Sihr, I hope you are still on the bike and having fun.
As to the bin of shit I posted; We were in a small, filthy, violent place and I stress filthy. There were Viets around , both tame and wild and you never knew whom to trust so thought the worst of everyone of them.
We used slang to talk to each other in case your conversation was overheard. Much of that slang came back with us and was common during the late 70s in CB trucker talk.
Hot PZ- a hot, bullets flying pickup zone to extract squads that were compromised.
Nest- An LZ that was large enough to be fairly secure and had revetments to park the helicopters.
Fast Flanker 6, The Battalion commander, the Big Dog that you report to.
TOC Tactical Operations Center-The big bunker where Flanker 6 resided, very secure and he did not venture far from there but knew all about how you should be conducting your patrols.
push- radio frequency for Prick 25s and 77s
Jack Benny-radio push at 39;00 The gooks didn't know how old Jack was. Sometimes it was Jack Benny with a buck in his pocket or a couple of dimes 40:00 or 39:20 etc. That usually cleared the air.
Deadly Raider- Our company call sign on the radio
S-4- Supply, the guys you relied on, God Bless their souls.
Raider 1-6- Platoon leader, squads were Raider 1-1, 1-2 etc and the mortars were all 4-6 with each gun having it's own number. We really liked 3-6 as they were the old short timers that would adjust for you to danger close.
Asskicker- Fanny pack that went on your web gear.
ash&trash- A regular re-supply out in the field by the Log bird when things were cool.
Raider 1-6 India- RTO for 1-6
elephant rubbers- liners for putting fresh water in, made of rubber and put into a 155mm howitzer powder shipping containers filled with blue[water] waterproof unless they burst on impact. Used for kickouts
Kickout- "You assholes are staying in the field so we will kick out your rations and water as we fly by so duck when we come over and prepare to search for said items."
penny nickle nickle- refers to 155mm howitzers or their powder containers that were air tight. Used to drop things in to you.
Dime nickles were the 105 batteries that supported us and were usually the first to come up when you really needed them.
Snakes- Cobra gunships that provided much needed air support and we LOVED all of them when they were accurate. They were usually in the air close to you and would come and shoot on a moments notice as long as we popped smoke to identify ourselves.
Olives- 81mm mortars that were organic to the Battalion. Fast to come up when we needed them. They were our friends and buddies when we were on the LZ where they were.
If you are still in EU and get to Germany, go to any gasthouse and ask for Kase&brot. Cheap snack and each house has their own.
Regards, FM