natural terrain and topography

Maya Lin received a "B+" from Yale University for her Vietnam War Memorial design proposal.

The symbolism is that depth increases then gradually decreases according to combat casualties. 

Vietnam: Canada’s Shadow War

Watch here.

on letting go

Col. Trautman:

It's over, Johnny. It's over!

Rambo:

NOTHING IS OVER! NOTHING!

Vô

"To be truly friendly, you must drink until you are drunk."
- Vietnamese adage

mis leader

"He had an extraordinary ability for self-deception."
- On LBJ

"I don't want to get to know anyone here. It'd be bad enough to lose a man let alone a friend."
- U.S. Marine, Vietnam

wrist-watch

"Can you get me my watch?"

- An American soldier after having his arm blown off in Vietnam.

hammer & sickle

Nikita Khrushchev [1894-1971], banging his shoe, hated putting things in writing because he couldn't spell.

"Communism was an impractical mishmash of ideas, imposed by squabbling zealots that promised much, delivered little and cost millions of lives. It is striking that 36 countries at one time or another adopted this system and that five—Cuba, Laos, North Korea, Vietnam and the biggest of them all, China—still pay lip service to it."

- Economist Magazine, July 4th 2009

took opium to dull the pain

"I never knew a man who had better motives for all the trouble he caused."

- Graham Greene, The Quiet American, 1955, p. 151

frag

M67 Fragmentation Hand Grenade, which was a replacement for the M61 grenade used during Vietnam and the older MK2 "Pineapple" grenade used since World War Two and well into the Vietnam War. [source here]

Fragging is a term from the Vietnam War, used primarily by U.S. military personnel, most commonly meaning to assassinate an unpopular officer of one's own fighting unit, often by means of a fragmentation grenade [hence the term].

Bombs Away

tapis de bombes (Carpet bombing)
by dictys

America dropped more bombs in Vietnam than in all of World War II.

Tom Yum Soup

Make it yourself. A local supplier here.

ITEM 135. Tom-yum Beef Rice Needle Soup/ Chicken 135C $5.25
ITEM 136. Tom-yum Seafood Vermicelli Soup/ Chicken 136C $5.95
ITEM 403. Thai Style Shrimp Tom-yum Soup w/ Tomato, Eggplant $6.00 $8.00 $12.00
ITEM 631. Tom Yum To Fu Hot, Sour Soup $6.00 $8.00 $12.00