| A | B |
|---|
| Indochina | French colonies of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos |
| Guerrillas | Small paramilitary forces, without uniforms, who fight few traditional battles. Guerrillas blend in with the local population or hide in the countryside, usually in small groups. |
| Atlantic Charter | Statement of war aims the U.S. and Britain issued at the beginning of World War II. |
| Ho Chi Minh | Communist who led Vietnam against the French and then against the South Vietnamese government and the U.S. |
| Vietminh | Vietnamese rebel soldiers who fought against the French. |
| Senator Jospeh McCarthy | Senator from Wisconsin who claimed communists had infiltrated American government. |
| Dien Bien Phu | A major battle that the French lost, which eventually led to their withdrawal from Vietnam. |
| Operation Vulture | U.S. plan to rescue the French at Dien Bien Phu. |
| Constituent | A voter in a congressman's district or a senator's district. |
| Geneva Agreement. | The 1954 pact under which the French would withdraw from Vietnam, the country would be divided temporarily, and a national election would take place in two years to reunify the country. |
| Ngo Dinh Diem | Leader of South Vietnam, whom the U.S. supported from 1954 to 1963. |
| SEATO | Southeast Asia Treaty Organization; military alliance created in 1954 that included (among other nations) South Vietnam and the U.S. |
| Vietcong | Vietnamese soldiers who fought against the government of South Vietnam; also known as the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam. |
| Domino Theory | The theory that a political event in one country will cause similar events in neighboring countries; most often used to imply that if one country fell to communism, other nearby countries would also fall to communism. |
