Why did the US troops in Vietnam nickname the North Vietnamese ?

Question

"Charlie" how did this originate??

Answer 1

The V C were south Vietnamese mainly Buddhist who hated the Christan's, fought for the north and were used by them After the north took over the south they were disbanded and many were put in re-ed camps for years were made to poke around for land mines with stick They really did not understand that their faith would not be permitted

Answer 2

WHat the others said.  It comes from the way that letters are named in the military.

A= Alpha

B= Bravo

C= Charlie

D= Delta

E = Echo

etc.  

Answer 3

Charlie is actually from the phonetic alphabet for the letter "C". The C stood for Communist. Just as in todays fights, we call them "Tangos" or T for Terrorists.

Answer 4

Gez has it right as far as how Charlie started.  But Note: the V.C. were not the North Vietnamese.  Charlie were the local insurgence that would work fields by day and fight by night.  They were little more than armed thugs that faded into the jungle when things got hot.

The NVA or North Vietnamese Army was seen as a real fighting force.  They didn't play hide and seek like the V.C.  when the NVA attacked they attacked in force.  When they defended they defended in place.

Answer 5

The NVA were called...Mr. Charlie...or November Victor...

Reason was he was Regular Army...and a real bad ***...

The VC were called Cong...

Answer 6

Viet Cong = VC = Victor Charlie = Charlie