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hi everone, Is this book too dificcult for a non-english speaker? this is a sentence i am totally confused about it: "I knew one 4th division Lurp who took his pills by the fistful, downs from the left pocket of his tiger suit and ups from the right, one to cut the trail for him and the other to send him down it."

Richard Ong I've not read the book so I can't judge its difficulty for a non-English speaker. Slang must surely always be confusing and there's a fair amount in tâ€¦m´Ç°ù±ðI've not read the book so I can't judge its difficulty for a non-English speaker. Slang must surely always be confusing and there's a fair amount in this one paragraph!

"Lurp" is the pronunciation of the abbreviation, LRRP, or Long-Range Reconnaissance Patrol. Such patrols involved small numbers of troops who operated far from their own troops and any kind of immediate support (artillery or friendly reinforcements). Obviously, their survival and effectiveness depended on undetected movement. I respect those men for the danger they faced.

"Downs" (also known as "downers") refers to pills that supposedly calm one, and "ups" (or "uppers") to a drug such as methamphetamine. I don't understand the connection between a "downer" drug and cutting a trail through the forest, jungle, etc. It makes no sense to me.

Obviously the function of the "upper" is to act as pharmaceutical courage to help one muster the will to proceed down a trail with the potential to have an ambush waiting for the unwary or unlucky.

A "tiger suit" would refer to a type of camouflaged utility/field uniform worn by some American troops. It was green with dark black stripes, hence "tiger." They were also referred to as "tiger stripes."

Most American infantry work the standard jungle fatigues (work uniform) with no camouflage pattern. The more "individualistic" or irregular troops wore what they wanted.

I intend to obtain this book for myself. If you are interested in the war -- and just an amazing book about Americans in Vietnam -- I highly recommend a book called "Chickenhawks"!!!!!(less)

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Unanswered Questions (1)

lo trovo tradotto in italiano?

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