WHAT D'YA CALL IT?
By: John Oscarson
ONE OF THE THINGS THAT ALWAYS PERPLEXED ME WHEN I WAS IN THE MARINE CORPS IN VIETNAM WAS THE ORIGIN OF WORDS, TERMS AND SAYINGS THAT WE USED ALL THE TIME.
WHILE I HAVE ALWAYS ABHORED THE USE OF EUPHEMISMS, IT NEVER BOTHERED ME ENOUGH THAT I ACTUALLY TRIED TO FIND OUT THE TRUE MEANING OF THESE WORDS. I STILL SPECULATED. FOR EXAMPLE, WHAT ARE "C" RATIONS? DOES THIS RELATE TO THE FACT THAT MARINES' ORIGINS RELATE TO THE NAVY (SEA), OR ARE THESE RATIONS THE SUCCESSOR TO "A" AND "B" RATIONS? OF COURSE WE ABBREVIATED EVERYTHING SO WE JUST CALLED THEM "C RATS" WHILE THE FREEZE DRIED LONG RANGE PATROL RATIONS BECAME "LONG RATS".
WHEN I WAS AT HILL 55, NEAR DANANG IN LATE 1969 WITH KILO 3/26 MARINES, THE AREA WAS RELATIVELY SECURE. WE STILL NEEDED A SERIES OF BUNKERS THAT COMPLETELY SURROUNDED THE CAMP AND IT WAS NECESSARY THAT WE ALL TOOK TURNS AT NIGHT TO WATCH OUR PERIMETER. RELATIVE SECURITY MEANT THAT WHEN WE HAD SECURITY GUARD DUTY AT NIGHT WE HAD "ONE MAN UP". IF THERE WERE FIVE OF US FOR THAT BUNKER ONE COULD BE UP WHILE THE OTHERS SLEPT AND THEN, WHEN IT WAS YOUR TURN, YOU BUDDY WOULD WAKE YOU AND THEY COULD SLEEP. A LESS SECURE AREA MIGHT HAVE "50% UP", TRANSLATION - NOT MUCH SLEEP.
I WAS ON GUARD DUTY ONE NIGHT AND THINGS WERE PRETTY QUIET IN FRONT OF OUR BUNKER. HOWEVER, ADJACENT TO OUR CAMP WAS AN ARMY OUTPOST. THEIR POST HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH TRANSPORT OR TRUCKS. WHAT'S THE TERM FOR THAT? THEY HAD A TALL WOODEN TOWER, WHICH I CAN ONLY COMPARE TO THOSE THAT I HAVE SEEN IN NATIONAL FORESTS. THE PRINCIPLE DIFFERENCE WAS THAT WHILE THEY BOTH HAD OBSERVERS, THE ARMY OUTPOST ALSO HAD A PERMANENTLY MOUNTED M60 MACHINE GUN AS WELL. IN THE MARINE CORPS WE PRACTICED AN ABIDING RULE CALLED "FIRE CONTROL" . THIS MEANT THAT WE ONLY SHOT OUR WEAPONS WHEN THERE WAS SOMETHING TO SHOOT AT AND; HENCE, WE SAVED OUR AMMUNITION FOR WHEN WE REALLY NEEDED IT, SUCH AS SHOOTING AT THE ENEMY. OUR NEIGHBORS HAD APPARENTLY NOT BEEN TAUGHT THIS RULE, SO WE HAD TO LISTEN TO THEIR SHOOTING ALL NIGHT LONG. WE OFTEN WONDERED WHAT THEY WERE SHOOTING AT. THE M60 ADJACENT TO OUR CAMP WAS ONLY A MINOR DISTRACTION THIS NIGHT, AS WE WERE IN OUR BUNKER WITH SAND BAGS ALL AROUND, QUIETLY WATCHING OUR PERIMETER (ONE MAN UP). EXCEPT FOR OUR ROTATING GUARD DUTY WE COULD ALL GET A GOOD NIGHTS SLEEP.
SUDDENLY, THE ONE ON DUTY AWAKENED US ALL. HE HEARD SOMETHING IMMEDIATELY IN FRONT OF OUR POSITION. WE HAD NO WIRE IN FRONT OF US BUT THE HILLSIDE WAS MOSTLY CLEAR WITH SOME SMALL SHRUBS AND PLANTS. THIS NIGHT WE WERE BLESSED WITH BRIGHT MOON LIGHT, SO VISIBILITY WAS VERY GOOD. THERE ARE SOUNDS THAT ARE NATURAL AND THERE ARE SOUNDS THAT ARE MADE BY MAN AND THIS WAS NOT THE SOUND OF NATURE. WE HEARD SOMETHING IMMEDIATELY IN FRONT OF OUR POSITION AND IT SOUNDED LIKE A FAINT METAL SCRAPING SOUND. BUT, WE COULD SEE NOTHING? WE CALLED THE DUTY OFFICER FOR THE NIGHT AND HE PUT THE WHOLE BATTALION ON ALERT. IT WAS DECIDED THAT ILLUMINATION WAS NECESSARY SO THAT WE COULD ALL SEE.
PRETTY SOON THE WHOLE HILLSIDE WAS LIT UP! FINALLY, MY QUEST FOR THE ORIGIN AND MEANING OF TERMINOLOGY HAD BEEN ANSWERED. SOMEONE BEFORE US HAD EATEN C RATIONS AND TOSSED THE EMPTY CANS IN FRONT OF OUR BUNKER. THERE WERE RATS THE SIZE OF SMALL HOUSE CATS SCRAPING AROUND IN THESE CANS TRYING TO GET OUT THE LAST MORSELS OF FOOD. THEY GAVE NEW MEANING TO THE TERM "SEE RATS".
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