion
Buffalo Hunter
Bundy, McGeorge
Bundy, William P.
Bunker, Ellsworth

C-4
C-130 Hercules
Ca Mau
Calley, William Laws, Jr.
Cam Ranh Bay
Cambodia
Cambodian Incursion, 1970
Can Lao Party
Can Tho
Canada
Canberra
Cao Dai
Cao Van Vien
Caravelle Group
Carver, George
Casualties
Catholic Church, in the United States
Catholic Church, in Vietnam
Cavalry
Central Highlands
Central Intelligence Agency
Chams
Chemical Warfare
Chieu Hoi
China
Chinese, ethnic minority in Vietnam
Cholon
Chomsky, Noam Avram
Chu Huy Man
Chu Lai
Chung Tan Cang
Church, Frank Forrester
Citizens Committee for Peace with Freedom in Vietnam
Civil Guard
Civil Operations and Revolutionary Development Support
Civilian Irregular Defense Groups
Claymore Mine
Clifford, Clark McAdams
Cluster Bomb Unit
Coast Guard, U.S.
Colby, William Egan
Collins, J[oseph] Lawton
Combat Air Patrol
Combat refusal
Combined Action Platoon
Commando Hunt, Operation
Commando Lava
Committee for the Defense of National Interests
Congress, U.S.
Cooper, John Sherman
Cor
Corps Tactical Zones
I Corps
II Corps
III Corps
IV Corps
Corruption
Counter-Terror Teams
Counterinsurgency
Coup, in Cambodia
Coups, in Laos
Coups, in South Vietnam
"Credibility Gap"
Cronkite, Walter Leland, Jr.
CS
Cu Chi

Dagger Thrust
Dak To
Dalat
Danang
Daniel Boone, Operation
Deckhouse, Operation
Defense Attaché Office
Demilitarized Zone
Democratic Republic of Vietnam
Desoto Patrols
Dewey Canyon, Operation
Dewey Canyon II, Operation
Dikes
Division, U.S. unit
Do Cao Tri
Dogs
Domino Theory
Dong Ha
Dong Si Nguyen
Doumer Bridge
Draft: see Selective Service System
Drinan, Robert Frederick
Drugs
Du Quoc Dong
Duong Van Minh
Dust Off
Duster

Eagle Pull, Operation
Easter Offensive
EB-66
EC-121
Elections, in Laos
Elections, in South Vietnam
Elections, in the United States
Ellsberg, Daniel
Enclave Strategy
Enhance, Project
Enhance Plus, Project

F-4 Phantom
F-104 Starfighter
F-105 Thunderchief
F-111 Farm Gate
Fast-mover
I Field Force, Vietnam
II Field Force, Vietnam
Final Collapse of the Republic of Vietnam
First Observation Group
Fishhook
Flaming Dart, Operation
Flechettes
Fonda, Jane
Foo gas
Footboy
Forae
Ford, Gerald Rudolph
Forrestal, Michael Vincent
Forward Air Controller
Forward Air Guides
Fragging
France
Free Fire Zone
Freedom Deal, Operation
Freedom Train, Operation
Frequent Wind, Operation
Front (chien truong)
Fulbright, J. William
FULRO (Front Unifié de Lutte des Races Opprimées, United Struggle Front of the Oppressed Races)

Game Warden, Operation
Geneva Accords of 1954
Geneva Accords of 1962, in regard to Laos
Gia Dinh
Goldwater, Barry M.
Gravel mine
Great Britain
Greene, Wallace
Grenade launcher
Group 559
Group 759
Guam
Guerrilla warfare
Gunships, fixed-wing
Gunships, helicopter

Haig, Alexander Meigs, Jr.
Haiphong
Halberstam, David
Ham Rong (Dragon's Jaw) Bridge
"Hamburger Hill"
Hamlet Evaluation System
Hanoi
Harassment and Interdiction
Harkins, Paul D.
Harriman, W[illiam] Averell
Hatchet Teams
Hau Nghia
Hébert, F[elix] Edward
Helicopter
Helicopter Valley
Helms, Richard McGarrah
Herbicides
Hilsman, Roger
Hmong
Ho Bo Woods
Ho Chi Minh
Ho Chi Minh City
Ho Chi Minh Trail
Ho Tan Quyen
Hoa Hao
Hoang Minh Thao
Hoang Van Thai
Hoang Van Thai (another general, of the same name as the one above)
Hotfoot
Hre
Hue
Huey
Humphrey, Hubert Horatio
Huynh Tan Phat
Huynh Van Cao

Ia Drang Valley
Igloo White
Incapacitating agents
India
Infiltration
Infrastructure
Intelligence
International Commission of Control and Supervision
International Control Commission
International Voluntary Services
Iron Hand
Iron Triangle

Japan
Jarai
Johnson, Harold Keith
Johnson, Lyndon Baines
Joint Chiefs of Staff

Kennedy, John Fitzgerald
Kennedy, Robert Francis
Kent State
Kerry, John Forbes
Khe Sanh
Khmer
Khmer Krom
Khmer Rouge
Khmer Serei
King, Martin Luther Jr.
Kissinger, Henry Alfred
Kit Carson Scouts
Koho
Komer, Robert
Kong Le
Kontum
Korea, South
Krulak, Victor Harold

Laird, Melvin R.
Lam Son, Operation
Lam Son 719, Operation
Land reform
Lang Vei
Lansdale, Edward Geary
Lao
Lao Dong Party
Lao Theung
Laos
Lavelle, John Daniel
Le Duan
Le Duc Anh
Le Duc Tho
Le Kha Phieu
Le Nguyen Khang
Leaping Lena
LeMay, Curtis Emerson
Lien Doi Nguoi Nhai
Light Antitank Weapon
Lima Site
Linebacker, Operation
Linebacker II, Operation
Lodge, Henry Cabot Jr.
Logistics
Lon Nol
Long An
Long Binh
Long Cheng
Long Range Patrol or Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol
Long Tau River
Long Thanh, Camp
Ly Tong Ba

M-16 Rifle
Machine Guns
Machine guns
Mansfield, Mike (Michael Joseph)
Marble Mountain
Marine Corps, U.S.
Marine Corps, Vietnamese
Market Time, Operation
Martin, Graham Anderson
Mary Ann, Fire Support Base
Masher, Operation
Mayaguez
McCarthy, Eugene Joseph
McCone, John Alex
McGarr, Lionel Charles
McGovern, George S.
McNamara, Robert Strange
Medical Evacuation
Mekong Delta
Mekong River
Menu, Operation
Michelin Rubber Plantation
Michigan State University Group
MiG
Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG), Laos
Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG), Vietnam
Military Assistance Command, Vietnam
Military Region
Mill Pond, Project
Mines, land
Mines, naval
Minigun
Missiles
Missing in Action
Mnong
Mobile Riverine Force
Montagnards
Moorer, Thomas Hinman
Morse, Wayne Lyman
Mortar
Mountain Scouts
My Lai Massacre

Nam Bo
Napalm
Nasty Boat
National Liberation Front
National Security Action Memorandum 57
Naval Gunfire Support
Navy
Neak Luong
Negotiations
Neo Lao Hak Sat
Neutralism
New Zealand
Ngo Dinh Can
Ngo Dinh Diem
Ngo Dinh Nhu
Ngo Dinh Thuc
Ngo Quang Truong
Nguyen Cao Ky
Nguyen Chanh Thi
Nguyen Chi Thanh
Nguyen Huu Hanh
Nguyen Huu Tho
Nguyen Khanh
Nguyen Ngoc Loan
Nguyen Thi Binh
Nguyen Thi Dinh
Nguyen Van Linh
Nguyen Van Thieu
Nguyen Viet Thanh
Nguyen Xuan Oanh
Nha Be
Nha Trang
Nixon, Richard Milhous
Nixon Doctrine
Nolting, Frederick Ernest
Norodom Sihanouk
North Vietnam
Nui Ba Den
Nung

O'Daniel, John Wilson
Office of Civil Operations
Okinawa
Ontos
Opium
OPLAN 34A
Order of Battle dispute
Oregon, Task Force
OV-10

Pacific Architects and Engineers
Panhandle
Paris negotiations
Paris Peace Agreement
Parrot's Beak
Pathet Lao
Patio, Operation
PAVN
PBR
Pentagon Papers
People's Action Teams
PGM
Pham Hung
Pham Ngoc Thao
Pham Van Dong
Phan Huy Quat
Phan Khac Suu
Philippines
Phnom Penh
Phoenix Program
Phong Saly
Phoumi Nosavan
Phu Bai
Pilatus Porter
Plain of Jars
Plain of Reeds
Pleiku
Plowman
Pol Pot
Police
Popular Forces
Poulo Condore
Prairie Fire
President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board
Prisoners of war
Protective Reaction
Proud Deep Alpha, Operation
Provincial Reconnaissance Units
Provisional Revolutionary Government

Quang Nam
Quang Tri
Que Son
Qui Nhon
Quynh Luu

Raborn, William Francis
Racial tension
Radar
Raglai
Ranger
Raven
Raye, Martha
Raymond Morrison-Knudsen - Brown & Root, Jones
Recoilless Rifle
Recondo School
Reconnaissance
Red River Delta
Regional Forces
Republic of China
Republic of Vietnam
Reserves
Revisionists
Revolutionary Development
Rhadé
Rheault, Robert B.
Ripcord
River Patrol Force
Rivers, L(ucius) Mendel
Roadrunners
Rocket Ridge
Rockets
Rogers, William Pierce
Rolling Thunder, Operation
Rome Plow
Rostow, Walt Whitman
Route 1
Route 4
Route 9
Route 13
Route 14
Route 19
Route Packages
RPG
Rubber plantations
Rung Sat
Rusk, Dean
Russell, Richard Brevard

Sagger
Saigon
Salisbury, Harrison Evans
Sam Neua
Sanctuaries
Sappers
Sea Dragon, Operation
Sea Swallows
SEAL
SEALORDS
Search and Rescue
Sects
Sedang
Selective Service System
Self-Defense Corps
Sensors
Sharp, Ulysses S. G.
Sheehan, Neil
Sheepdip
Shining Brass
Shufly
Sihanouk Trail
Sihanoukville
Skyraider
SOG
Son Ngoc Thanh
Son Tay
Souphanouvong
South Vietnam
Southeast Asia Treaty Organization
Souvanna Phouma
Soviet Union
Special Assistant For Counterinsurgency and Special Activities
Special Exploitation Service
Special Forces, U.S.
Special Forces, Vietnamese
Special War
Speedy Express, Operation
Spike Teams.
Staley Mission
Starlite, Operation
Steel Tiger, Operation
Stennis, John Cornelius
STRATA
Strategic hamlets
Students for a Democratic Society
Sullivan, William Healy
Surface-to-Air Missile
Swift Boat
Swithchback, Operation

T-28 Trojan
Tailwind, Operation
Tam Chau, Thich
Tan Son Nhut
Tanks
Tay Ninh
Taylor, Maxwell Davenport
Taylor-Rostow Mission
Tchepone
Temporary Equipment Recovery Mission
Territorial Forces
Tet
Tet Offensive
Thailand
Thich
Third Force
Thompson, Sir Robert G. K.
Thua Thien.
Tien Sha Peninsula
"Tiger Cages"
Tiger Hound, Operation
Timberwork
Toan Thang
Ton That Dinh
Tonkin Gulf Incidents
Tonkin Gulf Resolution
Tour of Duty
TOW
Tra Bong.
Trailwatchers
Tran Nam Trung
Tran Thien Khiem
Tran Van Chon
Tran Van Don
Tran Van Huong
Tran Van Quang
Tran Van Tra
Tri-border
Tri Quang, Thich
Tri-Thien Military Region
Trung Bo
Trung uong cuc mien Nam
Truong Chinh
Truong Dinh Dzu
Tunnels
Turkestan

U Minh Forest
U-2
United Nations
United States Support Activities Group

Van Tien Dung
Vang Pao
Vann, John Paul
Viet Cong
Vietnam, territorial divisions of
Vietnam Veterans Against the War
Vietnamese Air Force.
Vietnamese National Army
Vietnamese Navy
Vietnamization
Vo Chi Cong
Vo Nguyen Giap
Vo Van Kiet
Vulcan Cannon
Vung Tau

Walt, Lewis W.
War Zone C
War Zone D
Washington Green, Operation
Weather warfare
Westmoreland, William Childs
Weyand, Frederick Carlton
Wheeler, Earle Gilmore
White phosphorus
White Star
Wild Weasel
Williams, Samuel T.
Wise Men
Women

Xuan Loc
Xuan Thuy

Y Bih Aleo
Yankee Station
Yankee Team, Operation
"Young Turks"

Zumwalt, Elmo R., Jr.

c.v. for Edwin E. Moise

Revised June 30, 2021.