This past month I have been slowly going through my Vietnam files and cataloging the
Propaganda leaflets. Thousands of different leaflets were prepared by American forces
during the Vietnam War and the vast majority was on subjects like the Tet New Year or the
Chieu Hoi (Open Arms) defection program. I did notice one oddity that I had noticed in the
past. There were a lot of leaflets that used poetry as the propaganda text. I had almost
50 of them. What could that mean? It would seem to indicate that the Americans believed
the Vietnamese had a deep and abiding love of poetry and could be manipulated through it.
My friend Nguyen Tuan Trung explained:
From a propagandist point of view, your subject doesn't need much education to
understand popular poetry, and a message embedded in such poetry would penetrate a much
boarder audience, far better than say, a Party resolution which typically uses a lot of
Chinese-Vietnamese words. Poetry also helps your subjects to remember the message longer.
Another Vietnam vet added:
A poem can also bring tears to anyone’s eyes. Bumper sticker phrases are
catchy but do not create emotions.
A young Vietnamese named Phong Lan told me:
I grew up with my grandparents and I remembered my grandpa, my dad, and my mom
used to recite poems daily... in lullaby, after telling a story they heard in market, or
even when they lectured me. They memorized poems so well and a lot of ancient poems or
quotes became their guidelines of life principles.
Digging around in my files I found The Joint U.S. Public Affairs Memorandum 48 dated
15 December 1967 titled Lessons Learned from Evaluation of Allied PSYOP Media in
Vietnam:
Do try to make use of the medium of poetry. However, the quality of the Poetry
must be at least better than mediocre. More enthusiastic and favorable responses have been
obtained from messages in the poetic medium than any other form. Poetry is particularly as
a medium for emotional and/or sentimental appeals. To insure the quality of the poetry, a
well-known, popular poet should be employed, and the resulting product should be field
tested before it is distributed. Although good poetry seems to elicit favorable reactions,
bad poetry appears to be capable of eliciting the most unfavorable reactions of any
medium.
I often look
through old Vietnam War records and find mention of poetry. Poetry and war
just do not seem to match. Apparently, they are a perfect match, and I see
numerous mentions of them as a PSYOP theme. Here are a few. The first is the
buildup of propaganda for Tet 1968. We produced a veritable mountain of
paper:
JUSPAO will
produce the following tapes: A series of five tapes intended for use with
mobile and stationary ground loudspeakers operated by the Vietnamese
Information Service and other agencies, for placement by CORDS Province
Representatives for PSYOP. A tape recording of the 1968 TET Chieu Hoi song,
for placement with radio stations and mobile and stationary ground
loudspeaker systems. Tapes with a recording of the TET Song (a girl’s voice
with guitar accompaniment) will be shipped to all provinces. All tapes will
be produced by the Field Development Division with the assistance of the
Information Division. Loudspeaker tapes will be Tet poetry 99 copies,
Tet Chieu Hoi Song 78 copies, 8 Tet messages 848 copies, 3 special
entertainment tapes 252 copies for a total of 1,277.
A Very Early JUSPAO Envelope - SP-69
This is a very early envelope used when
the Americans treated the Vietnamese with medical problems. On the front of
the envelope was a picture of a Vietnamese soldier carrying a box with a red
cross on it. The text said:
Medicine given by Civilian and Military Medical Corps
Complements of the 9th Division.
On the back was one of the earliest
poems prepared by PSYOP for the Vietnamese:
Every evening, leaning on the doorsill, I wait and hope.
Hope that you will soon be freed from this communist slavery.
To return here to help rebuild the country,
and to contribute to the struggle to safeguard our nation, Vietnam.
Why are you following the cruel and greedy communists?
Dear sweetheart, come back to rebuild our hamlet and village. Come back to
your wife,
so that our children will have both a father and mother to hold and love
them.
Sometimes music and poetry were combined. Such an example is found in the PSYOP
Newsletter, 11 December 1967. An article titled “Addition of music to Chieu Hoi
Loudspeaker appeals” says in part:
North Vietnamese Army defectors felt that an extremely effective device to
maintain attention would be to set the appeals to the music of popular Vietnamese folk
songs, sung by a North Vietnamese girl. Another device the defectors thought would be
effective would be to write the appeals in the form of short poems and have them read by a
North Vietnamese girl. There is a traditional manner of reading poetry (“Kieu”
style) in a special musical tone which is very popular among the North Vietnamese. Four
separate tapes in the style of Kieu poetry were prepared for use against North Vietnamese
troops.
Vietnamese Army Colonel Hoang Ngoc Lung wrote a monograph entitled
Intelligence for the U.S. Army Center of Military History in
1976. He pointed out the long history and importance of poetry in Vietnam.
During the protracted struggle for survival and national
independence, several Vietnamese generals of historical fame made use of
cultural actions to win battles against Chinese invaders. General Ly Thuong
Kiet of the Ly dynasty (10th century), for example, skillfully took
advantage of the popular belief in mythology. In 1077, he planted one of his
men in the Truong Hat temple to act as a demigod. To the accompaniment of
bell tones, the man incanted a poem written in Chinese characters that
aroused the morale of Vietnamese troops and upon which the Chinese invaders
recoiled in utter confusion:
The Emperor of the South rules over the land of the Southern Country.
This destiny has been indelibly registered in the Heavenly Book.
If you dare, rebellious savages, come violate it.
You shall undoubtedly witness your own and complete defeat.
After defeating the Ming, invaders in 1424, General Nguyen Trai
issued the famous "Great Proclamation upon the Pacification of Wu", intended
as a declaration of independence
for the Vietnamese people and as an affirmation of viability of a
separate national culture:
Our nation, Greater Vietnam,
Is founded on an ancient civilization.
Its land and boundaries have changed,
But its customs are always different, from the North.
When North Vietnam was preparing to launch its General Offensive
against cities in South Vietnam during the Tet holidays of 1968, it gave the
order for preparation and attack under the form of a "Happy Tet" poem by Ho
Chi Minh. This poem was broadcast by Radio Hanoi, intended for Communist
troops in the South:
This Spring will be much different from previous springs
Because every household will enjoy news of victory
North and South will now forever reunite
Forward! Total victory will be ours.
The "Happy Tet" poem by Ho Chi Minh that Radio Hanoi repeatedly
broadcast for some time before Tet was also a significant indicator that
failed to draw the attention of our intelligence experts. For one thing, it
had become a habit of the North Vietnam leader to address Happy Tet wishes
to the North Vietnamese population every year. For another, words of
exhortation to victory were nothing new in Communist propaganda jargon. What
our intelligence experts failed to detect was the meaning that something new
would happen this coming Tet and that it was going to be entirely different
from previous years. The significance of Ho's short poem as a signal for
preparations and attack was later confirmed by several enemy prisoners and
returnees.
I do feel the need to write sort of a disclaimer here. We Americans enjoy poetry
because of the rhythm and the rhyme. I am sure these poems have that attribute in the
Vietnamese language. Unfortunately, when translated to English that is all lost and the
emotion and intellectual connection is lost. So, although an American reader may find the
poems not emotionally pleasing, I think we can assume that they would be extremely
emotional and enriching to a Vietnamese.
I mentioned this to Phong Lan and he said:
You're so right. The translation sometimes killed the meaning and the emotion
embedded inside a Vietnamese poem. These poems affected the Vietnamese soldiers because
they touched the deepest corners of their hearts. Americans who can only read the
translated version will find it difficult to understand the emotional effects. But to a
Vietnamese, the words could cut thru stone and got to the deep center inside a soldier,
which often was hidden well beneath the tough layers. Most of these poems in the leaflets
that you posted targeted the natural emotions of the love from a son to a mother, the
yearning to go home to his birthplace, his town, a peaceful life filled with happiness
without sounds of gunfire and images of dead bodies.
I agreed of course and answered:
As long as the poem is correct in Vietnamese, how the Americans translated it
does not really matter. It does not matter how Americans read it, what is important is how
the Vietnamese read it. We could butcher the translation of the poem, but as long as it
moved the Vietnamese and perhaps worked toward the end of bloodshed and the coming of
peace it was worth doing.
Sergeant Allen Feser of the 23rd Military Police Company, Americal Division, told me
that he knew about the importance of poetry to the Vietnamese. He worked with a Vietnamese Military Policeman named
Sergeant Phuong, who taught him about Vietnamese customs and language in 1968:
An educated and patriotic young man, we patrolled together as Military Police in
Quang Nam/Quang Tin, and practiced each other’s language. He could recite classic
Vietnamese poetry and told me then that it could never be translated to English because it
would not be passionately understood by a non-Vietnamese speaker.
One of the many conversations that Sergeant Phuong and I had during our patrols
was when we talked about my girlfriend Nguyen Thi Mai. As our relationship deepened I
found that her Vietnamese nickname was “Kieu.” He told me that she was so
unfortunate to have that nickname early in life and that someone must have known that her
fate was to have a sad and unhappy love. He told me briefly of the classic poem “The
Tale of Kieu” and that it would be difficult for me to understand the drama and
tragedy of this work. The poem, In 3,254 verses, called the most important piece of
Vietnamese literature, is the story of a young Vietnamese girl's attempt to right the
wrongs of her past lives by enduring hardship in this life. She is sold into prostitution
and continuously deceived by men promising her love.
Kieu and I eventually parted ways and I found out many years later that she
returned to her village where her family attempted to force her into a marriage. Later as
the war ended she fled south with a column of refugees, survived it all and got married to
a man in Ben Tre, had children and grandchildren, and was eventually betrayed by him with
another women and the theft of all her money.
I had read about the Tale of Kieu in English, knowing I would never get the whole
drama and sadness of it but my meeting with Kieu again after all those years lent a
certain personal poignancy to the tale. My old comrade in arms Sergeant Phuong had it
right all those years ago. That is my Tale of Kieu.
An Australian soldier saved this drawing of Phan Thi Vu from a
burning
house in Vietnam in 1967 and returned it to the family after more than 40 years
Before I leave the personal stories of Vietnam veterans I want to mention one from
my old Australian buddy, former Sergeant Derrill de Heer, who was a member of the
Australian 1st Psychological Operations Unit in 1969 and 1970. Since leaving the Army he
has made a point of trying to find the graves of Viet Cong and North Vietnamese soldiers
and tell their families where their bodies were buried (often in haste) and taking part in
the return of pictures and personal effects of Viet Cong and North Vietnamese soldiers
killed in the south. He recently sent me a story that fits right into this article. An
Australian had found a book of poetry on the body of a dead enemy soldier and kept it for
decades until finally returning it to the family of its owner:
Laurens Wildeboer was supporting a squadron of tanks sent from an Australian base
to an American one when he stumbled upon some notebooks that infantry had captured from
the Viet Cong. Australian troops were told to extract from captured or killed enemy forces
all notes, maps, books — anything that could potentially offer information about
weapons, strategy or battlefield plans.
“One booklet had the name of the author and had beautifully illustrated
handwritten poetry which, at the time, immediately connected with me,” he recalls.
Moved by the beauty he found amid the death and destruction of the war, he kept the
documents. The creator’s name was Phan Van Ban, and his family lived outside Ho Chi
Minh City (formerly Saigon)…Wildeboer returned in 2012 to meet Nguyen Thi Hieu,
Ban’s mother, who told him that Ban died in 1970, a year after Wildeboer found his
work. Hieu told Wildeboer that he gave them the only remaining records of Ban — they
had destroyed all his other records in case South Vietnam government officials discovered
he had joined the Viet Cong and raided the house. She was extremely grateful.
Leaflet SP-2263
The tradition of poetry is long and respected in Vietnam and a poem is the perfect
way to send a propaganda message to the enemy. Leaflet SP-2263 is depicted in the Joint
U.S. Public Affairs Office November 1968 publication Communicating with Vietnamese thru
Leaflets that says:
This leaflet uses poetry as a medium of communication. In fact, some of the best
leaflets ever used in Vietnam have consisted of emotion-provoking poems, with suitable
illustrations related to the thematic content of the poem. Poems frequently express
nostalgia, sorrow and longing more effectively than is possible in prose. But the poetry
must be good, or it will be scorned.
I thought this might be a good place to tell the reader how we got
the poems. In this case, one of the top people in JUSPAO sends a memo to one
of the people involved with the printing stating that one of the former Viet
Cong who has gone Chieu Hoi wrote a poem and he believes the poem is a good
one. He sends the poem to be considered. I depict both pages. The poem must
have been good because we see it depicted elsewhere in this article,
although they changed the name to what was the first line of the poem.
"Listen to me, my love."
Communicating with Vietnamese thru Leaflets
Communicating with Vietnamese thru Leaflets was a 1968 publication on the creation
and distribution of propaganda in Vietnam. It was produced by the Field Development
Division and the Office of Policy, Plans, and Research of the Joint United States Public
Affairs Office (JUSPAO). The 62 page illustrated booklet was written by Monta Osborne with
illustrations added by Phil Katz. Monta L. Osborne was the Chief of Field Development
Division in Saigon in charge of the Chieu Hoi (Open Arms) program during the Vietnam War.
The booklet was issued to Military Assistance Command - Vietnam (MACV) to be issued to
field PSYOP personnel. Also offered to Civil Operations and Revolutionary Development
Support (CORDS) and additional copies printed for all new PSYOP officers and civilians
assigned to Vietnam.
Do not use amateur poets; employ or use material from popular and well known poets.
The leaflet shows a sobbing mother at top left and her son in the South below. On
the back the son is shown dead and alone in the jungle. It was prepared in November 1967
for distribution in I, II and III Corps areas. Some of the long poem is:
A POEM TO MOTHER
A North Vietnamese Youth Spills out his Heart
From the day I left you, mother,
to follow my companions on the trip to
Central Vietnam through Laos,
I have endured the hardships of
climbing up the green mountains
And marching through rain and shine,
Although with my young age
life should blossom like a flower.
For the sake of peace I don’t mind
Enduring hardships and danger.
For several months I marched during
the day and rested at night.
My shoes’ heels have worn out
And my jacket's shoulders
Were rubbed thin through which the cold slips in…
The poem ends with a denouncement of the Party and the invasion:
But why did they order me to burn
The villages, destroy the bridges,
Explode the mines and sow death around?
Often my hand trembled
When I had to lay a mine
Only to later witness people being blown up
And blood sprayed around
Whose blood was it?
It was the blood of people like you, mother, and myself.
That night, my eyes were filled with tears…
A small box at the lower left in the back of the leaflet contains the text:
The above letter in poetry form was found on the body of a dead soldier of the
Hanoi regime killed in the battle of Duc Co.
This poem has been considered one of the best produced for Vietnam. What is
interesting about this poem is that it was memorized by a Vietnamese officer heading
south. This was verified in a debriefing of Second Lieutenant Nguyen Van Thong, a soldier
in the 320th Regiment, 1st People’s Army of Vietnam Division, who fought in Kontum
Province in March-April 1968. The poem was so moving that many North Vietnamese soldiers
remembered it. The lieutenant said:
The Americans should let the Vietnamese write them as they know how to put the
story or what you want said into poetry; the Vietnamese are a very poetic people…The
best way to tell of good will is with a poem. All of the men in my unit knew the lines of
a poem used in South Vietnam and we thought of it often. The poem that we remember is for
our mother.
My old pal Lieutenant Colonel David Underhill of the 7th PSYOP Group told me about
his experience preparing and having that leaflet printed:
When I visited Laos during the war, the CIA wanted to know who published it. My
group did. The CIA said every North Vietnamese body they found carried the leaflet. If
they captured a solder, he could recite the poem. My unit mass-shipped a load to IV Corps
and I was able to initiate action to ship them to the CIA in Laos.
The Ho Chi Minh Trail
The 1969 document Employment of U.S. Army Psychological Operation Units in
Vietnam says about the Ho Chi Minh Trail campaign:
Approximately ten percent of the propaganda leaflets [At the time] were directed
against the military and civilian personnel who used and maintained the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
The PSYOP objective of this out-of-country Trail Campaign was to weaken the will of
military target audiences and encourage them to rally upon arrival in the Republic of
Vietnam. Along the Trail, the vulnerability of loneliness was attacked by using leaflets
with nostalgic poetry written by NVA soldiers about their life at home. The themes of
hardship and probable death were constantly brought to the NVA soldier's attention as he
moved down the Trail. Once in the Republic of Vietnam, the NVA soldier was confronted with
the Safe Conduct Passes urging him to rally.
There were a half-dozen poems used by the soldiers heading south on the Ho Chi Minh
Trail. Those leaflets are identified by the “T” for “Trail” at the
start or end of their code.
Leaflet 78T
The “Poem to Mother” was used again on this Trail leaflet. Leaflet 78T is
bright red on the front and depicts happy scenes of life in North Vietnam. The back is
blue and depicts a sad North Vietnamese soldier thinking of death and destruction in South
Vietnam. This leaflet was dropped on troops coming down the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The poem is
printed as a legacy and warning to other young men who have been sent south to die.
Note that this poem was considered so important that it appeared on several
different leaflets in black and white and in color, and in various sizes such as 3 x
6-inches, and 5 x 7-inches. Two of the leaflets using this poem dropped on North Vietnam
are 29, and 78.
Dave G. Underhill
David G. Underhill enlisted in the United States Air
Force in 1951. He volunteered for Korea and was assigned to the 4th Fighter-Interceptor
Wing Headquarters. He later enlisted in the United States Army and was deployed to Japan
in the Office of the Commander-in-Chief, United Nations and Far East Command. He was
recommended for OCS and studied Korean at the Army Language School, now called the Defense
Language Institute. During the Vietnam War he served as a U.S. Army officer in the 7th
Psychological Operations Group in Okinawa, rising to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. He
was PSYOP liaison to the 1st Special Forces and trained and jumped with them in Okinawa
and Korea. Prior to 1964 he was sent to Vietnam to access the needs of PSYOP units. He
recommended a Battalion and four companies. He 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. He wrote the “Bible” of
leafleting, The Low, Medium, and High Altitude Leaflet Dissemination Guide.
Retired Lieutenant Colonel Dave Underhill told me about the use of poetry for
psychological operations:
The Vietnamese loved poetry. We reproduced a poem written by an enemy soldier
that was taken from his body on the field of battle. It was based on his experiences in
the war and the fact that he had been deceived by the authorities. It was a very sad and sentimental poem.
When I was in Laos to write a strategic leaflet program for the American Embassy,
a Central Intelligence Agency representative mentioned the leaflet. He said it was a very
powerful leaflet and every prisoner taken could recite the entire poem from memory. He
wanted to know who produced it. When I mentioned that our organization had produced it, he
wanted to obtain the leaflet in quantity. I was able to immediately divert to him a
shipment of several million copies that was destined for IV Corp, an area where there were
few North Vietnamese regulars. The CIA representative was appreciative and impressed with
our efficiency.
We produced several nostalgic poem leaflets for use at Tet in the 6x3 size for
use throughout Vietnam and the Ho Chi Minh Trail area. My Vietnamese advisor helped
develop poetry leaflets. He was Catholic, a former college professor, and had to flee
North Vietnam when the French left. After US troop withdrawal we hired him and placed him
in charge of leaflet development.
Leaflet T-26L
This leaflet bears the code T-26L. It was also printed as T-26. “L” at the
end of a leaflet indicates it was printed on a light paper to make use of light prevailing
winds (16-pound paper instead of the normal 20-pound paper). This leaflet is in the form
of a poem. On one side there are two photos. The top photo depicts a Viet Cong member
being arrested by an ARVN soldier in Cholon. The second photograph shows some women and
children in Saigon running from a street where the Viet Cong terrorists had infiltrated.
The poem is on the back. The poem is satiric and depicts the Viet Cong as liars who
keep bragging about their invincibility in combat and how easy it is to liberate the South
while they are regularly defeated and hated by the South Vietnam Army and population. The
poem is well written and one Vietnamese told me that the way it is written the writer
seems to be a Southerner, while a second said that a poem with all that trash talking
seems more likely to be written by a northerner:
WHAT INSOLENCE!
The Viet Cong use their big mouths again,
They only win and never lose.
From the dry to the rainy season,
The big, the middle, and the small size battles - they win them all.
The General Uprising was totally defeated,
90 thousands troops were killed on the field.
Then they got hunger, got cold and depressed,
No choice left, they surrendered in humiliation.
Then some even hid in bushes,
Spotted and dragged out by the southern people.
Some went "Chieu Hoi" to the National Army,
Crying and telling ridiculous tales.
Boasting: "Four fifths of the population,
Three quarters of the land in the south,
Are under the people's control.
Now we will advance for the final time."
Now we finally see the truth,
The Southern people originally hate the Communists.
No one gives them food,
Everyone just moves away from them.
The truth is so crippling,
The whole Party is a bunch of liars.
What an insolent bunch, yes?
Victory is a bubble, and the puncture is sudden.
Leaflet T-43
This nostalgic Ho Chi Minh Trail leaflet depicts a farmer on his Ox
on the front, and the poem "Longing for the North" on the back. This poem
has six verses. I have translated four:
Longing for the
North
As I stop here my
heart is full of sorrows longing for the North.
I miss the village
bamboo,
I miss the old banyan
tree by the village pagoda,
I miss the small
lentil pond on which blows the cold wind.
I miss the high dikes
on which herdsmen
walk slowly in the
fading evening beams.
I miss the village
girl with a scarf around her head,
With red lips
smelling of betel and with rosy cheeks.
I miss the rushing
sound of water bailing at night,
the peaceful sound of
rice husking,
the turtle doves cry
in the calm afternoon,
the sleepy sound of a
swaying hammock on a summer afternoon.
"Sleep my dear little
one!
Mother has not come
back yet from the village market.
Father still bails
water in the creek,
brother is plowing,
sister is transplanting outside."
Leaflet T-44
This
leaflet is a Tet-themed poetry leaflet dropped along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. I
note that some other poetry leaflets dropped over the Ho Chi Minh Trail about the same
time are: T-42 (New Year’s Day) and T-50 (Village Gate). All were obviously produced to invoke
nostalgia and homesickness.
Leaflet T-44 depicts a lonely wife and child watching other children play at a Tet
celebration. Some of the text is:
SINCERE APPEAL
I burn the incense and think of you
Spring returns and cites your merits
Father died in prison leaving mother sad
You left when you were only fourteen
How could you know what revolution is?
Taking advantage and speculating in politics
Merchants of slaves with black market prices
Caught in a trap which tightens the more you struggle
If you are mad then stand up and cry
I suffer to see our people as insensitive as stone
killing each other constantly without being
disgusted.
Leaflet T-50
This leaflet has a romantic poem on the back. The front depicts a North Vietnamese
wife and children walking through their home village. The poem has six stanzas. I will
just add the first two:
The evening with cool air greets the village gate
The breeze softly propels the clouds
The countryside shimmers on the horizon
People return to the village along the sinuous path
In the rosy morning hang red clouds, the melodious birds
The village gate opens noisily
The peasants walk slowly into the morning sunlight
Summer moons, the shadows are quiet, the heat sweltering
Leaflet T-52
This leaflet depicts a Vietnamese man standing by a pond under a massive
tree. The text is in the form of a poem. The first two stanzas are:
MY NATIVE VILLAGE
In my village there is rice and mulberry
There are flocks of white storks and flirting words
There is a banyan tree and a temple roof
There are flocks of pretty, graceful country girls
In the autumn there are village festivals
In the spring crowds of children play with swings
The wind whistles a kite-flute song
Soothing the soul of the Shepard boy on the dike
Leaflet T-53
This is another leaflet using a poem to invoke nostalgia. It depicts a
Vietnamese village with many of the people working together. The first two
stanzas are:
MY VILLAGE
My village lies beside the river bank
The red earth path borders the blue water
At the entrance to hamlets of thatched houses
The bamboo has swayed rhythmically for ages
The manioc bends over the melon patch
The areca palms lean on the shadows of the green coconut palms
Betel and squash mingle in the arbor
Green rich shoots mingle with golden corn all day long
Leaflet T-84
This is a very sad and yet romantic poem. A Northern soldier has been
wounded and sees his life coming to an end. He thinks of the woman he
loves and makes the supreme sacrifice, telling her to find another man to
marry and have a happy life in his absence. On the other side the young
wife sits and although we cannot see the tears in her eyes, we know she is
weeping. The poem was written by a Hoi Chanh (A North Vietnamese soldier
defected to South Vietnam) named Hoai Thanh.
LISTEN TO ME MY LOVE
Take a husband my love, for my life is fast ebbing.
Although I must lie to myself when giving you this advice.
But, my darling, I must think of your future.
Have courage my love.
Don’t delay because the fires here in the South burn fiercely.
My arm is torn from the body,
and with my life’s blood I write this
last plea...
Please, listen, my darling, don't refuse.
So that I might die in peace without remorse.
Darling,
please have no anger for me and don't resent your fate.
Rather,
turn your anger and resentment of those
Who have driven me into
this senseless war.
Oh
please, do as I say and this is all I ask, darling.
Bury our memories so that our love can melt away with the sinking sun.
And my image and all there was of me,
Shall fade forever from my homeland in the north…
Farewell, sweetheart, we found no enemies here.
Rather, it was I that
opened fire first.
My death is deserved, and I will pay for my
sin.
It is you who remain behind who must suffer...
I
am committed.
And eternal bitterness is my lonely fate.
Oh, listen to my aching heart.
And seek your ideals in LOVE.
Leaflet T-85
Leaflet T-85 depicts a modernistic drawing of birds in a nest.
The poem was written by a Hoi Chanh named Hoai Thanh. Don Rochlen says about him:
He heard we were looking for poems and stories by a Hoi Chanh and
asked if we would like to have these. The translation is not literal but
does express the thoughts which the staff and North Vietnamese Hoi Chanh say
are quite moving in the Vietnamese. I suggest that this be considered for
use on radio, television, magazines, newspapers, and leaflets. This, after
all, is a nation of poets.
The
poem uses the sentimental Tet holiday as a theme. The back is all text and a parody of a North
Vietnamese poem.
This
poem was also printed by the Joint U.S. Public Affairs Office as leaflet
4459 dated December 1971. They called it "Memories of a past sad Tet by a
returnee." It says in four of the six stanzas:
A Letter to my Comrades at springtime
Now I stand here on the “three-fourths of the land”
Now I live among the “Fourteen million people,”
but not as a
“liberator.”
No longer do I live in the darkness of the silent jungle.
Dear Comrade, sweet spring approaches and the memories are so vivid!
I remember the springtime when we were still together.
It was on the eve of Tet when we mined that bridge,
and it was on the day of Tet
when we crawled out to recover the bodies of our dead comrades…
For I know that your heart is bleeding,
and your weeping soul longs for life at springtime.
Oh, come dead liberation soldier,
do not deny that which is most precious to you.
My heart aches as I write to you
For, we are both so far from our native land.
Together we came to face death on the battlefield,
but it was for the benefit
of just the few...
Note: The “three-fourths of the land” and the “Fourteen million
people” are quotes from a famous NVA propaganda poem about coming down to liberate
the South. One soldier who worked in intelligence and spoke Vietnamese told me that he
picked up this leaflet in I Corps near the DMZ.
There were several typed poems by Hoai Thanh in JUSPAO files. I
found one dated 23 September 1969 that I have not matched up with a leaflet
yet. I think it was used because it was in a group that contained the poems
used in T-84 and T-85. I suspect I have just not run across the leaflet yet.
The unknown poem's first stanza is:
Longing for Mother
That Spring when I departed my motherland in the North,
with my soul full of love for my birthplace, I headed for the South.
Days gone by in burning sunlight and freezing haze,
the farther I go, the more I long for your image, my mother.
Leaflet T-7-SPC
This May 1970 leaflet targeted North Vietnamese troops coming down the Ho
Chi Minh Trail to create and/or exploit nostalgia. The leaflet was designed
by the Military Assistance Command-Vietnam and sent off-shore (probably to
the 7th Group on Okinawa) for printing and delivery according to established
procedures. The poem was titled "My Sister,"
and
contains 10 verses. I have translated the first five:
I have a little sister,
as beautiful as a poem.
Her name sounds like "Dream."
Her husband was drafted away.
For two years, she hoped
to see her man home.
From the far away battlefield
where the men go,
but no news from them come back.
She usually wept when alone,
and moaned, reproached, and resented
those who instigated this war.
And caused wives to be parted
from the husband they beloved.
Women usually wanted
their men back.
My sister missed her
husband,
and used to be afraid
and nervous,
each time news spread
over,
that more and more
youths
had been drafted by
Uncle Ho’s order.
She sat late at
night.
Each time she saw the
troops,
moving to the distant
Battlefield “B.”
But none of them
return,
while more and more
went away.
Other Ho Chi Minh Trail leaflets in the form of a poems are: T-42 (New Year’s
Day); T-43 (Longing for the North) and 82T (To the
other side of the front lines).
The Tet Holidays
Tet Nguyen Dan is the Vietnamese lunar New Year Festival and the most important
Vietnamese holiday. Literally, Tet Nguyen Dan means the first morning of the first day of
the new period. Tet falls sometime between the last ten days of January and the middle
part of February. It comes at a time when there is a pause for the farmer after twelve
months of labor. The Vietnamese Tet holiday is an occasion for an entire people to share a
common ideal of peace, concord and mutual love. The Tet holiday is officially three days
long but is often celebrated for seven days. During this holiday the people take extra
care to be kind and not show anger or act in a rude way toward anyone.
Every year the American PSYOP Teams would prepare dozens of propaganda leaflets
using Tet as a theme. We show some below.
Leaflet 4-83-69
This leaflet depicts a Vietnamese woman carrying baskets. Her husband is clearly
fighting in the South, She is alone. The text on the front is:
Happy New Year. Don’t miss our lives together
The back has a poem and a short message. The poem is:
This spring is the third sad spring
My heart is uneasy with sweet regrets
Tet still has flowers, incense, lamps and cakes
But missing you, how lonely I feel
Leaflet 4-86-69
The 4th PSYOP Group apparently did a
whole series of these short poem leaflets. This one depicts a North
Vietnamese soldier in the jungle, playing a guitar. I do not think that
picture is too realistic, but there it is. Of course, "spring" tells us this
is another Tet leaflet. The text on the front is:
To keep your spring age always radiant, return to the Just National Cause.
There is a long 22-line poem on the
back, I will translate the opening lines:
Greeting
spring in the heart of the untrodden forest I cannot sleep
what should I
write to lessen my sadness?
This sleepless
night I am waiting for spring,
remembering my
Motherland with sadness and sorrow.
And listening
to the sound of firing from the fields,
suddenly I
think of Tet and have aching pains in my heart...
Leaflet 4-37-70
It is now a year later but the 4th PSYOP Group is still printing
poetic leaflets. This one shows a scenic bridge on the front, and a lonesome
North Vietnamese soldier writing on the back. The poem is exceedingly long,
about 34 lines. I will translate the opening lines:
I write the
Poem of July,
when both
North and South are still divided.
With the mind
of man who is engaged in fire and blood,
as the miser
of life in things inevitable.
As 30 million
people are containing their suffering with fixed eyes,
and that
mourning is apparent at every corner of the street.
Leaflet 8(1)2-51-68
This leaflet was prepared by the 8th PSYOP Battalion in Nha Trang in 1968. 300,000
leaflets were requested by the PSYOP Adviser in Phu Yen to cause nostalgia, home-sickness
and a drop in morale among the NVA and VC. The front of the leaflet looks like a standard
Tet greeting card and depicts a young woman near a flowering tree. The text on the front
is:
Best wishes for a Happy New Year
There is a long poem on the back and I will just quote a few lines:
COME BACK
You have followed the Viet Cong since that year
Hamlets and villages were forgotten under evening sunshine
You have been gone about 10 years
Previously, my tears soaked through a dream pillow…
I feel I am alone and my soul is cold
Return to enjoy life…
Come back for a charming and deep love
As anyone else, we need a son to carry in our hands
The leaflet above was produced by the 8th PSYOP Battalion. By coincidence the 8th
Battalion was involved in annual poetry contests which brought the Vietnamese in contact
with the U.S. Army in a friendly way, and also produced content for the propaganda
leaflets. The Monthly operation Report for January 1969 tells us about the project:
While conducting research for the Tet campaign, it became apparent that the
Vietnamese people have a highly developed appreciation of poetry. The 8th Battalion has in
the past used the works of some of the better known Vietnamese poets in Chieu Hoi appeals,
but good poetry of a contemporary nature was not available. To obtain some contemporary
poems, the Battalion is sponsoring a poetry contest in cooperation with the 20th Political
Warfare Battalion and the Regional PSYOP Coordinating Center. The contest offers cash
prizes for poems with patriotic themes, the best of which will be used in developing PSYOP
materials. The response so far has been greater than expected, and several usable items
have already been received.
The Monthly operation Report for March 1969 continues:
The poetry material produced as a result of a contest sponsored by the 8th PSYOP
Battalion has been printed. At present the booklets are being put together by the 204th
Vietnamese Political Warfare Company for distribution by selected Armed Propaganda Teams
within the coastal region of the II Corps Tactical Zone. Examples of these booklets have
been distributed to various Vietnamese units resulting in a generally favorable reaction.
The first run was limited to a press run of 5,000 copies but more runs will be made if the
project proves successful. The limitation on production is due to the fact that the
folding and stapling of the booklet must be done by hand.
The 8th PSYOP Battalion use of poetry as propaganda was mentioned in the 1st Field
Force official magazine TYPHOON of June 1969. Specialist 4 Vaughn Whiting wrote an
article titled “Madison Avenue, Vietnam,” in which he said in part:
It's what you say and how you say it that counts at the 8th PSYOP Battalion. The
Propaganda Development Center of the 8th PSYOP Battalion forms the American contingent of
a larger, more comprehensive PSYOP organization called the Regional Propaganda
Coordination Center, which is housed and supported at the battalion headquarters. The
center is composed of Vietnamese civilian employees of the U.S. government and soldiers
from a Vietnamese political warfare company, the Korean PSYOP/Civic Action Company and the
U.S. 8th PSYOP Battalion.
Recently, the ARVN representative at the center helped sponsor a contest among
secondary school children in Nha Trang for original, patriotic poetry. The five poems
judged best were printed on leaflets along with a sketch of an attractive young lady or a
mother and child. "Some returnees have reported that they and their comrades actually
memorized a few of our better poems," said Captain Maurice M. Monihan, Chief U.S.
Representative at the Center.
Leaflet 1517
Isn't it time to return to your family?
Which of the above scenes do you prefer?
This is a
rather early leaflet in the Vietnam War. The early ones in some ways were
more exciting, using excellent images and color. Many of the later leaflets
seemed more casual in contrast. I have always admired this vignette. It is
found on several American leaflets, sometimes in color, sometimes in black
and white. It shows so much. We see a lonely Viet Cong fighter sitting by
himself and thinking of two paths he can take in the future. One portrays
death and destruction if he continues to fight with dead bodies, blood, and
a destroyed bridge and building. The back has a poem called "Remember you:"
REMEMBER YOU
I sadly remember you day and night,
you are alone with blanket and pillow, because of whom?
In the jungle I led a gloomy life,
facing rain, sun, and racking hunger.
The more I think of it the more I hate,
who spread the smoke and fire to interrupt the melody?
When can we meet again,
with you lying on my arm to reward the days of nostalgia?
And we get drunk with the wine of love,
to see happiness come true in our loving arms.
The Viet Cong Cadre who wrote these verses was killed on 10 October
1966 at Chu Lai.
The same poem
was on another early leaflet coded 1737 and prepared in May 1967. 500,000
copies of the poem were disseminated in Tuy Hoa, II Corps. The leaflet
featured a Chieu Hoi message, some of which was:
Will you end
up like the author of these lines never to see his loved ones again? You can
see your friends and family again. Take the first step by following the
instructions on the back of this leaflet.
The back gave
three lines of instructions that are much more detailed than the following,
but this is basically what they say: hide your weapons; report in daytime
and show a safe conduct pass if you have one; if you do not have a safe
conduct pass hold your hands up.
Leaflet 4124
The leaflet depicts flowering branches and birds on the front. The back bear a Tet
Poem meant to encourage the Viet Cong in the field to return home. Some of the text on the
back is:
Do you remember that today is Tet, The only happy day of the year?
But you are away.
Your wife is yearning for a sight of you, and your children are burning to see you.
Our cozy home feels cold and lifeless as ashes in a burnt-out oven.
Leaflet 4129
…Except You
This is a pretty leaflet showing a happy family at Tet. Unfortunately, the
man of the house has gone into the bush and joined the VC:
You are 30 years of age,
and have spent half your life on “liberation.”
15 Springs have enough elapsed,
and yet victory is still far away!
You are a man of 40,
and have been 15 years in fighting.
For 15 years you have been away from home,
and victory is not insight yet!
For 15 years you have been struggling,
but what have you achieved?
Independence, freedom, and happiness?
Or death, fire, blood, and destruction?
The text on the back is:
How many TET have you been away from home.
Your wife and children, your parents, your sisters, and brothers?
The ancestor’s shrine is wrapped in a sacred Veil of incense–stick
smoke,
everyone is gathering around it, except you!
So come back please, do come back!
Peace is dawning in the trail of Tet.
Why should you haunt the forest and mountains anymore?
You have tried all the taste of hardship,
Now why don’t you think of your future and care for your life?
Leaflet 4605
I added this one just for the color. There are lots of images on
the front and back. We see a banyan tree and temple and a buffalo on one
side, the other depicts a boy on a water buffalo and a girl carrying two
baskets. There is a poem called "My Village." You will find in more than
once in this article:
MY VILLAGE
In my village there
is rice and mulberry.
There are flocks of
white storks and flirting words.
There is a banyan
tree and a temple roof.
There are flocks of
pretty, graceful country girls.
In the autumn there
are village festivals.
In the spring crowds
of children play with swings.
The wind whistles a
kite-flute song.
Soothing the soul of
the Shepherd boy on the dyke.
As in all of these leaflets there is mentioning of the coming
ceasefire, the Americans leaving, and the North Vietnamese soldiers home
before the Year of the Buffalo.
Leaflet 4606
This leaflet talks about the Northern soldiers being home before Tet.
Two versions exist, one in red and one in green. It starts with
a poem and follows up with a text message:
Home before Tet
Do you remember the lines from this poem?
My village lies beside the riverbank
At the entrance to hamlets of thatched houses
The bamboo has swayed rhythmically for years.
The people of all Vietnam are touched by these words of home. This peaceful scene
is about to become a reality. Within 60 days of the signing of the cease fire agreement,
all American forces will leave Vietnam. The soldiers of the North will be home long before
Tet of the Year of the Buffalo.
Leaflet 4606 is one of a series of 5 consecutive TET holiday leaflets bearing poems.
All five leaflets were developed on 10 November 1972 but might have been
disseminated in early 1973. They all bear various colors such as red, green,
and blue as befits holiday leaflets. The others are:
4604 – A poem titled "The First Morning of Tet."
Found elsewhere in this article.
4605 – A poem titled "My village."
Found elsewhere in this article.
4606 – A poem titled "Home before Tet.” Found elsewhere in this
article
4607 – A poem titled "Going home."
4608 – A poem titled "To enjoy peace."
Leaflet 4607
This is another leaflet that combines Tet, Poetry and going home as
soon as the peace treaty is signed. The leaflet is red on one side and green
on the other. It depicts a North Vietnamese soldier returning home and the
title GOING HOME. The poem on his left and right is:
The early morning bursts with streaks of red.
The evening rain drops crystal droplets.
The gusting breeze softly sings a lullaby.
The mist lingers by the river side.
In the vast countryside, young green rice.
On the beaches birds twitter cheerfully.
In the stream fish swim to and fro.
The twilight resounds with the sounds of flutes.
The old man walks with staff along the dike.
The cute red cheeks of the country girl.
The children sing and play around their sisters and mothers.
The handsome young man returns home.
Leaflet 4608
This Tet leaflet with a poem has some red on the front and green on the
back. The back has a Tet flowering peach tree branch and a chrysanthemum at
the top and bottom. The
leaflet is titled "To Enjoy Peace" and that could be the title of the poem
or just the leaflet.
When evening comes, besieged by loneliness in the heart of the Truong Son
Range,
Oh mother, I miss our home,
I miss the blue smoke, the gourd arbor, the
little butterflies, the old temple roof.
Oh, how I miss them all.
These words are from a poem written to Mrs. Tran Thi Phan from her son, a
soldier killed in the war many months ago.
But now peace is coming to Vietnam. All soldiers can go home.
Within 60 days of the signing of the agreement, the few remaining Americans
will depart Vietnam. You should be home well before the Year of the
Buffalo.
The last gasp of American poetry leaflets in Vietnam is a large bunch of
mixed leaflets all marked "date developed 20 January 1973." The U.S.
Congress was tired of the war and wanted out. The Vietnamese were told to
take over the war themselves and promised American aid if the North
Vietnamese carried on the war. The North Vietnamese did, and the United
States did not. The first leaflet of this group is 4621 and the last is
4694. It is as if the U.S. printed millions of leaflets, told the Vietnamese
“These are for you,” and left. Most of the leaflets told the NVA and VC that
a ceasefire had been signed, the Americans and Koreans were leaving, and they
should go home to North Vietnam. The Americans and Koreans did, the North
Vietnamese did not. Many of the leaflets were songs, many were poems. There
may have been some duplication with earlier leaflets, since often when a
good leaflet was printed and brought the desired results, it would be
reprinted a second or third time, hoping for the same results with new
troops that had recently arrived. Each of the poems below was printed three
different times with different code numbers. They were titled:
My village
To enjoy peace
The first morning of Tet
Home for enjoying spring
Going home
To enjoy peace
Leaflet 2446
Leaflet 2446 is one of the
smallest I have seen used in Vietnam. Some slogan leaflets are smaller with
just a few words but this one has an image and text and is just 3.5 x
2.5-inches in size. It depicts a lonely family without the man of the house
present. I am told that the poem is excellent. The text on the front is:
This evening meal is without you!
Every evening meal I long for you,
You old mother, your small child and I are all waiting for you.
Be determined to return.
Come back to the just side to reunite with your family!
The text on the back is:
This Tet let us wish each other good luck and share the hope of a new year
full of progress ending in a reunion under the flag of the free Republic of
Vietnam. What are you still waiting for? Think about all the benefits of the
return policy that would bring you back to your family and your nation. We
hope you will have a prompt reunion with your love ones.
Leaflet 2530
Each year Ho Chi Minh would send his troops fighting in the South a poetic Tet New
Year’s greeting. He did so in 1968. The Americans thought that a bit of satire was
needed so took Ho’s message and placed it on a card and directly underneath changed a
few words so that it spoke of defeat rather than victory. The leaflet featured the Chieu
symbol on the front and the back had Ho’s original message and a new one below it.
The text at the top is:
Tet Greeting From Chairman Ho
This New Year will be better than past new years
Victory and good news will sweep the nation
South and North vie with one another in fighting the Americans
Advance - total victory is ours
Spring 1968
Ho Chi Minh
The text at the bottom is:
This spring is significantly worse than the last few ones.
Sad news of defeat throughout the homeland.
The North and the South both protest
A doomed future is inevitably there for us.
Booklet 2634
This small July 1968 5 x 8-inch booklet was titled “Patriotic poems. It
contained a collection of three patriotic poems and three full color illustrations
reflecting the theme of each poem. 500,000 copies were printed was done by the USIA
Regional Service Center in Manila. The objective was to promote identification with and
love for their country by the citizens of the Republic of Vietnam. It was not to be
disseminated alone, but instead placed with 11 other items in a plastic kit authorized by
JUSPAO. The second of the three poems was called “Map of Vietnam,” written by
Dang Minh Tri. The first few lines are:
The Map of Viet Nam
Yesterday I practiced drawing a map
My teacher drew neat squares on the board
The border was made with easy-to-find yellow chalk
From Southern Gate to Ca Mau
He knew each place by place
This was Dong Thap, this was Hien Luong Bridge
The East Sea was with a deep shade of blue
The mountains were drawn with brown spots
His hand moved and curved
Drawing the arcs of rivers and the swaths of jungles
Then he spoke with a deep voice
"The race of Dragon and of Fairy/God shine all the jungle and the mountain
They have seen growth, fall, lost, prosperity
Have brought their blood to water each and every tree
To make up the air we now breathe
To make the road we walk and the house we live
Much bitter our ancestors have tasted
To leave this land to us”
Cover Sheet – 2980
This November 1968 cover-sheet contained A Collection of Poems in the Chi
Linh Forest. It was meant to motivate the members and friends and family of the
Revolutionary Development cadre. The Vietnamese originated the concept and it was sent to
the U.S. Joint Public Affairs Office and from there to the 7th PSYOP Group for printing.
Handout 2771
I hesitate to call this public health announcement leaflet a poem, though it was
made to rhyme to help the reader remember all the points. It was developed by JUSPAO in
September 1968 and titled “Plague Kills People – Rat Poem.” So, we know
that the Americans considered it a poem. A Vietnamese friend said:
This is a four lines instruction against the plague. They are rhymed to help the
reader memorize them. (trung - vung and the intonation sequence). Yes they are definitely
a short form of poetry in Vietnamese.
The front features two Vietnamese men spraying insecticide. The text is:
Fleas carry plague. Use insecticide to destroy fleas
Let health agents spread insecticide in your home in order to
protect your family
The back is the poetic side and this is why we show it above. It features drawings
of farmers, a rat trap and dead rats. The Vietnamese text rhymes and says:
Four points one should remember to avoid plague
Pick up garbage; bury or burn it
Spread insecticide
Kill all rats
Take the anti-plague vaccination
Later in the war, poems were even used on leaflets telling the people about the
peace talks presently going on. The American leaflets would constantly tell the Vietnamese
that there would be peace except for the Lao Dong (Communist) Party. In late 1972, as the
Allies and the North Vietnamese began to talk, a major propaganda campaign was created to
inform the people of the north of the peace talks. One of the earliest leaflets using this
theme is 4583. One entire group all printed with a green vignette run from 4587 to 4591.
In all, there are several dozen leaflets with the theme of informing the people of North
Vietnam. We illustrate leaflet 4588 dropped on 8 November 1972.
Leaflet 4587
This leaflet depicts a young boy on a buffalo near his village on
one side and a Tet celebration scene on the other. Some of the text is:
Within 60 days of the cease-fire agreement signing, all American
forces will be withdrawn from Vietnam. The soldiers of North Vietnam can
return home long before the Tet Year of the Buffalo. This will be the
happies Tet in memory.
THE FIRST MORNING OF
TET
Firecrackers explode
one after the other,
on the alter, the
feast tray has already been set up.
My mother is already
lighting up the spiral incense,
and arranging a peach
of a five-fruit tray.
My big brother cuts
the cooked port pie.
Leaflet 4588
One side depicts a water buffalo and text:
Within 60-days of the signing of the peace agreement, all American forces will be
withdrawn from Vietnam. North Vietnamese soldiers should be home long before the Tet Quy
Suu (The Year of the Buffalo). This will be the happiest Tet in memory.
The other side bears a poem and text:
MY VILLAGE
In my village there is rice and mulberry.
There are flocks of white storks and flirting words.
There is a banyan tree and a temple roof.
There are flocks of pretty, graceful country girls.
In the autumn there are village festivals.
In the spring crowds of children play with swings.
The wind whistles a kite-flute song.
Soothing the soul of the Shepherd boy on the dyke.
Long before spring and well in time for Tet Quy Suu you should be home with your
loved ones. Within 60-days of the signing of the cease-fire agreement, all American forces
will be withdrawn from Vietnam. The North Vietnamese soldiers can return home.
Leaflet 4589
This leaflet depicts a buffalo on one side and a Tet holiday table
on the other. One side has the same statement about American troops leaving
after a peace agreement is signed, the other has a short poem:
HOME BEFORE TET
My village lies
beside the riverbank,
the red earth path
borders the blue water.
At the entrance to
hamlets of thatched houses,
the bamboo has swayed
rhythmically for years.
Leaflet 4590 has a poem titled "Going home," and leaflet 4591 has a
poem titled "To enjoy peace."
Love
Leaflet 4451
Some of the Poetry leaflets are extremely romantic. This one depicts a young girl
thinking of her soldier far away in the South. Some of the poem is:
COME BACK HOME TO ME, MY LOVE!
This evening, in the cold and dark forest,
when the evening mist is brooding over the hills.
When birds are anxiously calling to one another,
and monkeys are singing sorrowfully.
Do you feel the acute pang of homesickness?
Do you feel hope lingering in your heart like the evening mist
hanging over the trees?
Do you feel sick thinking of your home and your native place?
Do you know that spring has come bringing Tet?
Do you feel downhearted at the thought of separation my love?
Leaflet 4460
I like this leaflet because of the image of the North Vietnamese soldier deep in the
south thinking of his girl back home. He looks rather sad. The first two stanzas of the
poem are:
TO THE NVA SOLDIER
Oh you, soldier of the North Vietnamese Army!
How very young you still are,
how many springs since you left?
Hear! Spring is here again this year.
Do you still remember the country girl of that evening?
With tears glistening in her eyes,
she bade you farewell.
With hopes of seeing you again when spring comes…
Mother
Leaflet 4452
Many of these leaflets are either from a son to his mother or a mother to his son.
The Vietnamese told me that the mother is a very powerful symbol and they will tear up
just thinking of her. This leaflet depicts a lonely mother looking out the door wondering
where her son is and how is doing. The first two
stanzas are:
A MOTHER TO HER SON
Son, Oh my beloved son! The days of separation are passing by,
my heart breaks and I cry whenever I think of you.
Since you went away, I haven’t been able to stop worrying about you from
morning till dusk,
and missing and yearning for a sight of you every passing minute.
Spring is already here and today is TET.
In front of our ancestors’ altar I earnestly pray for you.
I pray that with their blessing you may be safe on the distant battlefield,
so that you may stay alive and return to your parents.
Some other JUSPAO leaflets in the form of a poem are: SP-1737 (Remember you); 2610
(Poem from the diary of Ha Phong); 4129 (Except
you); 4435 (Disenchantment); 4435B (Evening Sky); 4459 (Letter to my comrade at
springtime); and 4474 (No place to hide).
Husband
Leaflet 3588
Leaflet 3588 is titled SOME LINES TO MY BELOVED HUSBAND and is mostly
text on the front and back. Some of the text is on the front is:
Tonight, the cold wind blows into my room,
alone on my bed, I remember you.
You follow the perfidious Communists,
to leave me alone every night.
Come back home before it is too late,
don’t hesitate anymore to waste your young age.
The leaves fall outside in the rain,
in hearing the rain fall my heart is sinking.
Some of the text on the back is:
She wishes you would escape this hell,
the deep jungle with its poisoned water.
My darling, do you see your future path,
or do you only see thorns and spikes in your life.
DIARIES AND LETTERS
There is a large series of leaflets starting at 4404 and ending
about 4435 that all quote the diaries and letters of Dead Viet Cong and
North Vietnamese soldiers. I thought I would show one here.
Leaflets 4435 and 4435b
This leaflet depicts a poem called "Disenchantment" written by
NVA Aspirant Platoon Leader Nguyen Huy Nam of C5-D2. He tells the story of
the suffering of the troops that have travelled south. Platoon Leader Nguyen Huy Nam. It features a
3-paragraph poem on a page from his Diary that
tells his feelings in a truthful and emotional way. Some of the 24 October
1969 poem is:
How dull and uninspiring the sight of earth and sky!
The enemy's firing is heard everywhere.
And trees torn down by bomb and mortar blast
lie scattered here and there.
And when over the battlefield is brooding
lonely regret with a heavy heart.
Our knapsacks riding neat on our backs,
we are ready to take off now that the enemy has come.
The is quite in keeping with or military teaching,
It is no use challenging steel and pig iron.
The same poet wrote the one pictured on 4435b is a bit longer at 6
paragraphs. I translate the first and last ones. The poem is titled
Evening Sky:
What sorrowful
sentiments we feel in our hearts!
Seeing the war
going on endlessly!
All over the
country are devastation and mourning!
How many of
our northern and southern compatriots are left helpless!
Rice is
distributed parsimoniously, and each ration further diminishes the supply.
And as we sit
contemplating the earth and the sky,
the sun is
sinking, and our hearts are filled with despair.
Leaflet 4471
The theme of this leaflet was "desperation and despair." The front
of the leaflet is a standard message titled "HOW CAN YOU DO WHAT THOSE
PRECEEDING YOU COULD NOT?" The message of course tells the enemy troops that
they are being defeated every day and why should they think that will
change?
The back of the leaflet has the comment, "Please read these lines
by Nguyen Huy Nam, Platoon leader, C-5, D-2." The poem was written in his
diary and dated 25 October 1969. The dairy was captured by the Army of the
Republic of Vietnam. The poem is directly beneath this statement. As usual,
I will translate a few lines.
DESPERATION AND DESPAIR
Frustrated and worried I feel!
How long this war with its smoke and fire will continue.
The country looks so desolate, and it is filled with so much death
How many people of the North and the South have become homeless,
disinherited,
and live a wretched and lonely life without love or care?
How terribly nervous I feel!
I am silently listening to the jungle mosquito's buzz,
and cocking my ear for the slightest sound.
I am gazing in all directions and wondering which I will take.
I feel a terrible gnawing in my stomach,
One and a half cans of rice a day is far from staying my hunger.
As a food supplement, I have tried wild beet leaves,
but how bitter they taste, and how coarse they feel...
For some unknown reason, the brass apparently
did not like leaflet 4471 and printed it again as leaflet 4473. The poem on
the back was identical. But the front was changed, and the title is "TO OUR
NORTH VIETNAMESE ARMY BROTHERS." The message now talks about the hardships
of coming down the Ho Chi Minh Trail and how many have died in this useless
war.
Leaflet 4474
This is another passage from the diary of Nguyen Huy Nam, Platoon
leader, C-5, D-2. The poem was written in his diary and dated 24 October
1969. It was captured by the ARVN after an attack on the NVA/VC position
near the end of 1969.
The front of the leaflet is a message to, "NORTH VIETENAMESE TROOPS
AND FRIENDS." It reminds them that now that they have come down the Trail to
South Vietnam, they know there is nowhere to hide from the incessant
bombing. The back is a short two-stanza poem.
NO PLACE TO HIDE
How sad and frustrating it is to look at the earth and the sky,
to hear the enemy firing everywhere!
All around, bomb craters and denuded trees,
how sad and confused!
We have neatly packed our gear,
the enemy is coming, and we are quite ready.
Following this tactic, it is better to withdraw,
What is the use of confronting steel and pig iron?
One of the earliest poems I have seen was coded SP-1737. It was
printed in May 1967, before the 7th PSYOP Group began saving samples of the
leaflets they printed. I can quote a bit from the text though:
The Viet Cong cadre who wrote these verses was killed in October
1966 at Chu Lai.
I sadly remember you day and night.
You are alone with blanket and pillow because of whom?
In the jungle I lead the gloomy life,
facing rain, sun, and racking hunger.
The more I think of it the more I hate.
Who spread the smoke and fire to interrupt the melody?
When can we meet again,
with you living on my arm to reward the days of nostalgia.
We get drunk with the wine of love,
to see happiness come true in our loving arms.
The Trung Sisters
The Trung Sisters Propaganda Poster
Because the Trung sisters were national heroes in Vietnam, they were often placed on
PSYOP leaflets and posters. The Trung sisters were Vietnam's first real national heroes.
The husbands of the Trung sisters were Vietnamese nobles who opposed Chinese rule. After
the Chinese executed the husbands, their widows took over leadership of the rebellion.
Legend says that in 39 AD they gathered an army of 80,000, led by 36 women generals and
within a year drove the Chinese occupiers from 65 cities. Because they had liberated their
country, they were named co-Kings. The Chinese returned with a huge force about three
years later and after defeat on the battleground the sisters committed suicide by drowning
themselves in 43 AD. Many temples are dedicated to them and their death is commemorated
each year.
A Fifteenth Century poem (In the Great Southern Kingdom of the Drama) tells the
entire story from the time the older sister was born until she jumped from bridge after
her mission failed. In some way the poem is almost feminist, showing that in that ancient
time the Vietnamese people were open minded, had a democratic system and could choose
their leader, regardless of sex.The legend of the Trung sisters was passed down from
generation to generation thru this historical folktale poem to teach the younger
generation that the Vietnamese are fighters, and never to surrender, no matter who the
enemy might be. The poem starts:
The Lady Trung was born in Chau Phong,
angry against the cruel, murderous enemies,
never forgetting how her husband was killed,
the Trung Sisters vowed together
to raise the flag to command the troops in place of the late General.
Thousands of trees in the western forests stirred up ready for battle
echoing the horses' galloping toward the capital Long Bien.
The Sisters fearlessly lead the troops
They swept Chinese leader To Dinh out of the capital.
The national flag was raised high in the Me Linh sky.
they led the country to an independent government…
The text on the poster is:
Oppose the Communists' aggression in defense of our liberties as
descendants of the Hong Lac race.
Do as the two Trung sisters of the Trieu family did.
The Bombing of North Vietnam
Leaflet 82
This leaflet depicts two sad North Vietnamese soldiers on the front and a happy
soldier with family on the back. The poem is quite long and credited to Nguyen The Ky. It
says in part:
TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FRONT LINES
Dead leaves mark the passing of autumn.
The northern wind announces the changing of seasons.
Clouds cover four corners of the sky and rain is drenching everything.
Winter has come and my heart is throbbing with emotions.
I think of my friends still on the other side of the front line.
Whose clothes are in tatters, whose bodies are thin because of exposure
to the
mountain winds and hostile jungles.
There were
winter nights when we could not get any sleep,
And, short of
blanket, we interlaced our legs to keep ourselves warm.
I awakened to
the reality and returned to seek a goal to my life.
Here I found a
humane, lenient policy in the Chieu Hoi program,
Under which
our material and spiritual needs are met,
Our families
are united in love and happiness...
15,000,000 copies of Leaflet 82 were ordered in November 1967 and 6 million of these
leaflets were dropped on Cambodia. I have some interesting notes on this leaflet that add:
The leaflet is called “New Poem” and another 3,000,000 copies were
ordered by the 6th PSYOP Battalion to be printed by the 7th PSYOP Group on Okinawa. To be
delivered to Plieku by surface shipment only. Do not ship earlier than the required
delivery date, 5 January 1968, as adequate storage is not currently available.
So, apparently the 6th PSYOP Battalion had so many leaflets in storage that they had
no room for any more.
Leaflet 116
Leaflet 116 is printed in blue on the front and depicts a peaceful scene of farm
life in North Vietnam. This leaflet was dropped over North Vietnam in April of 1968. The
military says:
A poem calling for the return of peace which existed prior to the Northern invasion
of the South.
There is a long poem on the back. We translate the first and last stanza:
Bring back the peace of yesteryear
The early morning bursts with streaks of red.
The evening rain drops crystal droplets.
The gusting breeze softly sings a lullaby.
The mist lingers by the river side.
Bring back peace to our country. Return the old happiness to the people.
Don't send Northern lives to die in the South.
