Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam: List 4

by Elizabeth Partridge
In this acclaimed book, Elizabeth Partridge combines meticulous research, photographic records, and personal accounts into a vivid history of the Vietnam War and its aftermath.

This list covers America: President and Commander in Chief Richard M. Nixon (January 1969) – Vietnam: Nurse Lily Lee Adams (October 1969–October 1970).

Here are links to our lists for the book: List 1, List 2, List 3, List 4, List 5
40 words 190 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. visceral
    coming from deep inward feelings rather than from reasoning
    The numbers were staggering, a visceral reminder of the war’s tragic cost.
  2. reprisal
    a retaliatory action against an enemy
    No matter who the villagers sided with, they risked terrible reprisals from the other side.
  3. marksman
    someone skilled in shooting
    “They were good marksmen,” Scruggs said.
  4. fitful
    intermittently stopping and starting
    After a night of fitful sleep on the ground, Scruggs woke up with an eerie premonition he was going to be shot in the back.
  5. premonition
    a feeling of evil to come
    After a night of fitful sleep on the ground, Scruggs woke up with an eerie premonition he was going to be shot in the back.
  6. skirmish
    a minor short-term fight
    The valiant, critical battles of World War II flashed through his mind. This is not like Normandy, or Stalingrad, he thought. This is just a skirmish.
  7. incongruous
    lacking in harmony or compatibility or appropriateness
    It seemed incongruous that so many drafted men would be cheering on the defiant Guthrie, but it was GI humor at its best, a dark way of expressing anger without getting in trouble.
  8. disillusioned
    freed from false ideas
    By the time Scruggs was ready to leave Vietnam, he was bitter and disillusioned.
  9. conceive
    have the idea for
    Sunday, March 16, Nixon decided it was time to put his Madman Theory, conceived the previous fall, into action.
  10. scrupulously
    with careful attention and effort to do something correctly
    Nixon’s day was recorded in the official White House Daily Diary, a scrupulously accurate record of what he did and when, and whom he did it with.
  11. concession
    a point that is yielded
    Nixon was convinced he could force concessions from the Communists in the Paris peace talks with heavy bombing in Cambodia.
  12. volatile
    marked by erratic changeableness in affections
    The raids would show the Communists just how irrational and volatile he was.
  13. meticulous
    marked by extreme care in treatment of details
    Every day he packed forty parachutes, each time with the same meticulous care.
  14. fatigues
    military uniform worn by personnel when doing menial labor
    Everyone—Vietnamese and Americans—wore tiger-striped jungle fatigues.
  15. derogatory
    expressive of low opinion
    “I heard so many derogatory remarks,” Oshiro said.
  16. dehumanize
    deprive of the positive qualities of a person
    “They just hammer you and hammer you and hammer you,” said Oshiro. “Day and night. They dehumanized those people so badly; we never, ever called them Vietnamese. Everything else but.”
  17. harrowing
    causing extreme distress
    Bringing the helicopter in for a landing could be harrowing, with hidden enemy forces eager to shoot them down.
  18. incursion
    an attack that penetrates into enemy territory
    From the camps, some Green Berets made unreported incursions into Cambodia and Laos.
  19. fathom
    come to understand
    He could not fathom why the North Vietnamese would keep fighting, given the arsenal of weapons the Americans had.
  20. tedious
    so lacking in interest as to cause mental weariness
    Soldiers are doing the job of fighting the war. They are forced to do really dangerous work. It’s laborious and tedious, too.
  21. bona fide
    not counterfeit or copied
    Country Joe was a bona fide “red-diaper baby,” a kid raised by parents who were card-carrying Communists.
  22. intermittent
    stopping and starting at irregular intervals
    The music hadn’t wrapped up until 2:00 a.m. the night before, while intermittent rain fell.
  23. slog
    walk heavily and firmly, as when weary, or through mud
    After slogging through mud in the morning and waiting in long lines for latrines and something to eat, everyone was bleary-eyed and subdued.
  24. scaffold
    a temporary arrangement erected around a building
    He was so awed by the size of the crowd, he didn’t even notice the “camera pit” at the foot of the stage, or the camera crews perched on high scaffolds, their movie cameras whirring.
  25. plaintive
    expressing sorrow
    After strumming a few chords, Country Joe opened with a plaintive lost-love song, “Janis,” he’d written after a breakup with singer Janis Joplin.
  26. rendition
    a performance of a musical composition or a dramatic role
    His rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” brought the audience to a standstill.
  27. triage
    sorting and allocating aid on the basis of need
    On her first day in triage at an army hospital in Vietnam, Lily Lee Adams was told to stay out of the way, watch, and learn.
  28. tourniquet
    a bandage that stops the flow of blood by applying pressure
    Around her, doctors, nurses, and medics sprang into gear, hanging IV bottles on poles and throwing extra tourniquets around their shoulders.
  29. contemplative
    deeply or seriously thoughtful
    She thought she’d be a nun when she grew up, and live a quiet, contemplative life serving God.
  30. rigorous
    demanding strict attention to rules and procedures
    School was rigorous, but Adams didn’t mind.
  31. solicit
    request urgently or persistently
    During Adams’s second year in nursing school in New York, a recruiter from the army came around, soliciting student nurses to join.
  32. bout
    a period of illness
    She liked the hospital and the routines, but in August 1969, she was sent back home to recover after a bad bout of pancreatitis left her weak and exhausted.
  33. respite
    a relief from harm or discomfort
    The one place she could get a respite from the heat was the air-conditioned officers’ club.
  34. insignia
    a badge worn to show official position
    He told her the insignia on his uniform meant he was a crewmember on a helicopter that sprayed Agent Orange.
  35. orient
    familiarize with new surroundings or circumstances
    After putting away her clothes, Adams decided to take a walk around the compound to orient herself.
  36. bittersweet
    tinged with sadness
    It was a bittersweet moment for Adams.
  37. abscess
    a localized collection of pus surrounded by inflamed tissue
    One day he brought in a baby with an abscess.
  38. intently
    with strained or eager attention
    Adams listened intently to the patient’s answers: where he was from, how long he had served, what he knew about NVA plans.
  39. affinity
    a close connection marked by community of interests
    With her affinity for the Americans holding protests at home, she hoped the soldier would say something to help her understand why Americans had to fight so hard against the Communists.
  40. scrutiny
    the act of examining something closely, as for mistakes
    Living by the perimeter, they got by without the strict military scrutiny she was used to.
Created on Wed Oct 17 11:32:31 EDT 2018 (updated Wed Oct 17 16:52:45 EDT 2018)

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