Researching History – Selected Words for Korea & Later Wars

Campaign Medals & Awards: US KPA/CPVA = Korean People’s Vol. Army/ American Service Defense Medal Chinese People’s Vol. Army X (US troops) Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal Eighth Army European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Gen. Douglas MacArthur Medal President Truman’s recall of MacArthur Women’s Army Corps Service Medal Lt.-Gen. Matthew B. Ridgway WWII Victory Medal Gen. James Van Fleet Merchant Marine Victory Medal DMZ = Demilitarized Zone Commendation Medal Browning Automatic Rifles (BAR) 38th Parallel Bronze Star MiG Alley (MiG-15 = Russian-built plane) location of jet aircraft battles Distinguished Service Medal Battle of Heartbreak Ridge Distinguished Flying Cross Battle of Porkchop Hill Battle of Wonju (North Korean’s Gettysburg) armoured warfare (tanks) R & R = Rest and Recuperation artillery (big guns) Hospital Ships:(note type of ship not in italics, only atabrine (anti-malerial drug) proper name!) USS Repose Korea USS Consolation Web resources: USS Maine History (Korean War USS Jutlandia Commemoration): USS New Haven http://korea50.army.mil/history/index.shtml M.A.S.H. = Mobile Ambulatory Surgical Hospital Inchon Landing (15 Sep 1950) Sasebo - port city in from where American LST = landing ship, tank troops were sent to and from Korea Iron Triangle Seoul (capitol of S. Korea) Indo- Towns: Koje-do = United Nation’s POW camp Pusan Andong UN Forces in combat: Taegu Great Britain Inchon Turkey Chorwon (near Iron Triangle) Canada Changjin (Chosin) Reservoir Australia Wonju France Hamhung Colombia Greece Kaesong Thailand Chechon Netherlands Hongchon Ethiopia Chosan The Philippines Pammunjom (P’anmunjom) (armistice area) Belgium & Luxembourg South Africa ROK = Republic of Korea FEC = US Far East Command ROKA = Republic of Korea Army

1 Researching History – Selected Words for Korea & Later Wars

Aircraft: Kontum fighters & fighter-bombers: F-80, F-94. F-51, Hue F-82, F-86 Khe Sanh Bombers: B-29, B-26, RB-45 Quang Tri Cargo: C-47, C-54, C-119m C-124, C-199 Qui Nhon (Flying Boxcar) Haiphong Harbor helicopters: H-13 (huey) Ho Chi Minh Trail Airfields: (numbers after letter ‘K’ for Korea) Ton Son Nhut (Airport) Armistice Agreement: 27 Jul 1953 Ia Drang Valley, battle of Mountains are numbered according to height: hill 778 Tet Offensive, 1968 = 778 meters high Ships: Vietnam USS Missouri (note name of ship is always in See resource from PBS on war timeline: italics, but not the preface USS) http://www.pbs.org/battlefieldvietnam/timeline/index2.html airborne warfare Landing Craft: Vietnam Online (The American Experience): LST = Landing ships, Tank http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/vietnam/ LCVP = Landing Craft Vehicle Personnel (steel boats which replaced wooden Higgins Mao Tse-tung - founder of Chinese Communist Party boats) Vietminh - communist group in North Vietnam To search for types of ships and/or specific ships, Viet Cong (South Vietnamese guerillas) go to this site: http://www.nvr.navy.mil/class.htm Ho Chi Minh nationalist leader of North Vietnam First Indochina War - 1946-1954 Some popular Acronyms: ARVN = South Vietnamese Army POW = prisoners-of -war PAVN = People’s Army of North Vietnam Seabees (derived from CB or construction I-Corps = northern provinces battalions) II-Corps SEALs III-Corps = tactical zones in South Vietnam slit trench (for more than one soldier) versus Mekong Delta foxhole U.S. William C. Westmoreland MIA = missing in action Gulf of Tonkin Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara Best site for Military Ranks C-47 Transport Ships or “Puff the Magic Dragon” http://www2.sjsu.edu/depts/AFROTC/cadet/ranks.html F-105 Thunderchiefs To search for military acronyms: http://www.militarywords.com/ Hanoi = capitol of North Vietnam “Hanoi Hilton” - POW prison in Hanoi Site for war maps (all wars): Rolling Thunder bombing program http://vlib.iue.it/history/USA/maps.html Towns, etc.: Bien Hoa Miscellaneous: Pleiku Stars and Stripes - US military magazine Saigon G.I. = government issue (US soldiers) Da Nang MIA = missing in action Cam Ranh AWOL = absent without leave Dalat USO = entertainment centers or special Mekong River programs for troops

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CO = commanding officer Baghdad PX = post exchange Basra APO = army post office c/o either San Francisco or NY) al-Busayyah NCO = non-commissioned officer Dhahran

Units of organization: Additional towns: Abu al-Khasib, al-Amarah, Arbil, Squad - The smallest military unit, usually around 10 soldiers. Diwaniyah, Fallujah, al-Faw, al-Hillah, al-Hindiyah, Iskandariyah, Karbala, Kirkuk, al-Kufah, al-Kut, 1. Platoon - Usually comprised of four squads, led by Mosul, Najaf, al-Nasiriyah, al-Numaniyah, Ramadi, lieutenants with sergeants second in command. (Approx 40 Rumaila, al-Shatrah, Sulaimaniyah, Tikrit, Umm soldiers) Qasr, Zakho. Company - Four platoons with headquarters, commanded by CENTCOM - central command captains (160 soldiers) F-4G Wild Weasels Battalion - Generally made up of four to five companies F-117A Stealth aircraft including a support company and a headquarters company. G-day ground combat (640-800 soldiers) “Tomahawk” cruise missiles Patriot air-defense system Brigade - A few battalions and totaling around 2,000 - 3,000 troops commanded by a . Scud missiles Republican Guard - Made up of at least three brigades. A general commands divisions. (At least 6,000 soldiers)

Corps - Anywhere from two to five divisions, corps are the largest tactical unites in the US Army. (12,000-30,000 soldiers) For military dictionaries: http://military.dictionary.kamous.com/translator/reference.asp? sort=&start=20 For Fleet post offices (numbers) go to this site: http://www.bluejacket.com/usn-usmc_ww2_location-codes.htm l Gulf War (1990) & Iraq War (2003)

Web resources:

Fog of War: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp- srv/inatl/longterm/fogofwar/fogofwar.htm

The Gulf War: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/gulf/ XVIII Airborne Corps Kuwait Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf Saddam Hussein

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