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Author Topic: Charlie and Archie Manny Knowles "What are these things and WHY are they BLUE???" Posts: 4247 From: Bloomington, IN, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 09-22-2003 10:22 AM                     There's a thread over in FHF called "Charlie." This doesn't really have anything to do with that thread. Just seeing the word "Charlie" made me wonder... Why were the Vietnamese referred to as "Charlie" by the American troops? Why was anti-aircraft fire referred to as "Archie" during the first World War? Do they still call it that?  |  IP: Logged Aaron Sisemore Flaming Ribs beat Reeses Peanut Butter Cups any day! Posts: 3061 From: Rockwall TX USA Registered: Sep 1999 posted 09-22-2003 11:56 AM                     quote: Why were the Vietnamese referred to as "Charlie" by the American troops? It wasn't the Vietnamese in general, but the Viet Cong guerillas. Abbreviate Viet Cong to 'V.C.' In the military phonetic alphabet the leters V.C. translate to 'Victor Charlie', drop the 'Victor' and voila! I am sure that the anti-aircraft being named 'Archie' has something to do with a play on the letter 'A' (however, the military phonetic for 'A' is 'Alpha' not 'Archie')... Today the common slang for Anti-Aircraft fire is 'triple-A' (AAA=Anti-Aircraft-Artillery) in WWII it was best known as 'Flak'... -Aaron  |  IP: Logged Paul Mayer Oh get out of it Melvin, before it pulls you under! Posts: 3836 From: Albuquerque, NM Registered: Feb 2000 posted 09-22-2003 12:23 PM                        Never heard the term "archie" in reference to AA fire before--a British term perhaps? The old term I remember for AA is "ack ack" but as Aaron noted "flak" was and is a common way to refer to AA. I tend to use "flak" to specifically refer to the airborne shrapnel leftover from exploded AA shells--nasty stuff to try to fly through. Ack ack... Now everyone reading this thread will spend the rest of the day mentally replaying dialog from Mars Attacks...  |  IP: Logged Manny Knowles "What are these things and WHY are they BLUE???" Posts: 4247 From: Bloomington, IN, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 09-22-2003 01:58 PM                     ...or the duck from the insurance commercials...  |  IP: Logged

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