7th PSYCHOLOGICAL OPERATIONS GROUP

Friendly Nations Served by the Detachments

I mentioned all the Detachments of the 7th PSYOP Group above. Printed products for peaceful allied nations are much different than those for the countries at war or considered adversaries. The allied countries got PSYOP products that were friendly, useful and pro-government, what used to be called "consolidation," but really is just nation building. The material almost always says good things about the friendly government and asks the people for support and loyalty. I depict some of these interesting products:

Okinawa

A 1965 Calendar Printed by the 7th PSYOP Group for Okinawa

We show the image for January. Naha City Hall, the largest building in the Ryukyu Islands, was opened to the public in September 1965. It contains more than 10,000 square meters of office space. Curiously, when I was in Naha in 1954 the houses were mostly all wooden shanties and the streets were mostly unpaved. There had been little repair from the devastation of WWII. The reason that PSYOP people so love calendars is that once it is on the wall of a house the residents might look at it every single day for a year, thus reading the pro-Government message every single time and helping it to take hold.

A 1972 Calendar for Okinawa

The 7th PSYOP Group printed this calendar for Okinawa at the request of the High Commissioner of the Ryukyu Islands. It depicts the flag of the U.S.A. and Japan on the cover. Inside, there is a dedication by Lieutenant general James B. Lampert who was the High Commissioner at the time. It says in part:

This 1972 calendar is dedicated to the inhabitants of Okinawa and to the spirit of friendliness that over the centuries has made Okinawa “The Land of Courtesy.”

Cartoon Leaflets

I found two types of these leaflets in one old 7th Group file. They come in two colors, on white or green paper, and in two sizes, 8.5 x 3, and the more standard 6 x 3-inches. One depicts a standard U.S. Army 0-1 Bird Dog aircraft dropping leaflets. There is no text on the front. The text on the back of the top leaflet is in Japanese, so could have been used by the Japanese section in Japan or by the Group in Okinawa. Both leaflets have the same general text with only a slight difference in the opening. The text is:

To our honored visitors, Howdy!

Welcome to our event. This same type of leaflet is being used all over the world. We can choose the size and dimensions, and weight as fits the situation and area being targeted. This leaflet shows how far “Leaflet operations” have progressed. Currently the airdropping of leaflets has become a science. The members of the “Psychological Warfare Unit” are miles away but can deliver this leaflet with ease.

The second is more of a cartoon style aircraft with a smile, eyes, and dropping leaflets from the hands at the end of its wing. It seems aimed at children. The bottom leaflet text is Chinese. The 7th PSYOP Group had a section in Taiwan and trained selected Chinese PSYOP troops there, so we assume that is where this leaflet was used. Some of the text is:

To our honored visitors,

Welcome everyone to the Harding training area. This same type of leaflet is being used all over the world. We can choose the size, dimensions, and weight as fits the situation and area being targeted. This leaflet shows how far “Leaflet operations” have progressed. Currently the airdropping of leaflets has become a science. The members of the “Psychological Warfare Unit” are miles away but can deliver this leaflet with ease.

Bookmark – 2052

As part of winning hearts and minds the 7th Group often prepared bookmarks. I have seen dozens of them among the papers of the Group. They usually show patriotic or historical scenes. This one was for the 11th International Library Week. I would have never added it being just a minor project for readers, but it bears the code number 2052. If the Group thought it was propaganda worth coding, who am I to argue with them?

An Alphabet Poster

A Modern List of the Japanese Hiragana "Syllabary" for Young People

Among the 7th Group material I found two posters to teach children the alphabet. One is in Lao and depicted in another article. The one above is a child’s chart for learning the Japanese Hiragana alphabet. It uses pictures of various items the children would recognize to help them remember the symbols. Hiragana is the main alphabet or character set for Japanese. Japanese also consists of two other character sets - Kanji (Chinese characters), and another alphabet/character set, Katakana, which is mainly used for foreign words. It is a phonetic lettering system. The word hiragana literally means "ordinary" or "simple." Author and veteran Dan King pointed out that the symbol He pictured a helicopter, the image of a jet fighter under Hikoki and that was further proof that this poster was post-WWII.

Headquarters, 7th PSYOP Group – Okinawa. It coordinated the printing of PSYOP materials in support of Pacific Commands (one billion leaflets, 750,000 magazines, and other miscellaneous printed material produced in either the: U.S. Army Printing and Publications Center, Japan; the 7th PSYOP Group printing Company; or the USIA Regional Service Center, Manila. It programmed and operated the Voice of the United Nations Command broadcasting 19 hours a day over five radio transmitters located in Korea. It works closely with the United States Information Service on a daily basis.

15th PSYOP  Detachment Printing Branch

15th PSYOP Detachment – Okinawa. It conducted PSYOP research on 16 Pacific Command countries. It wrote and distributed Shurei No Hikari (Light of the Land of Courtesy), a 32-page Japanese-language magazine printed in 97,000 copies and annually produced a calendar and Farmer’s and Fisherman’s Almanac for Okinawa.

Headquarters, 14th PSYOP Battalion (Command and Control) – Okinawa. It exercised control over the 16th, 18th, and Psychological Printing Companies. It supported the Pacific Command with loudspeakers, audio-visual units, a light mobile printing unit, and a fixed printing facility producing approximately 220 million leaflets a month and packed about 300 leaflet bombs a month.

Because Okinawa was at peace there are no military images. Instead, they show children taking part in music, dancing and even Japanese opera. The images celebrate Okinawan culture.

The Communist Propaganda Technique of Group Singing

Here is a very strange Intelligence report printed by the 7th PSYOP Group. Since they were on Okinawa they watched the political situation there very carefully and discovered that the Communists on the island were using the technique of group singing to gain recruits. The gist of the 52-page report says:

The Communist led choral singing movement UTAGOE UNDO is a well-organized and expanding movement as indicated by one of its current slogans, “Choral singing for 10 million.” The movement began during the American occupation of Japan. It fails to mention that the original name of the Central Chorus was the Communist Youth Movement Central Chorus group and it remains under the control of the Japanese Communist Party. The success of the Communist movement led the Japanese Socialist Party to form its own choral movement. Some of the songs that might give a clue as to the organizations policies are: “Don’t send them to Vietnam;” “Nixon and Sato,” Nixon and Sato talk and then flee in terror from the sound of the people; “March for a free Vietnam;” “Ban the bomb;” and “Let’s liberate South Vietnam.”

I should point out that these anti-American and anti-Vietnam War songs are hidden within 27 popular and folk songs so they were able to pretend it was just simple entertainment. Once inside the singing groups the members could be gradually indoctrinated to the Communist philosophy.

Don’t Send Them to Vietnam

Can you hear the voices
Of fallen and injured soldiers
Calling from hospitals and inside bases?
Let’s stop sending soldiers to unknown battlefields

When American youths
Burn their draft cards,
When Vietnamese mothers and children defend their homeland,
Let’s stop manufacturing the weapons and military transport headed for Vietnam

Thailand

The King of Thailand

The portrait of the King of Thailand was printed by the 7th PSYOP Group on 18 November 1969, coded 97-2-4. The purpose was to encourage respect for the Royal family. The text is:

His Majesty the King, Bhumibol Adulyadej, is the most beloved and respected of the Thai People.

We should point out what the Military Assistance Command Thailand, February 1966, Psychological Operations Field Handbook for Thailand says about gifts and portraits:

Give-aways should. have explicit or implicit symbolic meaning, readily recognizable as an act of loyalty. Giving away pictures of the King to villagers has explicit meaning; they likely will keep them, either for display in their home or (if there is danger to them of subversive reprisal) in a secret place where they will serve as a sort of charm. Acceptance of a picture of the King becomes explicit out of loyalty to the government. An example of an implicit act would be acceptance of, say, cabbage seeds, if the government is seeking to have villagers in an area increase or diversify their vegetable production. Items distributed might have a symbol (a slogan, a Thai flag) affixed on them. For instance, in Vietnam, it was found useful to give away T-shirts for small children. A T-shirt has no propaganda significance; this significance was added by imprinting the Vietnamese flag on the garment. Thus, these shirts became symbolic of a villager’s loyalty, of his readiness to have his child parade around the village with the government’s symbol on hie chest or back. Under serious conditions of insurgency, the political climate in the village may be such that the very acceptance of any give-away becomes an act of loyalty to, or at least identification with, the government.

A 1971 Calendar showing the King and his Queen Sirikit

3rd PSYOP Detachment – Bangkok, Thailand. The Group only prints materials prepared by the Royal Thai government’s Communist Suppression Operations Directorate. It liaisons with the Military Assistance Command Thailand in regard to PSYOP products printed for Thailand. It keeps the supported Thailand units informed of the printing and delivery schedule of the 7th PSYOP Group to Thailand. The printed materials: posters; handouts; calendars and maps are all attributed to Thailand. Once the products are printed and forwarded to Thailand they are distributed by the Thais. One Thai anti-Communist comic book printed by the 7th PSYOP Group was titled: THE VICTORIOUS BLACK PANTHERS which told the story of Thai troops fighting the Viet Cong in Vietnam so that Communism does not spread to other parts of Southeast Asia. The Group designed 10,000 bars of soap for Thailand produced by the Taiwan Detachment in Taiwan with messages inside. The Detachment is sometimes as few as two men with the main responsibility of coordinating printing requirements.

The Group must have been dissatisfied with the dissemination of the calendars. A memorandum pointed out that they were prepared with funds from the U.S. and each year the warehouses had calendars left over. One recommendation was that the calendars should be sent to military radio stations where they could be talked about and would be available to any listeners writing in for them. Radio programs could be tied to the calendars. The October page depicts school children in front of a statue of King Chulalongkorn. The radio program could talk about the King and tell the audience what he did for the people of Thailand. The memo concluded that the National Calendar should be provided to the Army PSYOP stations by the Royal Thailand Information PSYOP Organization.

March 1971

Each page of the 1971 calendar bears a beautiful full-color patriotic image. The same images were printed as posters. I depict several below. The month of March image above depicts Communist troops drafting a farm boy to become a guerrilla. He fights as his father who appears to be tied to a tree looks on hopelessly. The text is:

Loving kindness

Not communism

Dave Underhill told me that they had to do a lot of work to get the maximum distribution of this National Calendar. He asked the Thai radio stations to broadcast their availability. He also wanted to forward calendars to the military PSYOP radio stations. There was no point in spending thousands of dollars for these calendars if they did not get into people’s homes.

A booklet Depicting Thai Armed Forces in Action

THE THAI MILITARY IN VIETNAM

The booklet seems to be targeting the proud anti-communism of Thailand’s history, potentially to recruit men to volunteer for service in South Vietnam.

 

Propaganda comic book for Thailand – The Victorious Black Panthers

This comic book was prepared in 1968 coded 2065. It was to motivate the Thais to stay in the war fighting to keep the Vietnamese free. Its plot describes the heroic Thai Black Panther Division planning an attack against the Viet Cong and being victorious. The comic mentions spotter aircraft seeing some Viet Cong near the Thai base named Bearcat. The Thais call in an airstrike and send in their Rangers to clean up. It ends with the comment that “The Rangers of the Black Panthers Division in Vietnam successfully completed their mission and make their brothers back home proud."

In the page above, an American soldier reports the sighting of a small group of Viet Cong fighters about 12 kilometers west of Base bearcat, the home of the Black Panthers. The commander calls for a conference and for their Rangers to be readied for action.

The Newspaper THAILAND

This is a 7th Group propaganda newspaper for Thailand. My files only identify it as a newspaper so we don’t know how many issues were printed and how often they were distributed. The main stories are:

The Rapid Rural Development Considers building roads to connect villages and open access to remote areas.

The Ministry of Defense is providing mobile health clinics to assist people in the more rural areas that can't come to the city.

The Office of Rural Development is building roads to and from Nakhon Ratchasima, Phitsanulok and the Lampang provinces.

FREEDOM FOR HUMANITY

There was a Communist movement in Thailand though you seldom hear about it today. The “Dominoes” of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos fell, but Thailand remained free. The Communist insurgency in Thailand was a guerrilla war lasting from 1965 until 1983, fought mainly by the Communist Party of Thailand and the government of Thailand. The war declined in 1980 following the declaration of an amnesty and by 1983 the Communist Party of Thailand had abandoned the insurgency. The 7th PSYOP Group had positioned the 3rd PSYOP Detachment in Thailand to coordinate U.S. PSYOP support for that country. The Detachment coordinated all PSYOP printing requirements with the Military Assistance Advisory Group Thailand and helped the Thais in the propaganda war by printing posters such as the one above. The poster above shows a Thai citizen who is tied up and has been beaten by the Communists. The text is:

FREEDOM FOR HUMANITY

HELP EACH OTHER RESIST COMMUNISM

COMMUNISM BRINGS DESTRUCTION WHEREVER IT GOES

This poster has a rather simple design. A character that looks a bit like a silhouette of Mao Tse-tung holds a torch and the entire bottom of the poster is afire. Obviously, whatever the Communists touch they destroy. The text is:

COMMUNISM BRINGS DESTRUCTION WHEREVER IT GOES

Republic of Korea

A 1971 Calendar for the Republic of Korea
Notice the United Nations Symbol at the left

Happy New Year

A gift from the Friends of Freedom

The calendar contains both patriotic military pictures and artistic photographs of South Korean tourist attractions. I love the picture of the two affectionate hogs on the cover of the calendar. That immediately screamed “Year of the Pig” to me. Asians believe that the pig is peace-loving, trustful, honest, and sincere. People born in the year of the Boar will be lucky and successful in handling money, business and academic matters. Notice that the calendar is from the “Friends of Freedom.” That is the same as the Korean-language magazine depicted earlier in this article.

January 1971

This calendar page depicts Republic of Korea soldiers on watch along the Demilitarized zone.

I spoke to Dave Underhill who oversaw this operation and he remembered that the calendars were not all that successful at first. He said:

I became interested in calendars soon after my appointment to PSYOP. The unit printed a monthly Korean wall calendar for the United Nations Command to distribute within Korea. The illustrations were horrible. Nobody wanted to have one hanging on the wall, and nobody in the unit ever bothered to see what the people thought of them. I went to Korea and found out that our own people were cutting off the picture and placing just the calendar portion under the glass on their desks. On my way back to Okinawa, I stopped by our Japan Detachment who produced the calendars and told them I would like to see a yearly calendar that would become a collector’s item and never be thrown away. The printers were very professional. Once I told them what I wanted they produced very beautiful and high-quality patriotic images that the people loved. It may have been the best work they ever did. We eventually produced calendars for Korea, Vietnam, Korea, Thailand and Laos.

On 3 June 1971, the 7th PSYOP Group printed a set of six 2.5 x 3.5-inch pocket calendars for Korea. The message on all was the same:

Good Health and Happiness to You

The cards, numbered 1 through 6, were printed in four colors on front and in three colors on the back. The pictures on the six cards are as follows: a pretty girl by a willow tree, a young girl beside a stone statue, a woman beating drums, farmers eating in the rice fields, a pitcher, and a girl’s dancing group. Each card has a 1971 calendar on the back.

A "Year of the Rat" Calendar for the Republic of Korea

1972

United Nations Command

I wish you good health and happiness

This calendar was designed to further the friendship between the United States and the Republic of Korea. The inside consists of beautiful full-color patriotic paintings suitable for framing and even some cartoons. The cover depicts an elderly Korean sitting among wild animals living together in peace. His name is Dangun Wanggeom who founded the nation of Korea over 4300 years ago. His father was Hwanwoong the son of God, who descended from heaven, and a woman named Woongnyeo who overcame a long ordeal and changed from a bear to human.

April 1972

The month of April had this remarkable painting of the Turtle ships at war. The Geobukseon, also known as turtle ship in western descriptions, was a type of large Korean warship that was used intermittently by the Royal Korean Navy during the Joseon dynasty from the early 15th century up until the 19th century. The sides and deck were covered over; to protect the crew from missile bombardment. The Turtle Ship’s prime armament was some 26 cannons, of various calibers. This gave them a stand-off capability more lethal than the archery or early rifle fire of the marines who manned the Japanese ships they opposed. Turtle ships were first used in the Battle of Sacheon (1592) and proved decisive in almost every battle. At nearly every encounter, they were able to sink their enemies with cannon fire at close range. 

24th PSYOP Detachment – Seoul, Korea. It supported the United Nations Command with PSYOP against North Korea and operated the Voice of the United Nations. It produced a Korean-language magazine Chayu–Ui pot (Friends of Freedom) in 500,000 copies, and annually produced a calendar and Farmer’s Almanac for Korea.  The Magazine Chayu was a full-color 32-page magazine directed at the general population of South Korea. It was the largest circulating magazine in South Korea. It designed leaflets and supports balloon and float operations against North Korea. It gathers information and intelligence from the interrogation of North Korean defectors.

A Patriotic Comic Book

This 68-page comic book was written to tell the Korean people the story of their troops fighting in Vietnam. It shows them helping the people, feeding them and doing public services like digging wells etc. The title of the book is:

Civilian Aid

Korean Army Headquarters in Vietnam.

Department of Psychological Warfare for Civilians

Page One

The first page of the comic book shows the Koreans being helped by the Vietnamese to capture an armed Viet Cong fighter and the text:

When cooperation is achieved with the residents, our soldiers become fond of the people and their comrades, observe army discipline, and become friendly with the local citizens. Our soldiers fight the communists most effectively.

Page 25 - A Korean Soldier pays for what he takes

Other cartoons depict the Koreans helping the Vietnamese people by giving them food, medicines, and even cash. The booklet makes a point that the Koreans pay for whatever they take while the Viet Cong steal it. In one cartoon a Korean soldier fixes a fence after he knocked part of it down with his jeep. When the Koreans walk through a garden, they are careful to walk on the path and not through the vegetables, and when they drive, they are careful to watch of children at play. They build houses, piers and dig roads for the people. The booklet presents the Koreans in the best light possible. Page 25 features a Korean soldier buying produce from a Vietnamese farmer. The text at the top is:

Amazing, it's too much money

The text at the bottom is:

When you buy an item, pay a fair price

Laos

1972 Calendar for Laos

There was no 7th PSYOP Group Detachment in Laos but leaflets were printed for that country. The Group printed 40 to 45 million leaflets a month for Laos; one high or medium altitude mission a week with 10 about million leaflets dropped each mission.

Lao PSYWAR designed this calendar, using their photographers and writers and then the material was sent offsite to be printed. The code is M72-12 (192).The inside front cover depicts all the native people of Laos. Each month the photographs are patriotic and nationalistic. For instance, January shows a Laotian soldier loading an aircraft with the text:

The Army is always ready to provide aid to people in remote areas with transports from the Lao Air Force.

A Pathet Lao Defector is honored

March depicts a large picture of the King of Laos reviewing his troops. The picture on the actual calendar page shows a female Social Worker honoring a former Pathet Lao who returned to the Government side. She places a garland around the former guerrilla’s neck.

1973 Calendar for Laos

This calendar was a bit complex. It opens with the same display of decorations that the 1972 calendar closed with. After that, each month features a pretty girl, the standard calendar, a Laotian calendar, the insignia of 3 Lao Army units, a generic picture with no caption, a Laotian saying, important dates in history for the month which focus primarily on events in Laos, and comments about festivals and holidays geared to the Laotian calendar. There is a centerfold showing the display of captured enemy weapons which was located in front of the psychological warfare division headquarters in Vientiane along with the blurb. At the end there is a map surrounded by the pretty girls. The back cover is a 1974 calendar.

This was the last calendar produced off-site by the 7th PSYOP Group. The calendar for 1974 featured the king and had tear off calendar sheets. While the psychological warfare division had developed the capacity to design these calendars, it had neither the budget to have them printed elsewhere nor the capacity to print them in-house. Other priorities became more pressing.

I wondered why the Laos fighters would have to pay for the calendars when they were surely printed gratis earlier. It seems to be the same as the idea of Vietnamization. Karl Fritch told me:

There was a ceasefire in Laos starting in spring 1973 and the United States Government pulled back from supporting the Lao Army to the extent it had previously. The emphasis was on getting the Royal Laotian Government and the Lao Army to function independently. The concept was to supply and equip them to do the job themselves. Hence, work done out of country for the Lao needed to give way to work done in country by the Lao.

Miss February from Lao 1973 Calendar

Follow the example of the old and the flesh-eating demons will not eat you

This is a traditional saying reflecting beliefs in a spirit world which could be pretty malevolent at times. A free English translation it would be “The old ways are safest”

Some of the other comments on the calendar pages are:

An angry heart is like an evil spirit the good heart like the Buddha
Death is better than breaking faith[death before dishonor]
Building with your hands is hard; with your mouth, easy
A barking dog doesn’t bite

There are also various patriotic comments on the monthly pages. Some examples are:

01 to 10 May 1971: 18 soldiers from the 22nd Pathet Lao Company along with their company commander Captain Vanna and another 45 Lao Patriotic front soldiers along with officers from the 11th Battalion came together with a battalion commander Lieutenant Colonel Sengchan and another 5 soldiers to rally to the government side.

13 October 1967: The government of Laos presented 19 North Vietnamese prisoners of war to the press to show the truth concerning North Vietnamese soldiers committing aggression on Lao land.

The 7th PSYOP Group published a regular monthly magazine called the Laos Army Magazine. As might be expected, it was very patriotic and supported the Lao Government and military. All of the covers are military in nature.

Pro-Government Army Poster 12-2-19

This 1971 large 21 x 29-inch full-color poster depicts a Laotian soldier in the forefront holding his flag while behind him massed Lao civilians wave their flags. It is a very patriotic scene. The text is:

21st Celebration of the Formation of the Army 23 March 1971

The nation exists because soldiers and people are together resolved to fight the enemy.

Army Day expresses the commitment of our brave troops to defend our sovereignty.

The nation endures as the sky and the land because the soldiers and people are strongly entwined together in the struggle.

Nation, honor, discipline, courage, unity, fortitude and sacrifice

Laos Air Force Poster

The poster features the Royal Laotian Air Force. Behind the brave pilot is a North American T-28 Trojan fighter, a Sikorsky H-34 helicopter and a Douglas C-47 Skytrain cargo aircraft. The text is:

All the peoples of Laos give their constant support to all units of the Nation’s brave fighters

The Royal Lao Air Force (RLAF), was the air force component of the Royal Lao Armed Forces (FAR), the official military of the Royal Lao Government and the Kingdom of Laos during the Laotian Civil War between 1960 and 1975. During the 1960s, the RLAF came to carry the weight of the battle against Vietnamese communist invaders and local Pathet Lao insurgents. Despite its continual drain of heavy pilot and aircraft losses, the RLAF grew to the point where it flew 30,000 combat sorties annually against its enemies in the years 1970 through 1972, as well performing essential logistics duties.

The National Army - Unity Brings Happiness Booklet

An example of propaganda to help the people instead of just attacking the Pathet Lao is the booklet above. The Lao PSYOP unit produced this book to teach the people to read. Texts like the above were distributed to both adults and children. The Army trained literacy teachers.

Our Land Booklet

This is the final Version of the national unity illustrated program titled “Our Land.” There were also films that were made to encourage the people to come together and take pride in their heritage. It was designed in conjunction with Lao PSYWAR, the United States Information Service Special Projects, the U.S. Army and the U.S. 7th PSYOP Group headquartered on Okinawa. There are inspirational comments that tell of all the times Laos was invaded by China and Vietnam and how each time the Laotians were victorious.

 

Leaflet .13

Many of the leaflets for Vietnam depicted scenes of violence, bombing and dead bodies on the ground. The Laos leaflets were much milder, showing leaders, doctors and nurses, and soldiers getting haircuts or eating. There was a different culture and so the leaflets were different. The Laos leaflets all start with a decimal point in front of the number. We always thought that was a code for Laos and the leaflets were printed by them. Instead, we now know that many were printed by the 7th PSYOP Group. There is an entire series of large leaflets that depict and support Prime Minister Souvanna Phouma. Some of those in my collection are .13, .15, .16, and .17. Since the images are all identical, I will just translate leaflet .13:

Prince Souvanna Phouma Prime Minister in the government of his Majesty the King

The Kingdom of Laos received its independence over 20 years ago. For the last 20 plus years our nation has been a democratically governed by a King, Privy Council, National Assembly and Constitution. Many nations of this world have recognized our independence and sovereignty as assured by the 1962 Geneva Accords. There is no nation in the world that can take away our rights.

 

Leaflet .324

Full-color leaflet .324 depicts a Lao mother nursing her baby. The text can be translated several ways but probably is best read as:

When will you return?

The back is all text. It says:

It has been a many years since you last saw your family; your mother, father, wife, children, and grandchildren, which you abandoned,

Brothers and sisters, for what reason do you abandon your loved ones and live in the jungles alone? You have worthlessly wasted so much time.

The Royal Lao Government has a program for you to rejoin the family that you left behind so many years ago. Please come back as soon as you read this leaflet.

The 7th PSYOP Group wrote a PSYOP Intelligence Special Report in February 1972. It says in part:

Both the Royal Laotian Government and the Pathet Lao had a variety of PSYOP programs designed to reach various target groups within Lao society. Government themes are addressed to the whole country as well as special audiences: Lao-Thai mercenaries, commercial circles, military forces, the Pathet Lao, farmers, other ethnic groups, monks and the youth. The Government objectives are to reduce the combat efficiency of the enemy, to stress the goodwill of the U.S., to convince enemy troops to defect, and to carry out plans for economic development while educating the people.

To carry out these goals the Government uses posters, leaflets, motion pictures, still pictures, cartoons, travelling theatre groups, PSYOP teams, loudspeaker programs, radio broadcasts and printed media. The Government has five radio stations which transmit to an estimated 70,000 radio receivers in the country. The Government publishes Khao Phap Pacham Sapda, a weekly news and photo sheet with a circulation of 20,000.The value of leaflets were shown when large numbers of the enemy defected and stated that leaflets and loudspeaker programs were influential in their decision to desert.

An Uncut Sheet of Propaganda leaflets for Laos

One of the earliest series of leaflets that were printed by the U. S. Army 7th PSYOP Group on Okinawa for The Laotian Army is the “Work together, Build together” series. The 7th PSYOP Group had a liaison officer working with the Royal Laotian Army Psywar. This is a group of leaflets that show the Lao people in different professions. The images are drawings like cartoons, the front with some red color added and the back always black and white, but patriotic and showing the workers and students in their best light. The front and back of each leaflet has the same title at top, but the descriptive text at the bottom is different: The nurse cares for the ill; The veterinarian looks after the health of animals; The teacher transmits knowledge, etc.

Notice that the top two leaflets are in Vietnamese. Since the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong often hid in Laos it was considered efficient to address them too.

Vietnam

I thought I would start by talking about leaflets. I spent years tracking down various codes used by different organizations during the Vietnam war. I finally understood the system and thought I was pretty smart. And then I discovered that I didn’t know anything. That is sobering, but let me first start by talking about the Korean War. In Korea, three organizations produced the major portion of leaflets. There was the U.S. Eighth Army, the 1st Radio Broadcasting and Leaflet Group, and the 1st loudspeaker and Leaflet Company. That is pretty easy. Except, I sometimes saw the same leaflets being claimed one or more of the three units. It then became clear that although the Group and Company was producing most of the leaflets, they were subordinate to the Army so when the Army G3 Operations section felt like it they just said “We printed them.” That is technically correct if we consider the chain of command, but not exactly accurate. It is more accurate to say “we ordered them to be printed.”

The same confusion can be found during the Vietnam War. There were originally four companies producing leaflets, then four battalions, then the 4th PSYOP Group in Vietnam, and all this theoretically guided by the Joint U.S. Public Affairs Office (JUSPAO). We knew if a leaflet had a code like “246” it was made by a company, if “10” it was made by a Battalion, if “4” it was made by the Group and if it had either the letter “SP” or a four letter code like “3536” it was made by JUSPAO. Or was it?

It later became clear that the 7th PSYOP Group was used to support all those units during the war and they printed the majority of the leaflets on Okinawa or Japan and simply used the codes as requested. So, the fact that we find a code on a leaflet does not tell us who printed it, it tells us who may have designed or requested it. I have a partial listing of all the leaflets produced by the 7th PSYOP Group and some of the codes I see are: T-01 (designed for use on the Ho Chi Minh Trail), P-01 (designed for use against the People’s Army of Vietnam), CP-03 (designed for use in Cambodia), 95 (designed to be used against North Vietnam) and SP-1380 (printed by JUSPAO – we thought). We now know that all of these were printed by the 7th Group. So, the bottom line is that anything we see that is coded and we think we know where it was printed may have been printed in several different places by quite different people.

In 1965 a small unit of the Okinawa-based 7th PSYOP Group arrived in Saigon, but it was more in the form of an advisory team. The unit was made up of an eclectic group of soldiers. Former PFC “Combat Illustrator” John Magine recalls that some were Special Forces qualified, some were jump qualified, and some even had high altitude low opening (HALO) training. Others had no special training. All the members had some language training and skills. The unit was made up of enlistees and draftees. They were a mix, some from the 3rd Special Forces Group who wore the green berets with the flash, some had no flash because they were new, and some had a small color bar on the beret or wore just the standard military cap. It was a real mixture of skills and talents. The detachment was formed by Captain Blaine Revis who previously had commanded the 19th PSYOP Company. He selected some soldiers that he knew, and others were obtained by a call for “volunteers,” (a military euphemism that means “you, you and you”). The new unit had almost no supplies and had to beg, borrow and steal equipment.

244th PSYOP Detachment – Saigon, Vietnam. Through liaison with Military Assistance Command Vietnam and the Joint U.S. Public Affairs Office it coordinated requests for PSYOP printing with the 7th PSYOP Group. It keeps supported Vietnam units informed on the printing and delivery schedule of the 7th PSYOP Group to Vietnam which makes up 75% of all the leaflets used there. It printed the Vietnamese-language magazine Thong Cam and annual calendars. It arranges for the 7th PSYOP Group to give instruction on leaflet dissemination techniques to Army, Air Force and Marine personnel in Vietnam. It collected PSYOP intelligence through liaison with military and civilian intelligence agencies. All printed material for Vietnam was designed by U.S. sources in Vietnam.

Let me start with some of the more interesting items printed for the South Vietnamese.

A pictorial history of America

The U.S. Army 7th PSYOP Group produced this 52-page propaganda comic book for the Vietnamese to teach them the history of the United States. It opens with the Vikings and Columbus, goes on to the Mayflower, then the Revolutionary War, on to Andy Jackson and the War of 1812 and the Civil War. The westward movement follows, and then WWI and WWII featuring Roosevelt, Truman and Eisenhower. The comic ends with Khrushchev, Jack Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. It bears a code on the back: 6-182(208). The 7th Group had a detachment in Vietnam all through the war so at some point it must have been asked to produce this comic to help the Vietnamese better understand the Americans that were in their country.

Land Tenure Booklet

The 7th PSYOP Group printed hundreds of informative booklets for the people of Vietnam. This booklet was developed in May 1968, coded 2593, and titled Land Tenure Booklet. The cover has a farmer working his field with water buffalo and the back has a colorful painting of a farm scene. The 18-page booklet was printed for the general population to provide information to land owners of rights and privileges and government regulations that affect them. There are 60 numbered paragraphs answering every question that a land owner might ask regarding rights and obligations, land rights and contracts, renting, crops, seeds, fertilizer, security, disputes and penalties.

Phuoc Ninh District Newsletter

There were hundreds of small patriotic, military, or government agencies supported by the Group. They all needed newsletters to keep them updated on what needed to be done and the current status of the war. This July 1968 publication is the Phuoc Ninh District Newsletter, designed to provide an attractive and attention-getting cover to facilitate dissemination to the district, both urban and rural. 2,000 copies were printed weekly with the JUSPAO code number 2659.

Regional Forces / Popular Forces Magazine

This magazine for the Vietnam civilian militias was prepared in October 1968 and coded 2899. This issue, for Binh Dinh Provinces is Special Projects. The magazine was developed by the Vietnam Information Service aided by the U.S. Civil Operations and Rural Development Support (CORDS) and Vietnamese PSYOP, then sent to the Joint U.S. Public Affairs Office who assigned the project to the 7th PSYOP Group. The objective of the magazine was to promote the RF/PF (Ruff Puffs) a part-time local militia of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) during the Vietnam War. 3000 copies were printed every other week. Most of the stories tell of Viet Cong defeats. Some of the feature stories are:

Another Attempt of the Blood-thirsty Communists Crushed in Qui Nhon
Victory at Phu My Hamlet, Binh Khe
Rallying to the Just Cause
Victory at Phu Cat

The People’s Self-Defense Monthly Bulletin

This 4-page bulletin was for rural and urban Self-Defense forces. It was designed to stimulate interest in civilian self-defense and provide guidance for self-defense groups. It talks about the growth of the movement and how at the start they had 175,338 members with 37,678 had military training and weapons. By November 1968 they had 658,934 members, 239,246 now had military training, and 96,899 weapons had been issued. This bulletin was coded 3,000.

My Country – A Study Magazine for Revolutionary Development Cadre

This publication was for the Revolutionary Development Cadre. It was designed at their Center in Vung Tau. It was meant to give them orientation, information, and motivation. This issue from November 1968 was coded 2994.

Your silent sacrifice and unremitting struggle will open the door to Vietnam’s future. The people and history shall not forget the credit you have dearly earned from hardship. You must always show yourselves up to the task of cadre born from the people and ready to give the supreme sacrifice of their lives to serve the people.

Whenever we complete the civil-defense machinery and when that machinery runs smoothly like a wheel, it will be time for the underground communists to surrender and flee from that machinery or be pushed out and isolated by that machinery. They are like fishes that are ready for cooking, and they will lose their spirit and capacity for action.

My County – 1969 Spring Issue- Code 3080

Can you ever have enough of these attractive magazine covers? I think not. This issue, "Special Projects," was developed in January 1969 for the members, friends, and families of the Revolutionary Development cadre. It was prepared by the Vietnamese at their center at Vung Tau, then printed by JUSPAO. It contained cadre orientation, information, and motivation.

Patriotic Poems

The Vietnamese loved poems and as a result many leaflets and brochures contained poems. This July 1968, 6-page booklet was developed by the Field Development Division of JUSPAO to promote a patriotic feeling for the Republic of Vietnam. 500,000 copies were printed. It was meant to be presented in a plastic gift bag with 11 other items.

Poem with illustration

The poems include My Beloved Vietnam, A visit to our Homeland, and A Map of Vietnam. Each poem comes with its own illustration. This booklet was coded 2634.

Masthead – Sector News Bulletin

Sometimes the Group simply prepared blank pages with a patriotic masthead. These could be forwarded to any sector where they could add their own text. This masthead was printed in June 1968 and coded 2644. It would eventually be published by the Political Warfare Bloc of Hau Nghia Sub-Sector

Song Sheets

Song Sheet 3082

Like the magazine covers, the song sheet covers were often quite colorful and impressive. This February 1968 song sheet was for the civilian RF and PF militia to build up their morale by a song about brave soldiers who were lost in battle. The text on the front is:

The Voice of the RF and PF

Ky Dau Spring

Inside the text is:

A March composed by Thuy Duong

Brilliant spring, sowing new beliefs, casting rays of victory on a sprouting nation. Spring, source of life, spreading like a sacred fire.

We are determined to offer our blood and bones to build our Fatherland this new spring. We feel hot blood coursing through our veins.

Brilliant Spring: Spring will return, painting the Vietnamese sky with colors of victory and achievement

Song Sheet 3087

This song was designed for residents and voters participating in the village and hamlet elections in January 1969. 50,000 copies were prepared for Vietnamese Ministry of Information. The song was titled, We Go to the Polls.

We go to the polls! We go to the polls!
To elect the village popular council.
To elect the village popular council.
Each ballot serves as a stone.
To build up villages and hamlets.

We go to the polls! we go to the polls!
To elect representatives of the people.
To elect representatives of the people.
The worthy candidate shall be lawfully elected.
That democracy may flourish in the countryside.

Poster 2564

This May 1968 poster has the theme of eradicating illiteracy and convincing the people that life in one of the Strategic Hamlets was better and safer than living in a village where the Viet Cong could come at night and steal food and perhaps draft children. It depicts a group of Vietnamese adults in a New Life Hamlet classroom being taught the alphabet. The text is:

ONE OBJECTIVE OF THE NEW LIFE HAMLETS IS

Eradication of illiteracy in order to bring progress and knowledge to the people

Poster 3088

This January 1969 poster is entitled “Elections build Democracy.” JUSPAO ordered this poster at the request of the Vietnam Ministry of Information. 100,000 copies were printed. The image depicts a woman holding a child while voting. The text is:

VOTE TO BUILD DEMOCRACY

All go to cast the Ballots, Follow the right procedure, Elect the right person.

 

Booklet 2613 and 8-900(8)

This is a a pro-voting booklet with two codes, one being 8-900(8). That is not a normal code, although the 8 is often used by the 8th PSYOP Battalion. In this case I suspect that is a Vietnamese code. It was developed in August 1968. The cover has the flag of the Republic of Vietnam at top and a Vietnamese woman voting on the back. 500,000 copies were printed in the Regional Service Center in Manila. The 10-page booklet is designed for children to teach them their civic duties. The book is meant to instill patriotism and pride in their nation and national heritage. It explains their Constitution and lists 29 rights and duties the children will have as adults. The text on the front and back is:

RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF THE CITIZENS

THE SENATE ELECTION

Slogans

The 7th PSYOP Group constantly produced political slogans when requested by the Vietnamese. The slogan is in the form of a small banner about 17 x 4-inches in size that like a poster can be placed anywhere. They were usually made in a set with a number of different slogans. The set above coded 3089 was developed in January 1969 and was made up of 17 different slogans all meant to encourage the citizens to vote in the village and hamlet elections. 20,000 copies of each slogan were printed to be distributed by the Vietnamese Ministry of Information. Some of the slogans are:

Each vote is a brick building the foundations of democracy.
Every ballot is a weapon that will drive away the Communists.
Boldly denounce the henchmen of the Communists who plot to undermine the election.
To undermine the election is to betray the nation.

Chieu Hoi and Tet Slogans

This group of nine slogans on the theme of Chieu Hoi and Tet were prepared in December 1969 and coded 2953. They targeted relatives of the Viet Cong and also the Viet Cong themselves, and therefore were to be left along trails frequented by the Guerrillas. Some were apparently also air-dropped. The title of the operation was SPRING IN THE FATHERLAND. Some of the slogans are:

These plaques are an odd case. Remember that the 7th PSYOP Group had the artists and the printing presses and could produce many different items including leaflets, posters, comic books, booklets, calendars, and a host of special requests. Some of the latter from my files are award certificates, retirement certificates, letters of commendation, stationary, fancy holiday menus, etc. In the files of the 7th were three Vietnamese Army Infantry Division plaques. They are for the 7th, 9th, and 21st Divisions, all of which were organic to IV Corps in the Mekong Delta. American PSYOP units supported and were often attached to allied units such as the Australians, Thais, Koreans and Vietnamese. I do not know if the 7th Group printed these for the Vietnamese units they supported, or received these as gifts from the units for their support. Either way, they were saved in their archives. Each item has the same exact text:

Armed Forces of the Republic of Vietnam 
Determined to Defend 
Family - Native Village - Nation 

Calendars

We mention calendars in the paragraph above, and I believe that all through this article we depict calendars and point out how popular they are for PSYOP, because the target looks at the calendar almost every day and therefore is constantly seeing the message. This small pocket calendar depicts a Vietnamese mother and child. The other side has all twelve months of 1969. I should mention that the Viet Cong also prepared such calendars for American troops. The message on the front is:

A Warm Family
A Prosperous State

Leaflets

I thought it might be interesting to discuss the two major types of leaflets. I could use Military descriptions from field manuals of course but when I was asked about them, I always tried to give a very short and succinct answer. The first is the tactical leaflet. I would explain that this was usually for units directly in front of you. It was for nearby targets and was often time sensitive. You tried to make the enemy directly in front of you act in a certain way that was advantageous to your forces. It was prepared and disseminated quickly.

The strategic leaflet was just the opposite. It was long-range for the enemy government and civilians hundreds or thousands of miles away. It meant to change their mind in a more massive way, to change the way they think and act. It was for the long haul.

I mention Lieutenant Colonel Dave Underhill many times in this article. He was a bit of a mustang and the father of the mathematics of leafleting, writing the formulas for leaflets of different sizes and weight that would show where they would land and in what configuration. Dave wrote about the same two types of leaflets on several occasions. I have his handwritten notes. . His concepts will be far more insightful and complete than mine. He was a visionary:

The primary goal of tactical psychological operations is to produce an immediate reaction on the part of the target audience. It may be designed to cause the enemy to surrender, rally to the friendly side, or cause civilians to leave an area where operations are pending. The tactical leaflet may have a direct bearing on the physical condition of the target member by alluding to the fact that he is surrounded, faced with overwhelming odds, or subjected to superior firepower. In these instances, the threat of death is implied. As a safe conduct pass, the tactical leaflet offers an avenue of escape from a depressing situation and hope to the despairing who have come to believe their situation hopeless. The tactical leaflet is usually tied to a particular event or situation which makes the timing of its dissemination critical.

The strategic leaflet does not necessarily carry a theme that would produce immediate defection or bring about sudden dramatic changes in each situation. A strategic leaflet strives for the long-range effect. Its objective goes far beyond that of the tactical leaflet in that it aims at the gradual changing of attitudes and beliefs over a relatively long period of time. In some instances, the objective of a strategic leaflet can be the same as that of a tactical leaflet. For example, a defection appeal could be used in a strategic leaflet program as well as in a tactical program. However, the objectives of the strategic program, while essentially the same as those of the tactical program, would be realized over a much longer period, and by far more subtle means. By using a low-keyed approach and presenting the truth about a friendly country, it is possible to create doubt in the minds of the target audience. This initial doubt if continually reinforced by credible strategic propaganda can lead to further doubt, questioning of enemy domestic information programs, and finally the conviction that the friendly country has told the truth. The goal of a well-conducted strategic program is to have the target member convince himself over a period of time of the truth of the friendly message. Defection is by no means the only objective in strategic psychological operations. It may be the least desirable achievement. A United Nations Command representative in Korea made the comment that "we are better off with a million unhappy North Koreans in North Korea than a million unhappy North Koreans in South Korea." Creating dissatisfaction with a particular form of government or way of life can also be a primary goal and one that readily lends itself to the gradual processes of strategic psychological operations. It should be remembered that in many cases, the strategic leaflet is the only method of reaching vast numbers of people whose only other source of information is government-controlled propaganda.

I have written 32 articles on the leaflets of the Vietnam War. I don’t think we need to go into any great detail in this section. I will select a few leaflets that I know to be a 7th PSYOP Group leaflet and ask that the reader consider it an example of all their work.

5 Flag Safe Conduct Pass Leaflet

7 Flag Safe Conduct Pass Leaflet

The United States and its allies dropped over 50 billion leaflets on Vietnam. Many of them were safe conduct passes. These passes have been used in every war in recent history and were used in Biblical times, during medieval times, and even in the American Indian wars. It is very powerful form of propaganda. It allows an enemy to defect with the absolute knowledge that he will be treated fairly and his life and safety are guaranteed. During the Vietnam War, the United States produced a series of safe conduct passes depicting the flag of the Republic of Vietnam with other allied flags, to encourage defection of Viet Cong and North Vietnamese troops. Retired Lieutenant Colonel Dave Underhill of the 7th PSYOP Group told me about the safe conduct passes:

During one trip to Vietnam, I discussed the safe conduct pass problem with our Vietnam PSYOP Detachment Commander. I suggested that he have his people draft a National Safe Conduct Pass to be used throughout the nation. He took a proposed leaflet layout to JUSPAO. They immediately took the project over and assigned it leaflet number SP-893. The leaflet was eventually produced at the rate of one hundred million leaflets per month and dropped throughout the country. It was a highly successful leaflet used by tens of thousands of Viet Cong and North Vietnamese soldiers.

The first version of the Pass contained the flags of the Republic and four countries that provided combat / support troops – The United States, Australia, New Zealand and Korea. The first version contained no signature because of the unstable government in the south. When the Philippines and Thailand provided assistance in the form of personnel, the pass was revised to include their flags. By this time the government was rather stable and General Ky signed the pass. The third version changed the signature from General Ky to President Thieu after the elections of September 1957. Once this "official" design was approved, it was decreed that this should be the only safe conduct pass used by the Allies so as not to confuse the enemy.

7th PSYOP Banknote Leaflet Description Sheet

Perhaps I should mention one more operation where the 7th PSYOP Group produced North Vietnamese propaganda banknote leaflets in 1, 2 and 5 dong denominations. These official sheets depicted the actual leaflet, gave the English-language translation and other information such as the size and sometimes the paper weight.

I spoke to a former officer of the 7th PSYOP Group who was involved in the 1973 banknote operation. He said:

In 1972-1973, I returned to Vietnam on extended TDY to run strategic leafleting operations throughout Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. There were three banknote leaflet denominations, the 1, 2 and 5 dong, with a message printed at the end of the leaflet on the front and back. Design and layout graphics wanted the back of each leaflet to have the printed message. I told them that was not what we wanted. The drop requirement was to come up with three leaflet widths to accommodate the three note widths, and at the same time have them fall in the same general area. The length needed not only to accommodate the note, but leave a space for an inflation message at the end.

Someone from the 7th PSYOP group hand-carried the packet to the Regional Service Center (RSC) in Manila. Once RSC-Manila got on board, they made as many serial numbers as they could by moving around the digits of the three original notes.

Leaflet NT4/TD/2 – Continuous Evaluation

Some readers might believe that after an initial evaluation and check of language, spelling, grammar, and assurance that the leaflet follows the approved political policies, it is “Good to go.” Not true. Leaflets were continuously evaluated, brought before boards, friendly prisoners of War and Hoi Chanhs, to determine the continued value. I selected this leaflet to show you such a case. Here is a 7th PSYOP Group leaflet that was looked at a second time in September 1971 before reuse of the leaflet was approved. It was found to be lacking. The original leaflet depicted an injured Viet Cong being treated by South Vietnamese medics. It was meant to show the good treatment they would receive from their brothers from the south. I will mention some of the text below and the criticism by the evaluation board. I will underline the words that were problems.

Your wives and children are waiting for you impatiently. Nothing remains but for you to make yourself POWs, and you will be well-treated by the Republic of Vietnam government. You will reunite with your families in North Vietnam or build a new life in South Vietnam if you rally courageously.

Peace will be restored sooner or later. Even though there will be peace, the Communists will not let you reunite with your families but send you to other battlefields for you know well that the life in South Vietnam is freer and more prosperous than in North Vietnam. This would harm the deceiving propaganda in North Vietnam.

There were two major flaws indicated by the evaluation board. The first was that the first paragraph first told them to become prisoners of war and later told them to rally which would have made them Chieu Hoi candidates. The two choices are quite different and could confuse the reader and be counterproductive. The second problem was that in the first paragraph the enemy soldier was told he could return home, and in the second he is told that he would never be allowed to return home. The board asked:

How can you promise a man he will return home and then tell him in the same leaflet that he won’t be allowed to return home even if peace is restored?

 

The following leaflet was created by the 7th PSYOP Group to show the People of Vietnam the propaganda used by the Communists, and then pick it apart. The upper portion in pink says:

Let us emulate in contributing as much effort and means as possible to the revolution for securing the victory.

Resist all cunning psywar, return offers, and calls-to-surrender ploys by the enemy.

Information and Propaganda of the National Liberation Front of Gia Lai.

The anti-Communist message is directly below. There are two paragraphs on the front and two on the back:

1. The above is a Viet Cong propaganda leaflet issued by the Provincial Party Committee of Gia Lai, captured by the Republic of Vietnam’s Army during Operation KONMAHAR.

2. What does “EMULATE IN CONTRIBUTING AS MUCH EFFORT AND MEANS AS POSSIBLE TO THE REVOLUTION FOR SECURING THE VICTORY” mean? Is this propaganda and coercion, intimidation, and punishment for those who refused draft, taxation, contribution of rice, and property to the Communists so they can prolong their inhuman and unjust war in the South?

3. What does “RESIST ALL CUNNING PSYWAR, RETURN OFFERS, AND CALLS-TO-SURRENDER PLOYS BY THE ENEMY” mean? Is our political warfare effort by the Government and the Army of the Republic of Vietnam so permeating into Viet Cong soldiers' minds? Has the return policy of the South weakened the combat zeal of the Viet Cong cadres? Has our just cause so shaken the enemy ranks that the Communist masterminds in the Provincial Party committee of Gia Lai have produced such infantile, psychologically counterproductive leaflets out of fear?

4. The Communists have been known for boasting about their political competence and cunning ploys. Reading this leaflet, you can clearly see the Communists are worse than the worst. Such an infantile and false propaganda can mislead no one, and cannot cheat on the people, both Vietnamese and Montagnards of the Kontum province.

LOSING MILITARILY AND INFERIOR POLITICALLY, THE VIET CONG HAVE REALLY
COME TO THEIR DARKEST HOURS AND TO MEET THEIR BAD FATE. ALAS! ALAS! ALAS!

Note: The text of this leaflet includes long sentences with formal vocabulary. It appears that the 7th Group used Northerners as the authors of both the original and answering messages. There is no code number on this leaflet so it might have just been handed to passerby’s or used as an example of North Vietnamese and South Vietnamese propaganda at some meeting. “RETURN OFFERS, CALLS-TO-SURRENDER” would seem to be the Chieu Hoi (Open Arms) program. But the leaflet mentions both Chieu Hoi, which is an encouragement to rally, to come back as a wayward son coming back home. and Chieu Hang which means the person will be treated as a prisoner of war.

[Author’s Note]: The Kon Tum Offensive, also known as the Konmahar Operation, was a significant military campaign during the Vietnam War. Kon Tum Province, located in the Central Highlands of South Vietnam, was strategically important due to its proximity to the Ho Chi Minh Trail. In 1972, during the Easter Offensive (a large-scale North Vietnamese invasion of South Vietnam), the North Vietnamese forces launched the Konmahar Operation. The primary objective was to capture the provincial capital, Kon Tum, and gain control over the surrounding region. The South Vietnamese defenders, along with indigenous Montagnard fighters, put up a determined resistance. Ultimately, the South Vietnamese forces successfully repelled the North Vietnamese attack, preventing the fall of Kon Tum. The Konmahar Operation demonstrated the resilience of South Vietnamese forces and their ability to defend strategically important areas. It also highlighted the importance of indigenous fighters (such as the Montagnards) in the conflict.

Uncut sheet of Propaganda Leaflets for Vietnam

This is a nice mix of leaflets to be dropped over Vietnam together. They are all on the same theme and the belief was that a mix like this worked better than just single leaflets. They could argue the same points with different arguments working toward the same conclusion.

Still Active as the War Ends

Retired Army Major Joseph L. Tebor was interviewed in March 2022 about his duties during the Vietnam War with the 244th PSYOP Detachment of the 7th PSYOP Group in Okinawa and Vietnam. Some of his comments are:

I am referring to Psychological Warfare, and the use of Propaganda Leaflets, radios, flotation bags, the dissemination of leaflets from various aircraft like helicopters, Jets, cargo planes and drones. We also delivered transistor radios by balloon launched from submarines. We disseminated leaflets printed in 3 different denominations of North Vietnamese currency, printed in full color front and back.

As the Intelligence Liaison Officer for the 244th Det, 7th PSYOP Group, I was responsible for selecting the targets for every Vietnamese Language Strategic Leaflet Drop throughout all North and South Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos from 1 May 1972, until combat ended in April 1973. I provided the 7th Air Force with 60 targets every month; they flew at least 1 mission every day and every mission included a minimum of 15,000,000 leaflets.

I also selected the targets for the last 6 missions involving the delivery of leaflets by remote controlled Drones. My collection includes a box specially made for drone missions, that is packed with the same leaflets that were dropped from these drones over North Vietnam. I can also talk about PSYOP Soap, and the Safe Conduct Pass Leaflet that I Put in a jar of water in March 2015, and it's still readable, intact, and unable to be torn.

On 14 May 2022, retired Major Tebor gave a talk about psychological Operations at VFW Post 6695 in Plymouth, Michigan. He is in the process of donating his collection to the National Vietnam War Museum in Texas.

I should point out here that just about everything Major Tebor mentions has been illustrated, discussed, and translated if needed, in one of the 30+ articles I have written about the PSYOP of the Vietnam War on Psywarrior.com.

Cambodia

Buddha Fights the Khmer Rouge

The 7th PSYOP Group did not have a Detachment in Cambodia. Still, it was a war zone and the 7th produced many propaganda items that were used there. Probably my favorite poster of all time is this one that shows the Buddha.

This large 15.5 x 19.5-inch poster coded 13-2-6 depicts the Lord Buddha destroying the Communist Khmer Rouge who are depicted as demons. The enemy is shown with AK-47s, grenades, RPGs and tanks at the left. On the right they are sinking into the sea; the tank’s main gun is bent and broken and their leader is pleading for mercy. Crocodiles and sawfish attack them. Buddha is a God of mercy and moderation so his depiction in this poster is very strange. From a standpoint of color and artistic imagination it would be hard to find a more impressive propaganda poster. Directly beneath the Buddha is the Buddhist Earth Deity, who wrings out her hair, sending a stream of strong water at the drowning Communists. She is known in Cambodia as Neang Kanghing Preah Thoranee. She has other names in Arakan, Burma, Thailand, and Laos, but the names all mean “Lady Earth” or “Mother Earth,” She is the Buddha's witness at the time of the enlightenment. According to the mythology of Mahayana Buddhism, the Buddha's spiritual authority derives from the Earth Deity.

A Full Uncut Sheet of Camel Path Leaflets

Since the Cambodian operation was highly secret they called the PSYOP “Camel Path.” The Camel Path leaflets were all printed at the same time and not mixed with other leaflets for Vietnam proper. On this sheet I see CP-03A, CP-05A, CP-06A, CP-08A, CP-09, CP-55A, CP-1387A, and R-2. This is an interesting mix. The seven “A” leaflets all seem to be “additional,” or leaflets that bear some text or images in common with leaflets to Vietnam. So even though these were classified secret, apparently they stole much of the propaganda from standard leaflets for Vietnam. The R-2 is even more interesting. It is a scrap leaflet designed to fill in an empty place on the sheet so the printers get full value out of every sheet.

To give an example of the way the leaflets were prepared and dropped I note from a leaflet order sent to the 7th group for a mix of six Camel Path leaflets ordered in November 1967 for dissemination in January 1968. The leaflets are CP-02, 08A, 09, 10, 55A, and 1389A. All are black and white and sized 3 x 6-inches. 5 million of each was ordered. They would be placed in a mix and dropped together. The leaflets were forwarded to the respective PSYOP units stationed in the I, II and III Corps areas. 15,000,000 were for 245th PSYOP Company in Pleiku, 10,000,000 for the 246th PSYOP Company in Bien Hoa and 5,000,000 for 19th PSYOP Company Can Tho.

A Sheet of Leaflets with Cambodian Codes

Since there were no Americans in Cambodia it made sense to prepare leaflets for the Cambodians that seemed to be from them. This sheet depicts leaflets numbered 1 to 5. The first leaflet mentions Nong Suon the leader of the Khmer Rouge and lol Nol. The second claims that the people of Phnom Penh have chased away the Khmer Rouge. The third shows the government air force and brags that the government forces are pure Cambodians while the NVA and VC are pagans that paint their teeth black. The fourth shows pictures of dead VC killed by the Cambodian government forces. The fifth and final leaflet of this mix says that Cambodia is now a Republic and the home of all real Cambodians. This is an interesting grouping with a lot of pure race propaganda and a lot of anti-Vietnamese racial insults about black teeth and such. You can see that the Cambodians were allowed to use their own text and concepts in these leaflets prepared by the 7th PSYOP Group.

Propaganda Miniature Radios

The Group spent about $200,000 to purchase 67,000 pocket-size battery-operated radios to be distributed in rural areas. The 7th PSYOP Group billed about $250,000 for printing support to Cambodia. Both of these payments were from the Pacific Command Psychological Operations Fund. The United States gave about $70,000 to radio Cambodia, mostly parts and equipment. It also loaned a 10 kilowatt portable transmitter to improve the medium wave signal.

Leaflet 3791

In May 1970, the U.S. and South Vietnam entered Cambodia. During that “incursion” there was an entire series of Allied leaflets entitled “Communist Cadre and Soldiers in Cambodia.” The language of the leaflets was Vietnamese and the theme was to undermine the North Vietnamese Army’s willingness to fight. In every case there is a statement that “JUSPAO will produce 13 sets of glossy prints of this leaflet…to be used for mass printing.” All of the leaflets depict a scene of captured weapons on the front and the text:

Your weapon caches are now in our hands.

In all cases, the back is all text. Some examples are:

Leaflet 3788 was printed in May 1970 and depicts two photographs of weapons and ammunition piled on the ground. The text on the back tells the North Vietnamese that there so-called “sanctuaries” in Cambodian territory are being attacked and destroyed by combined Vietnamese-American forces.

Leaflet 3789 was printed in May 1970 and depicts a soldier kneeling over a cache of mortar rounds. The text on the back tells the North Vietnamese that for many years they were able to hide in Cambodia but now everything has been destroyed. It says that South Vietnam now has all the weapons that the North Vietnamese were unable to carry in their attempt to escape.

Leaflet A313

Some leaflets were in Vietnamese because the Vietnamese were known to be hiding in Cambodia. Others were in Cambodian for the people and the Khmer Rouge. This all-text leaflet is in Vietnamese on one side and Cambodian on the other. The text is:

Do you happen to know,

Who tries to seduce the youth to leave their families and follow the criminal path; robbing and killing people without shame?

The Cambodian Fighting Front which is the National Liberation Front in the South.

Countrymen, you have to advise your brothers and sons to be on guard.

Don’t get trapped by the Cambodian Fighting Front.

Taiwan

Propaganda Booklet Published on the 16th National Day of the Republic of China
Nationalist Chinese soldier watches the Mainland from the island of Quemoy

Taiwan Detachment – Taipei, Taiwan. It provided PSYOP support and advice to Military Assistance Advisory Group China. It pre-tested PSYOP material for the 7th PSYOP Group. It collected PSYOP intelligence through Chinese sources and it planned combined exercises for U.S. and Chinese forces on Taipei. One such exercise called “Forward Thrust” was a war game taking place in a fictitious country and nine 7th PSYOP Group personnel were attached to support the exercise. The Group printed no specific items for Taiwan and was more involved in teaching, training and advice.

During the Cold War the American government constantly worried about the morale of the Nationalist Chinese and their willingness to carry on the fight against Communism. They regularly studied both Taiwan and Mainland China and a number of reports were written by the Central Intelligence Agency, mostly stating that it did not believe China would attack Taiwan as long as the United States offered naval and air protection. Other studies attempted to discern how the loss of the smaller islands would affect Taiwan. A 1955 CIA report entitled Morale on Taiwan says in part:

The islands of Quemoy and Matsu are so important in the eyes of the Nationalists that their loss during the current crisis would be a severe blow to the morale…The effect would be considerably greater if the islands fell to Communist attack, especially if U.S. forces were involved…We believe that they would continue resistance to Communist pressure as long as they have confidence in the determination and ability of the U.S. to defend Taiwan.

English-Chinese Political Warfare Terms Handbook

The 7th PSYOP Group Detachment working with the Nationalist Chinese helped to produce a booklet that showed all the important PSYOP terms in both English and Chinese. The introduction says:

To meet the requirement for a Chinese-English translation of political warfare writings and publications and to improve the mutual understanding between the Republic of China Armed Forces and their counterparts in other friendly nations, we have done our best to collect the maximum number of POLWAR terms and expressions for this handbook…Many thanks are particularly extended to Colonel Harold F. Bentz, Commanding Officer of the 7th PSYOP Group, U.S. Army.

Pocket Calendar

I have depicted many calendars in this article. As I often mention, calendars are looked at daily and if the owner generally will see the 7th PSYOP Group propaganda message every time. This pocket calendar for Taiwan was printed for the year 1971. On the back is a propaganda message in gold gilt on a red background:

Bookmarks

The Nationalist Chinese regularly sent various gifts and trinkets to mainland China by balloon. We depict one of their propaganda bookmarks above. A bookmark is a strip or band of some material, such as paper, leather or ribbon, put between the pages of a book to mark a place. Psychological operators have used it on numerous occasions to carry their propaganda messages because the bookmarks tend to be saved and placed in a book and every time the reader opens the book the message is the first thing that is seen. PSYOP Bookmarks have been used in Vietnam, Korea and by the Nationalist Chinese on Taiwan. The text is:

Our leader is the anti-Communist, Russia-resisting, prescient Great Thinker.

(Issued May 20, 1954)

Souvenir Booklet for the 7th PSYOP Group

The 7th PSYOP Group sent officers to Taiwan on several occasions to help them with their balloon launches against the Chinese Mainland. In return, the Nationalists sent the Group souvenir booklets containing samples of their latest leaflets.

Propaganda Envelope

This colorful envelope depicts an artillery round, a loudspeaker, balloons, gift items to go in a float and leaflets. Each of these was used to disseminate Nationalist Chinese propaganda. The envelope contained eleven Nationalist Chinese leaflets. This was another gift pack for Group members. At the left of the envelope there is a radio antenna and the text:

PSYWAR DATA

PSYWAR COMMAND POST KDC

51111500 - Marriage

Many of the Taiwan leaflets depict young people getting married. This seems to be a favorite theme of the Nationalists and one wonders if the Mainland Chinese were tempted to defect to Taiwan to find love and romance. The text on the front tells of the marriage of Li Caiwang to his wife is named Xue Xunrong. The flyer is intended to show yet another benefit of defecting to Taiwan!

  

Something from the People’s Republic of China
A 1971 Pocket Calendar

This very handsome plastic laminated pocket calendar was found in the files of the 7th Group without explanation. It has gold text on a bright red background. The size and color remind one of Mao’s “Little Red Book.” I assumed it was a Group product with propaganda against the PRC. Instead, it turns out to be a very famous poem by Chairman Mao Tse-tung on the event of the Liberation of the City of Nanjing, Chiang Kai-shek‘s temporary Capital City of the Republic of China on 23 April 1949. Why did the Group file it? Was it something sent by the PRC to Taiwan by balloon? That is a distinct possibility since someone wrote on the back in Chinese five printed characters that read: Bandit Pseudo-Government propaganda. This would seem to be the wording used by the Taiwan Kuomintang (Nationalists). My translator believes it was ballooned from mainland China to Taiwan. Perhaps the 7th Group team in Taiwan brought it back to Okinawa.

Or, was it carried by a Chinese "volunteers" helping to keep the Ho Chi Minh Trail open in Vietnam? Was it just for research, or did the 7th PSYOP Group plan to reprint it and change a few words to embarrass Mao and show the Chinese guilty of secretly sending troops to Vietnam where they might be killed? In the past they had taken a Tet Holiday greeting from Ho Chi Minh and reproduced it with a different text. We will never know. It was just there at the bottom of a file box and I just depict it here. The poem is:

The People's Liberation Army Captures Nanjing

Over Zhongshan swept a storm, headlong,
Our mighty army, a million strong, has crossed the Great River.
The City, a tiger crouching, a dragon curling, outshines its ancient glories;
In heroic triumph heaven and earth have been overturned.
With power and to spare we must pursue the tottering foe
And not ape Xiang Yu the conqueror seeking idle fame.
Were Nature sentient, she too would pass from youth to age,
But Man's world is mutable, seas become mulberry fields.

Operation Jilli or Focus Truth

The Classified Report on Operation Jilli

During the height of the Vietnam War the United States dropped millions of propaganda leaflets over the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong enemy. This was a “white” operation and above board. At the same time, a “black” operation was quietly taking place. Some of the aircraft taking off from the air bases in Okinawa headed straight for Vietnam; others secretly veered off and dropped their leaflets on North Korea. The reader can find a complete discussion of this operation in my JILLI article. The operation was first known as Jilli (“Truth” in Korean), later changed to Focus Truth.

The Report on Operation Jilli was declassified in 1979. It mentioned the 7th PSYOP Group and the way the leaflets were dropped:

The Vietnam War printing support requirements laid on the 7th Psychological Operations Group caused a reduction in the printing support available for Operation Jilli. In order to partially offset this reduced printing capacity, a new, smaller leaflet size was selected on a test basis. This technique produces more leaflets in less time, yields more per pound, and thus, permits increased quantities of leaflets aboard aircraft. Hence, at a time when production was curtailed, the C-130 aircraft load Jumped from 12.5 million to about 20 million leaflets. The dispersion characteristics of the smaller size leaflet are less favorable than that of previous leaflets, but this can be completely overcome by flying repeated passes. The smaller size leaflet has a much slower descent rate and allows for the launch of the mission under less favorable wind conditions than before, which is an important advantage for delivery by Republic of Korea and United States Army aircraft.

The Vietnam Archive Oral History Project interviewed former pilot and Captain John Stubbs about his missions with the 35th Troop Carrier Squadron. I have edited the interview down to a few paragraphs that specifically mentioned the leaflet missions.

The 35th squadron, which I was in, we had what was called a “leaflet mission.” Up until that time, it was only used in Korea [Jilli]. There was that cold war, and there was a lot of propaganda, the mission dictated by the Department of Defense and State Department was a leaflet mission. And I am talking about mass leaflets, ten to twelve million, on a flight. And they would go up, depending on the winds, and this was the tricky part of it, as you take off, at various levels, you would climb out and check the winds at five thousand, ten thousand, and fifteen thousand, twenty thousand whatever necessary, depending on your route. If you were on the west side of it, which most of the time you were, because of the wind, you would find out what drift you would get from the leaflets. They were, aerodynamically cut, the shape of the leaflet was rectangular, but the aspect ratio was such that it rotated instead of falling like a leaf, a hap-hazard leaf, it would go into rotation, and you could predict approximately where it was going to land, based on the winds. And the Air Force worked with the Army 7th PSYOP Group in Kadena, they developed the information, and did the printing of the leaflets. And the physiological people in the Air Force at Kadena, modified for each mission they had put together supplementary oxygen system and installed it on the C-130 in the back. So, you could accommodate up to, I think it was up to six or eight additional people on the oxygen system. If the winds were such, and they usually were up there, that you had to drop from above ten thousand feet, everyone had to be on oxygen, because you were unpressurized.

They packed the leaflets in cartons of about forty-eight or fifty thousand per carton. And the cardboard boxes, and each box had a static line that the load master would connect to the static line cable, and the airplane was loaded with about ten million or ten, eleven or twelve, depending on the information that they wanted, and the density they wanted. There was a minimum density of eight thousand leaflets per square mile based on wind predictions. If it were less than that you did not drop; if it were more than that of course you could. The oxygen system was installed, you had feeders who would physically take the boxes, put them in position, and roll them back to the load master for the kickers. They put together a timing device with a light to blink so you could set the interval by seconds, or up to I think thirty, forty-five seconds to a minute, something like that. And depending on there again, depending on the density, how often you would have to kick one out, to get that density. That was calculated by the navigator on the C-130.

The physiological people flew on the airplane, with the 130 crew, and the kickers, and feeders, to monitor the oxygen and the physical condition of the people when they were working. Because working at twenty thousand feet or twenty-five thousand feet, unpressurized, is a lot more tiring that it would be at sea level, and if you have any problem, you will never know it until somebody passes out. So, they were there to constantly monitor the people. Army always had an observer on board. So that essentially was the mission of the 35th.

It changed a little bit in ‘68 when the Pueblo was captured. And then they restricted the mission to the “offshore, high wind only,” and kind of limited that, but that same technique was used in Vietnam. And that was the mission that we conducted, on a mission called “Frantic Goat.” [The leafleting of North Vietnam]. Why they picked that, I do not know but that was it. But that mission originated in Okinawa. We would leave Okinawa with a load of leaflets, and the physiological people, and fly to Clark and refuel, and with a load you could not make it all the way to Thailand because the 130 was limited in weight, the A model was. And then from Clark we would go on to Ubon, Thailand. It was every Tuesday night and every Wednesday night we had to be over the target at nine o’clock, and we would send to headquarters, “please vary the time over the target.” I mean they are going to be sitting there waiting for us, and then that is not a comfortable feeling. So, it took about two or three months before we finally got them to change from nine o’clock in the evening to some other time. The leaflet mission dropped over two billion leaflets in North Korea and North Vietnam.

PSYOP Intelligence Notes

How were the leaflets prepared? Where did the 7th PSYOP Group get their information? They prepared several publications after interrogation of defectors crossing the border from the north. They would ask about the prices of items, the quality of items, what was working and what was not. That information was published in PSYOP Intelligence Notes and Topical Reports. These publications could have as little as one page rarely, two pages was more common, and in some cases as many as 51 pages. PSYOP Intelligence Notes had subjects like: Restaurants in Pyongyang; Economic goals; The reactions of North Korea to psychological operations; Surveillance of restaurants in North Korea; Food prohibition in North Korea, Food in rural North Korea; More protein sources, and More food variety. Knowing the problems and current events in North Korea tells the PSYOP troops what themes to write about. It is clear from the above titles that food seemed to be a major title and we can assume that many leaflets spoke of the wonderful and bountiful food in South Korea and showed happy eaters in restaurants with the table covered with delicacies.

PSYOP Intelligence notes, 3 December 1968, explains in more depth:

Psychological Operations research and analysis entails three major functions: analysis of the target area; propaganda analysis; and evaluation of PSYOP media output through pre-testing and post-testing, and determinations of reactions of inhabitants of the target area. PSYOP research and analysis has information requirements which are different from that of combat and tactical intelligence. Briefly, PSYOP intelligence research analysis needs to know what it is like to live in the target area, about all aspects of life there so that PSYOP media output (leaflets, radio broadcasts, loudspeaker broadcasts, and so forth) can be developed which are suitable for the target area. This approach requires a large amount of detailed information about the life patterns and living conditions of people in various occupations and social levels in the target area.

Topical Reports

Topical Reports usually are two pages, sometimes more. These were prepared by the 7th PSYOP Group to be used as reference when producing leaflets to use against North Korea. They tell of what is going on in North Korea from defector interrogations. The data is then made available to PSYOP. Some of the titles are: Economic goals; The North Korean potato output; What local North Korean areas need; Changes in food production; The question of food; More protein sources; Raw materials; and More food variety. The 7th Group needed to understand what was always going on in North Korea.

Operating Instructions: PSYOP for North Korea

On 21 November 1968, the 7th PSYOP Group published a 16-page guide on methods for propagandizing North Korea. The purpose of these instructions is to provide guidance to end prescribe responsibilities for subordinate detachments of the 7th PSYOP Group for the conduct of day-to-day PSYOP directed to North Korea in support of the PSYOP Program. It states that the mission is the Group, on a continuous basis, will conduct PSYOP which is directed to the North Korean military forces and civilian population, and which is designed to fulfill psychological objectives directed by the United Nations Command and the United States Forces – Korea. Under its concept of operation, the Group will continue to rely upon the Korea Detachment and the 15th PSYOP Detachment to develop PSYOP for North Korea. Two principal media—radio and visual media—will be employed by these operational detachments in conducting PSYOP to the North Korean audience. In developing media output in support of the campaign, to apply PSYOP actively against North Korea, exploit themes presented below at every opportunity, provided the situation warrants such exploitation.

There were 15 major and numerous minor themes to be exploited. Some of them are:

Explain to the North Korean populace the advantages they will have if they were to defect to the South. Target potential defectors.
Convince the targeted group that living in the free society in the South is worth the risk of defecting.
Target North Korean agents and exploit the psychological pressure they face when infiltrating the South.
Explain the illegal nature of North Korean activities along the DMZ.
Demonstrate the economic achievements of the Republic of Korea to the people of the North.
Convince the North that the Republic of Korea is militarily strong and armed with modern weapons.
Convince the North that “one man rule” is the reason for their problems and should be changed.
Convince the North that they will never reach production goals if they waste money on a needless military buildup.
Show how young industries in the ROK are thriving and producing domestic commodities for the people.
The US/ROK Mutual Defense Treaty is a Joint defense pact to preserve peace in Korea.
The US has exemplified herself in honoring commitments in Vietnam, Thailand, Europe, and Korea.
The ROK armed forces with allied support constitute a powerful deterrent force to renewed aggression.
Purges are a constant threat to the security and wellbeing of all Party members in the North Korean regime.
Political indoctrination is added to an already long duty day.
Sons and husbands conscripted into long military service leave wives and mothers, who in their absence, must take over all the work.
Economic progress cannot be achieved so long as it is hampered by a large military buildup.
If North Korean farming methods are so progressive, then why is rice so severely rationed?

North Korean Propaganda – Themes and Tactics

This March 1966, 23-page research report by the United States Information Agency identifies the principal characteristic of North Korean Propaganda. It identifies five major themes:

The rewards of the Communist form of government.
Reunification of the North and South.
The criminal activities of South Korean President Pak Chung-hui.
The United States “Imperialistic” meddling in Korean affairs.
Japan’s aggressive designs in Korea and East Asia.

Each of the themes has several pages of documentation. About anti-Americanism, the report quotes an article from the Minju Choson of 24 July 1965:

The American way of life is the most shameless and degenerate way of life of the ugliest, most bare-faced, and bestial cannibals with no precedent in the East and West and is an ideological-moral weapon to ensure the exploitation and plunder by the monopoly capitalists and the annihilation of the working people and small nations which are weak politically and economically.

7th PSYOP Group 20 March 1968 Report on North Korean Propaganda

A 1968 17-page 7th PSYOP Group report entitled North Korean Propaganda adds:

North Korea uses from 10 to 12 different transmitters and is on the air at almost any hour during the day. North Korea has better equipment. The North Korean Central Broadcasting Company, Radio Pyongyang, is thought to have a main station at least 500 kilowatts. The Voice of the United Nations is 50 kilowatts. They produce many slick illustrated magazines like “Korea Today,” “Korean Youth and Students,” and a large publication called “Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.” In addition, they publish an English-language newspaper called the “Pyongyang Times.”

North Korean propaganda is devoted to the principle that one hundred repetitions is a good beginning. To the Westerner, North Korean propaganda sounds boring, repetitive, totally immersed in broad irresponsible generalizations, and replete with many falsehoods.

North Korea prints leaflets which it infiltrates into the Republic of Korea by balloon. It also tries to infiltrate propaganda in the Republic of Korea using Japanese, American and other magazines. The propaganda is inserted into these magazines and sent into South Korea through the mails.

North Korea in its propaganda uses the direct lie. They claim to have won the Korean War. As the North Korean’s put it, “we gave the U.S. Imperialists their first taste of defeat.” They used to credit the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army for helping win that war, but now using the lie technique they claim that they alone defeated the U.S. Imperialists.

A C-130 Fully Loaded and on its way for a Jilli Leaflet Drop

Then Major Dave Underhill
Notice his flight crew wings from leaflet drops and his parachute wings.

Lieutenant Colonel Dave Underhill was a member of the 7th PSYOP Group stationed on Okinawa during the Vietnam War. He did psychological operations in both Vietnam and in North Korea in what was at the time the top secret Operation Jilli. He had previously attended the Advanced Infantry Course at Fort Benning followed by a tour at the PSYOP Directorate of the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam. He told me about his PSYOP missions during his 30-month tour from 1964 and 1966:

We had two C-47's on call at Suwon Air Base (K-13) in Korea. The C-47 aircraft originally flew along the DMZ with side-looking radar monitoring activities.They were loaned to us for use in dropping leaflets. The camera port was removed and a chute installed for dropping leaflets. The Air Force loved the mission. We would load the aircraft with 3000 pounds (about a million and a half leaflets once we arrived at the best leaflet size, paper weight and aerodynamics for the mission). We would climb to 15,000 feet. We went on oxygen with a personal tank for each crewman beginning at 12,000 feet. This unit later received the Air Force Outstanding Award. The citation mentioned Special Airlift missions. I was officially attached to the unit on flight status.I wear the unit award as a permanent award.

A Filled Jilli Leaflet Box ready to be dropped over North Korea

I asked for a C-130 my first year on Okinawa and everyone told me I would never get a big bird for a PSYOP mission. Using my formulas, I was able to plan leaflet missions very successfully and plotted winds-aloft forecasts for the C-47s on the proposed C-130 routes. After the brass saw the accuracy of the drops my second year they gave me one C-130. Prior to the beginning of the favorable weather season (generally Mid-April to late September); I used the mission weather reports to plot drops from 25,000 feet. My Intelligence Sergeant and I both attended the Air Force's Physiological Training School (High Altitude School). From the very first mission in 1964, I would submit an after-action report with projected coverage overlaid on a map of North Korea. I did the same on South East Asia maps for missions there. The projected increase in penetration into North Korea, and the vastly increase in area coverage made the decision for the use of a C-30 a no-brainer. By my third year they gave me two dedicated C-130 aircraft that were stationed at Kadena Airbase, Okinawa for missions in Vietnam and Laos. These aircraft often had propositioned leaflet loads.

A member of the 7th PSYOP Group takes a moment to read a leaflet as he prepares the leaflet boxes on Okinawa. I thought it interesting that on the wall directly in front of the soldier there is a poster showing him step-by-step how to prepare the box. They needed to be prepared just right to open properly.

The prepositioned leaflets for North Korea were of a strategic and not a tactical nature. It was all appropriate to the day-to-day activities of the North Korean target audience. Material would be developed months in advance for the following year's seasonal operation. Near the end, we even had PSYOP at Fort Bragg print and ship leaflets to us. As the program continued, we were also printing in support of Vietnam operations. The nice thing about a strategic operation is the fact the target is the total population of the country. The content was mostly pro-South Korea and pro-United Nations. We put forth, mostly in pictures, the economic, political, and social prosperity and progress occurring South Korea.

The straps that will pull the leaflet box apart are carefully placed in the optimum position to assure that the box will break easily and release the leaflets. If done incorrectly, the box will plummet to the ground and the leaflets will not be spread over the target area. The box is rolled out of the aircraft, and as the container comes to the end of the static line, the sides of the box split. In effect, the box is turned inside out, and the leaflets fall away followed by the empty box.

I was on 24-hour call for favorable weather forecast periods. I had a very high telephone precedent authorization called “Flash.” As I recall the priorities were Routine, Priority, Immediate and Flash. I normally notified the duty officer when I went to the movie or whatever. I would be paged and went to the nearest phone where I received the weather forecast. It was always for the next four hour period. That meant that from the time I received the call, we would have to be ready to start our first pass against North Vietnam in four hours. There was no time to waste. I would call the Far East Air Force headquarters in Tokyo to arrange for an aircraft to be readied at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa. I then called the operator and said I had a Flash message. Five minutes later, I had the tail number of the aircraft that was scheduled for the mission.

A 10-Ton Leaflet Load on a C-130

Our printing plant operated 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and printed 100 tons a month, but we controlled the printing of an additional 900,000,000 products a month by using the Adjutant General's printing plant in Japan, and the United States Information Service Regional Service Center in Manila. They printed the high quality inflation theme North Vietnamese money leaflets. At the peak, a billion leaflets were printed each month.This included 100,000,000 National Safe Conduct Leaflets.The leaflet was my idea, and used by over 100,000 Vietnamese.

Based on the nature of the content, we were able to stock up with leaflets. When they authorized a second C-130 for 1966, I proposed we stock leaflets at Suwon (K-13) where our C-47 aircraft were based. We could rig the boxes for C-130 dissemination. After dropping a load launched from Okinawa, we could land at K-13, load, and drop another 10,000,000 leaflets. We were primed and ready to go in 1966.

The leaflet box is released and breaks up perfectly leaving the leaflets free and ready to spread over the target area.  

In 1966, we began to launch two C-130s from Okinawa against North Korea. They could drop their leaflets, land and disperse two more loads from our prepositioned stock. Forty million leaflets in under three hours. We had a Captain in Korea on temporary duty at the time, and I asked him to stop by 8th Army G-2 (Intelligence) and see if we were getting any reaction out of North Korea. He walked in and found the place in an uproar. He asked in a loud voice, “Are you guys getting any reaction out of north Korea?” He said you could have heard a pin drop.North Korea was on full military alert, and was moving troops. He left content with the knowledge that the regime was reacting to our leaflet drops.

The leaflets used in the initial missions were designed and laid out by me. We had no in-house capability on Okinawa. Graphics for our magazine publications were done in our Japan Detachment. Eventually, we developed a capability in the Korean Detachment. At some point a Korean Army Non-Commissioned Officer joined the team from the Army of the Republic of Korea PSYOP. Later, when his enlistment was up, we hired him and he ran our leaflet development. We ran a photographic contest looking for good images, and one individual was so good and his pictures so classic that we hired him too.

Leaflets Disseminated from the back of a C-130

We learned the most efficient way of loading the aircraft. The floor of the C-130 Hercules was covered with rollers on both sides. The boxes were stood on end. They were too fragile to stack. They were loaded by the aircraft crew, including me. The aircraft would fly at 120-130 knots in a nose-high attitude. The leaflets were stacked one on top of another against the webbing wrapped around the leaflet box. The idea was to have the leaflets spill out the four corners as the box gives way. The early boxes resulted in too much of the weight ending up on the crossed webbing. We later used a much flatter and wider based bottom that carried about 135 pounds of leaflets. We carried ten tons in all, or about a million leaflets a ton per mission. Later in the program, we used a smaller leaflet on 13 pound paper for deeper drift, and greater density on the ground. On these missions, we carried 16,000,000 leaflets.

We still occasionally had a static line snap, until we strung a webbing line across the aircraft so that the static line never hit the sharp (cutting edge) of the raised tail door. It was stopped by the webbing line across the rear just below the cutting edge of the raised door.

To keep from having to stack the boxes for deployment, we simply stood them on end to compensate for the much larger box base or bottom. The crew carried a broom handle type stick to hold the box from rolling on the rollers, and as the aircraft flew in a nose up-attitude, a box at a time was released at pre-determined intervals based on flight pass duration.

I always wanted as many passes as possible, and the aircraft commander wanted to get the hell out of as soon as possible. At most I could sometimes hope for two passes or a second partial pass depending on wind direction. The potential flight path was selected from a permanently authorized flight path that stretched from the East Coast to out over the water to a rectangular box on the west coast. We could actually disseminate while descending to permit covering close-in areas without danger of dumping leaflet into South Korea.

Underhill was awarded the Air Medal in early 1966. His award said in part:

For meritorious achievement while engaged in aerial flights against North Korea and North Vietnam during the period April 1965 through December 1965, while serving as a member of the 7th PSYOP Group…He participated in a total of 12 PSYOP missions directed against North Korea and North Vietnam. Operating in a depressurized aircraft at altitudes up to 25,000 feet, unassisted, he planned the aerial flightpath, determined the points for dissemination, selected the altitudes to be flown and areas to be targeted, singling out special areas for particular attention and determining the dissemination rate for tons of propaganda material. He accomplished these tasks with complete disregard for his personal safety…

Dave was awarded Legion of Merit awards in 1967 and 1973. In 1968 he was awarded a Bronze Star for his service while serving as Psychological Warfare Officer, Development Branch, Psychological Operations Directorate, United States Military Assistance Command-Vietnam. Some of the many comments on his recommendation for the awards are:

He was a key member of the joint U.S. Embassy – JUSPAO – USMACV Leaflet Targeting Group which selected targets and leaflets to be disseminated in each PSYWAR program. He prepared and published reference data on PSYWAR leaflet development and dissemination that materially assisted US and Vietnamese PSYOP and POLWAR advisors. He labored to reduce the cost of the PSYOP program. By reducing the book paper stock in one year he saved the government $148,000. That was significant because paper costs amount to 60-70% of printing leaflets. His study on the elimination of the dissemination of propaganda miniature radios resulted in a saving of over $2,000,000. He studied and published a listing of leaflet sizes; recommended changes in paper weights and size that were implemented by PSYOP agencies. For the first time, PSYOP units were provided with a wide range of proven delivery methods and delivery vehicles capable of penetrating and disseminating PSYOP materials into otherwise denied target areas. His classified secret study on leafleting highly defended areas of North Vietnam was presented to the 7th Air Force and eventually led to reduced risk to aircraft and crews.

Bookmark 70-1

There were a number of bookmarks in the Korean language printed by the 7th PSYOP Group Japanese detachment. 60 copies of each 2 x 7-inch bookmark were printed on 3 June 1971 and disseminated at a later date. Bookmark 70-1 depicts a primitive Korean mask and a detailed temple roof on the front and a single line of text on the back:

Hahoe Mask

The Hahoe mask is used in traditional masque plays. This wooden mask originated from the Koryo Dynasty.

The beautiful painting of our country’s old architecture.

Wooden Chop sticks

Dave Underhill also thought about propaganda chop sticks. He said that the idea came to him in a PSYOP Conference in Hawaii:

In South Korea, we prepared some good wooden chop sticks and went around getting information about fancy restaurants with owner-marked name, hours, menu specialties, etc. The idea was to make some good wood ones with many advertisements. We knew the North Koreans could not conceive of the variety of eating establishments in South Korea. North Korea had no forests to cut down and only used plastic chop sticks which were resented by their people. We knew if we sent them into North Korea, the people would find and use the chopsticks, and everyone secretly acted as South Korean propaganda.

Some Sample Chopsticks gathered by the 7th PSYOP Group for Evaluation

The concept of propaganda chopsticks was tested on a panel of North Korean defectors and they loved the idea. The interesting part about this concept is that it is not the chopsticks that are important. It is the paper wrapping on the outside that would mention all the restaurants in South Korea. The PSYOP occurs when the people see the various ads and realize that South Korea is booming and full of restaurants offering excellent food. Bamboo is imported into North Korea from China and is rare. The people would understand that in South Korea they use them once and throw them away. The panel recommended that there should be many named restaurants, mostly from small towns written in Hangol (the Korean alphabet) and the words daejoong shiktang (restaurant for the ordinary people). A telephone number would show that telephones were common in South Korea. Any food mentioned should be Korean dishes and terms like “thank you” and “friendliness and service” should be used. All North Korean restaurants are owned by the state and the help is apathetical toward the customers. The chopsticks should be made of bamboo and they would be saved and later be used by women as knitting needles.

The panel of defectors also thought a sushi box would be a good PSYOP gift.

There was also a discussion of toys in North Korea. City people can buy poor-quality toys, but folks in the country cannot afford them. One of the panelists said he bought his child a toy helicopter for 12 won and it came apart in less than three days. Since the North Koreans are told that South Korea has nothing but foreign-made items in their stores, sending some well-made South Korean toys north would make a statement. One of the favorite toys of small children are balloons that look like frogs, ducklings, bears, dog, pigs, and the like.