Vietnam Military Lingo Practice Test

In Vietnam war lingo, aircraft often earned memorable nicknames. The AC-47, a gunship version of the C-47 Skytrain built for close air support, became known as Puff the Magic Dragon after the popular folk song. This nickname captured the aircraft’s role—delivering sustained air-to-ground fire to support troops on the ground—and it became the shorthand crews and ground forces used to refer to that aircraft. The other terms relate to different things—Pop Smoke is about smoke markers for targeting or signaling, Punji Stake is a trap, and Quebec is a phonetic alphabet term not tied to this aircraft. So Puff (the Magic Dragon) is the name that specifically identifies the AC-47 gunship.