Viet Cong Fighter

There are many myths and misconceptions surrounding the Viet Cong, who have become the shadowy warriors of the Vietnam War. The popular image of them dressed in black pajamas, rising up and fighting a relentless and brutal terror campaign is not unfounded, but it is not the whole picture.

The Viet Cong (VC) were the communist insurgents of South Vietnam — the Republic of Vietnam (RVN). They were citizens of the RVN, and their effort to overthrow the legal government of the RVN was supported by North Vietnam — the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV), and its People's Army of Vietnam (Quan Doi Dang Dan, or PAVN), more commonly known as the North Vietnamese Army (NVA). The NVA was important to the VC. They could not have survived without its support, which came in the form of leadership cadres, both military and political, arms, supplies, and training. The NVA in turn also relied on the VC for intelligence, guides, and locally procured supplies and services. In 1964 battered VC units were already receiving NVA fillers. After the tremendous losses of the 1968 Tet Offensive, most VC units contained more NVA than VC, often up to 80㭖 percent. A large percentage of the NVA were members of the Vietnam Workers' Party (Dang Lao Dong Viet Nam), the DRV Communist Party known simply as the &ldquoLao Dong.&rdquo

Some people like to point out that the term &ldquoViet Cong&rdquo is incorrect. On one level this is true. The National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam (Mat tran Dan toc Giai phong mien Nam Viet Nam), or the National Liberation Front (NLF), was both a political organization with its own government superimposed on South Vietnam and an armed insurgent force. Its military arm was the People's Liberation Armed Forces (Quan Doi Giai Phong Nhan Dan, or PLAF) or more commonly, the People's Liberation Army (Quan Doi Giai Phong, or PLA). To the South Vietnamese, civilian and military, the Free World forces, the public at large, and, as the author knows firsthand, to the PLA itself, they were commonly known as the “Viet Cong” or VC, a contraction of Dang Viet Nam Cong San (Vietnamese Communist Party).

The American soldier called them the &ldquoVC,&rdquo &ldquoVictor Charlie,&rdquo or simply &ldquoCharlie&rdquo or the &ldquoCong.&rdquo Some writers have recently claimed that Charlie is a derogatory term in the grunt's vocabulary. However, it is actually a neutral term and nothing more than the phonetic alphabet word for the &ldquoC&rdquo in VC. Likewise, the terms &ldquoCharles&rdquo and &ldquoChuck&rdquo were occasionally also used as nicknames. If &ldquoCharlie&rdquo was meant to be demeaning then grunts would not have called their enemy &ldquoMr. Charles&rdquo or &ldquoSir Charles.&rdquo The grunt had other names for the VC which were certainly meant to degrade: &ldquogook,&rdquo &ldquodink,&rdquo &ldquoslope,&rdquo &ldquoslope-head,&rdquo &ldquozip,&rdquo or &ldquozipper-head,&rdquo the same terms unfortunately applied to Vietnamese civilians.

As individual fighters, the VC referred to themselves as &ldquocombatant&rdquo or &ldquosoldier&rdquo (chien si) or &ldquoliberation fighter&rdquo (thu chien). They could be inventive, ingenious, and crafty, but they also made their share of mistakes and miscalculations. Many operations were executed masterfully. These were sometimes entirely successful or were defeated by massive firepower and well-maneuvered opponents, regardless of how expertly planned and executed they were. In other instances the fighters made stupid mistakes and acted illogically. There were units which were resolute and willing to die in-place, others panicked and fled. It was not uncommon for Americans to admire their proficiency one day and the next to ask, after an obvious blunder, &ldquoWhat were they thinking?&rdquo Overall, however, they demonstrated a high degree of perseverance, endurance, and dedication to their cause.