Merriam-Webster On-Line
Dictionary [Contributed by Daniel Spires, 4th/20th Mech Inf (deactivated)
193rd Inf Bgd (CZ) Republic of Panama]
Main Entry: hooch
Variant(s): or hootch /'hüch/
Function: noun
Etymology: modification of Japanese uchi house
Date: 1960
slang : a usually thatched hut; broadly : DWELLING
Hootch is the name we used for the typical Vietnamese dwelling in which rural farmers
or peasants live. Their construction is simple yet amazingly durable. The
peasants begin by digging holes for the upright bamboo posts placed six-to ten-inches
apart. Thicker bamboo posts anchor the corners and door-frame, while the uprights
for the walls between them use smaller poles. A lattice of thin, supple bamboo or
other sticks, woven through these upright posts, makes a lathwork to hold the mud which is
applied next. The finished walls are from six to eight inches thick. There
are usually two doors and occasionally some windows. A bamboo framework, peaking
along a central ridge pole, is erected to hold the roof, and then grass bundles are tied
to it to form a thatch roof, which hangs well out over the walls to protect them from the
rain. The mud walls dry and age to a grey/cocoa color. The roofs become pale
yellow. Unfortunately, because of the war, most hootches we visited also had a
family bunker built inside, about five feet square and three to four feet high, with one
small entrance facing into the center of the hootch.
I had a chance to study the construction methods of one hootch closely - as we took it
apart piece by piece with a tank. The method of destruction is almost as interesting
as the method of construction. First the mud is shaken from the walls with repeated
howitzer rounds. While the shell leaves only a modest hole in the front wall, the
spall from the exploding shell takes out big pieces of the rear one. Any remaining
upright poles are flattened as the tank rolls over them. This particular demolition
technique was also fatal to the inhabitants. We only used it when we were taking
heavy fire from a hootch, and the alternative was a suicide assault out into the open to
take it hand-to-hand.
A Hootch Is A House Is A Home: Tales Of A War Far Away
Copyright © 1995 Kirk S. Ramsey
Picture Copyright © 1995 Bob Lindgren
Last modified:
March 02, 1995
