Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (US, orig. milit.) a member of the Viet Cong.

1972		T. O’Brien If I Die in a Combat Zone (1980) 45: Every night while you’re sleepin’ / Charlie Cong comes a creepin’ / All around.
1977		(con. 1969) M. Herr Dispatches 12: No sense us getting too relaxed. Charlie don’t relax. [Ibid.] 43: The countryside was either blasted over cold an dead or already back in Charles’ hands.
1978		T. O’Brien Going After Cacciato (1980) 31: Nobody, not even the C.
1984		(con. 1965) W. Terry Bloods (1985) 9: The first time I killed somebody close up was when we was tailing Charlie on a patrol somewhere around Danang.
1987		(con. 1967) E. Spencer Welcome to Vietnam (1989) 31: [Hill] 881 North is Mr. Charles’s fire base.
1990		(con. c.1970) G. Hasford Phantom Blooper 5: The Phantom Blooper has many names. The White Cong. Super-Charlie [...] The Round Eyed Victor Cong. White Charlie.
1991		W.T. Vollmann Whores for Gloria 124: Every last one of us betrayed by the VC [...] Wanna kill those Chinese Charlies!
1993		T. Jones Pugilist at Rest 41: The enemy was waiting for us [...] Charles began firing rockets at the choppers. [Ibid.] 43: In spite of the density of the jungle, Charley was everywhere.

2. attrib. use of sense 1.

1987

(con. 1967) Bunch & Cole Reckoning for Kings (1989) 156: Whole fuckin’ Charlie army could be out there.