POW/MIA INSIDERS GLOSSARY

UN:  United Nations.

UNCMAC:  United Nations Command Military Armistice Committee.

UNDERWATER SIDE SCAN SONAR:  Sonar radar mounted on ships to scan large areas of the ocean floor to search for wreckage.

UNHCR:  United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.  The UN organization in charge of the refugee camps.

UNILATERAL INVESTIGATION:  An investigation conducted solely by one of the SEA governments to meet the requirements of a lead.

USRJC:  United States Russia Joint Commission on POW/MIA’s.  Established in March 1992, to serve as the forum through which both nations investigate cases of missing men.

UTAPHAO:  A Royal Thai Naval Air Base in southeast Thailand.  During the Vietnam War  Utaphao was a very large U.S. Air Force Base mainly housing B-52’s for raids into Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.  This base is used as our staging area for deploying teams into Southeast Asia.  The teams stay at a seaside resort called Pattaya while going in and out of SEA countries on missions.

UXO:  Unexploded ordinance.  A term used to describe all hazardous ordinance (ammunition, mines, bombs, bomblets, missiles, etc).

VC:  Viet Cong.  The organization used by North Vietnam to fight the southern regime and U.S. forces.  After the war the North Vietnamese arrested the key leaders of the VC and imprisoned them.  The VC flag can no longer be flown or displayed in Vietnam.  What is ironic is that several key leaders of the VC that fought against the Americans now reside in Los Angeles, California.

VIVA:  The organization that made and sells the POW/MIA Bracelets.  It has changed it's name several times to date.

VN:  Acronym for Vietnam.

VNOSMP:  The Vietnamese Office Seeking Missing Persons.  The Vietnamese counterparts to JPAC.