The Vietnam EraChapter 30 Vocabulary

Guerrilla warfare Fighting by

small bands using tactics such as sudden ambush

Flexible response Special military units trained to fight

guerrilla wars and ready to fight anywhere in the world

Executive Order A rule issued by the chief executive

(president)

Exiles Persons forced from their home

Blockade To close off

Hot line A direct telephone link between Moscow

and Washington, D.C. to allow the leaders to communicate instantly in times of crisis

Vietcong

Communist supporters of Ho Chi Minh who remained in South Vietnam. They organized themselves into the National Liberation Front, but were better known to Americans as the Vietcong.

Coup To overthrow the

government

Escalate Gradually increase

Search-and-destroy mission American forces began to seek out

Vietcong or North Vietnamese units and destroy them.

An infantryman is lowered into a tunnel by members of the reconnaissance

platoon.

Counterculture A movement

that rejected traditional American values (torn blue jeans and long hair for males – aroused opposition from parents)

Deferment Being excused from the draft

Dove Opponents

of the Vietnam War

Hawk Supporters

of the Vietnam War

Credibility gap When fewer people trust what you have to

say than before.

Silent majority The nonshouters and nondemonstrators

that Nixon appealed to during his 1968 campaign.

Vietnamization The army of South Vietnam to take a more

active role in fighting the war and for Americans to become less involved.

Martial law Emergency military rule

MIAs Missing In Action