---
title: Act of Desperation
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/act-of-desperation-saigon-shelling-1966/
description: A landscape photo sheet headed 'Một hành động điên cuồng' (A mad act) reports that on 1 November 1966, National Day, the Viet Cong shelled Saigon.
section: Collection
---

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3. Act of Desperation

**Content note:** A photograph shows a civilian lying dead on a Saigon street beneath a stretcher, as issued. This object is shown as it was published. [Why](https://propagandaarchive.org/about/#as-it-was)

[![Act of Desperation, 1966 US poster: A landscape photo sheet headed 'Một hành động điên cuồng' (A mad act) reports that on 1](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/act-of-desperation-saigon-shelling-1966.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/act-of-desperation-saigon-shelling-1966.jpg)

# Act of Desperation

A landscape photo sheet headed 'Một hành động điên cuồng' (A mad act) reports that on 1 November 1966, National Day, the Viet Cong shelled Saigon, killing a priest and four worshippers in a church, seven women and children near a market, and others. Photographs show a hole in a church ceiling, a stretcher over a body on a street and bullet damage at Grall hospital. Casualty figures are paired with labels such as 'inhuman and cowardly' for the attackers.

## Propaganda techniques used in this poster

[Fear appeal](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/fear-appeal/) [Name-calling](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/name-calling/)

## Text on the object

Original (Vietnamese) · read from the image, not independently checked

```
MỘT HÀNH ĐỘNG ĐIÊN CUỒNG

TRONG MỘT HÀNH ĐỘNG ĐIÊN CUỒNG MONG GÂY ẢNH HƯỞNG TRONG NGÀY LỄ QUỐC KHÁNH 1-11-1966 VIỆT CỘNG ĐÃ PHÁO KÍCH VÀO SÀI-GÒN SÁT HẠI NHIỀU ĐỒNG BÀO VÔ TỘI. SỐ NGƯỜI CHẾT VÀ BỊ THƯƠNG DO HÀNH ĐỘNG GHÊ TỞM NÀY GỒM CÓ MỘT LINH MỤC ĐANG HÀNH LỄ VÀ BỐN TÍN GIAO TRONG NHÀ THỜ, 7 ĐÀN BÀ VÀ TRẺ CON GẦN CHỢ, 7 BỆNH NHÂN TRONG BỆNH VIỆN GRALL VÀ 26 NGƯỜI KHÁC.

Một viên đạn đã bắn qua mái nhà thờ và rơi ngay trên các tín giáo.

Đây một lương dân Sài-Gòn, nạn nhân do thủ đoạn vô nhân đạo và hèn nhát của bọn Việt Cộng.

Đạn xuyên qua vách bệnh viện Grall làm bị thương 7 người bên trong.

SP-1571
```

English translation (machine translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader)

```
A MAD ACT

IN A MAD ACT MEANT TO INFLUENCE THE NATIONAL DAY CELEBRATION OF 1-11-1966, THE VIET CONG SHELLED SAIGON, KILLING MANY INNOCENT COMPATRIOTS. THE DEAD AND WOUNDED FROM THIS REPULSIVE ACT INCLUDE A PRIEST CONDUCTING MASS AND FOUR WORSHIPPERS IN THE CHURCH, 7 WOMEN AND CHILDREN NEAR A MARKET, 7 PATIENTS IN GRALL HOSPITAL AND 26 OTHER PEOPLE.

A shell was fired through the church roof and fell right on the worshippers.

This is a Saigon civilian, a victim of the inhumane and cowardly methods of the Viet Cong.

A round pierced the wall of Grall hospital and wounded 7 people inside.

SP-1571
```

[← Một nghĩa cử cao đẹp của nhân dân thành phố San Angelo Hoa Kỳ (A Gesture of the American People from the City of San Angelo, Texas)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/a-gesture-of-the-american-people-san-angelo-1966/) [ARVN and Allies Protect the Harvest in Hieu Xuong and Tuy Hoa →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/aid-and-harvest-hieu-xuong-tuy-hoa-1966/)

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