--- title: GVN Make Efforts To Improve People's Life, VC Continue to Destroy and Kill (Ai bạn? Ai thù?) url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/gvn-improve-peoples-life-vc-destroy-1966/ description: A portrait sheet under the headline 'Who is friend? Who is enemy?' pairs photographs of seed-rice distribution. section: Collection --- 1. [Home](https://propagandaarchive.org/) 2. [Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/) 3. GVN Make Efforts To Improve People's Life, VC Continue to Destroy **Content note:** Includes a photograph of rows of dead civilians laid out on the ground and a burnt market street, captioned as Viet Cong attacks, as issued. This object is shown as it was published. [Why](https://propagandaarchive.org/about/#as-it-was) [![GVN Make Efforts To Improve People's Life, VC Continue to Destroy and Kill, 1966 US poster: A portrait sheet under](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/gvn-improve-peoples-life-vc-destroy-1966.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/gvn-improve-peoples-life-vc-destroy-1966.jpg) # GVN Make Efforts To Improve People's Life, VC Continue to Destroy and Kill (Ai bạn? Ai thù?) A portrait sheet under the headline 'Who is friend? Who is enemy?' pairs photographs of seed-rice distribution, a mobile clinic and aid to refugees with photographs of a burnt market town, laid-out bodies and a protest march against the Viet Cong, and adds a verse 'The Reality of Communism.' The tell is the paired columns of government help and Viet Cong harm, with the verse naming communists as 'the enemy' and no government-caused harm shown. ## Propaganda techniques used in this poster [Scapegoating](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/scapegoating/) [Card stacking](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/card-stacking/) [Fear appeal](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/fear-appeal/) ## Text on the object Original (Vietnamese) · read from the image, not independently checked ``` AI BẠN ? CHÍNH QUYỀN QUỐC GIA NỖ LỰC CẢI TIẾN ĐỜI SỐNG NHÂN DÂN VÀI HÌNH ẢNH TẠI KIẾN-HÒA VIỆT CỘNG KHÔNG NGỪNG PHÁ HOẠI, GIẾT CHÓC AI THÙ ? [Banner:] LỄ CẤP PHÁT LÚA GIỐNG CHO NÔNG DÂN CÁC ẤP TÂN SINH Chính Quyền giúp đỡ nông dân lúa giống để làm mùa 1965-1966 hầu tăng năng suất và tăng lợi tức. Cảnh điêu tàn xơ xác của phố chợ xã Quới Thành, Quận Hàm Long sau khi Việt Cộng về đốt phá trong đêm 27-12-1964 Những đoàn y tế lưu động thường đến tận các xã, ấp trong tỉnh để săn sóc sức khoẻ của đồng bào. THỰC CHẤT CỦA CỘNG-SẢN Cộng sản là lũ côn đồ Chúng từ ngoài Bắc lên vô trong này Giết người, cướp của đêm ngày Làm cho đời sống dân cày điêu linh Miệng thì la hết hòa bình Tay cầm dao nhọn chỉ rình đâm ta Chúng từng phá hoại quốc gia Mưu đem nước Việt dâng Nga cống Tàu Thật là một lũ đầu trâu Vừa nhanh ăn cướp vừa mau la làng Dân ta đã hiểu rõ ràng Cộng-sản là lũ sài lang hại nòi Quyết tâm diệt hết những loài Cộng nô. Cộng sản miệng nói hòa bình Mà trong tâm địa chúng thành quỉ ma Từ khi nước Việt chia ra Chúng dâng miền Bắc Nga Hoa chiếm rồi Gần đây một lũ hại nòi Lại vô Nam cướp, giết người Quốc-Gia Phanh thây em nhỏ, cụ già Cướp tiền, đoạt lúa, đốt nhà nhân dân Bề ngoài chúng hết rần rần Hòa bình giả tạo lừa dân nước mình Toàn dân nước Việt trưởng thành Quyết không để lũ gian manh bịp lừa Dại nghe theo điệu hòa bình Là mình mua xích buộc mình ai ơi ! Cộng sản nó chiếm được rồi Nước dâng Tàu Cộng cuộc đời còn chi Đồng bào cảnh giác nghĩ suy Không nghe những bọn chuyên đi bịp đời Yêu Tổ quốc, yêu giống nòi Dân ta quyết diệt hết loài Cộng nô. Các đồng bào lánh nạn Cộng Sản được Chính Quyền đón tiếp và nhiệt tình giúp đỡ mọi phương tiện để an cư lạc nghiệp tại nơi cư ngụ mới. Đốt phá không chưa đủ, Việt Cộng còn gây những cảnh tang tóc đau thương như tại Quận lỵ Ba Tri đêm 26-1-1965 sau cuộc pháo kích. [Placard:] VIỆT CỘNG GIẾT ĐEN MẠNG HAI ANH TRẦN VĂN TUỞI VÀ LƯƠNG VĂN ĐẮC Đồng bào xã Thạnh Phú tự động hợp mết tinh lên án tội ác Việt Cộng. ``` English translation (machine translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader) ``` WHO IS A FRIEND? THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT STRIVES TO IMPROVE THE PEOPLE'S LIFE A FEW PICTURES FROM KIEN HOA THE VIET CONG NEVER STOP DESTROYING AND KILLING WHO IS THE ENEMY? [Banner:] CEREMONY DISTRIBUTING SEED RICE TO FARMERS OF THE NEW-LIFE HAMLETS The Government helps farmers with seed rice for the 1965-1966 season to raise productivity and income. The ruined, wrecked scene of the market street of Quới Thành village, Hàm Long district, after the Viet Cong came to burn and destroy on the night of 27-12-1964. Mobile medical teams often go all the way to the villages and hamlets of the province to look after the health of the people. THE REALITY OF COMMUNISM The communists are a band of thugs They came from the North into the South Killing people, plundering day and night Bringing the farmers' lives to misery Their mouths cry peace Their hands hold sharp knives, lying in wait to stab us They have wrecked the nation Plotting to hand Vietnam to Russia as tribute to China Truly a pack of buffaloes' heads Quick to rob and quick to cry thief Our people now understand clearly The communists are wolves who harm the race We are resolved to wipe out the communist slaves. The communists speak of peace But in their hearts they have become demons Since Vietnam was divided They handed the North to Russia and China to occupy Recently a band harming the race Came South again to rob and kill Nationalists Hacking up small children and old people Robbing money, seizing rice, burning the people's houses Outwardly they make a great stir A false peace to deceive our countrymen The whole grown-up Vietnamese people Are resolved not to let the cheats deceive them Foolishly following the peace tune Is buying chains to bind ourselves, my friends! Once the communists have taken it The country is given to Red China, what is left of life? Countrymen, be vigilant and think Do not listen to the professional swindlers Love the homeland, love the race We are resolved to wipe out the communist slaves. Countrymen who fled communism are received by the Government and warmly helped by every means to settle and make a living in their new homes. Burning and destroying are not enough: the Viet Cong also cause scenes of mourning and sorrow, as at the Ba Tri district town on the night of 26-1-1965 after the shelling. [Placard:] THE VIET CONG KILLED [two men named] TRẦN VĂN TUỞI AND LƯƠNG VĂN ĐẮC The people of Thạnh Phú village spontaneously gathered in a rally to condemn the Viet Cong's crimes. ``` The verse is a loose Vietnamese poem; the translation is literal but poetic idiom (for example 'đầu trâu', 'buffaloes' heads') is rendered word for word. The placard in the last photograph is partly hard to read at this resolution; the wording of its first line is approximate. [← GVN Assistance Brings Confidence to the Rural Population of Gia Dinh Province](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/gva-assistance-gia-dinh-rural-population-1966/) [Hàn Việt cộng tác xây dựng đất nước (Koreans and Vietnamese Work Together to Build the Nation) →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/han-viet-cong-tac-xay-dung-dat-nuoc-1966/) ## More propaganda examples that use the same techniques - [Der Warner (broadsheet lampoon on the Jesuits after Breitenfeld and Rain)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/der-warner-anti-jesuit-broadsheet-1632/) (Holy Roman Empire · 1632 · Scapegoating, Fear appeal) - [Ondersoeckt de Geesten, ofse van den Duyvel syn, of niet (the De Witt brothers as devils)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/ondersoeckt-de-geesten-de-witt-devils-1672/) (Dutch Republic · 1672 · Scapegoating, Name-calling) - [Proclamation de Sonthonax en créole, Cap-Français (Proclamation of Commissioner Sonthonax in Creole)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/sonthonax-proclamation-creole-1793/) (France · Aug 29, 1793 · Fear appeal, Scapegoating). Content note: Colonial-era proclamation on slavery and emancipation in Saint-Domingue; speaks of slaves, whips and 'Nègues' in period terms. - ["Old Jack, the famous New Orleans mouser" (pro-Jackson print, 1832)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/old-jack-mouser-bank-clay-rats-1832/) (United States · 1832 · Name-calling, Scapegoating) - [Proclamation by the Queen in Council, to the Princes, Chiefs, and People of India (printed sheet, Allahabad, 1 November 1858)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/queens-proclamation-to-the-people-of-india-1858/) (British India · Nov 1, 1858 · Glittering generalities, Scapegoating) - [Union and liberty! And union and slavery!](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/union-and-liberty-1864/) (United States · 1864 · Scapegoating, Fear appeal) - [The Great November Contest. Patriotism versus Bummerism](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/great-november-contest-bummerism-1868/) (United States · 1868 · Fear appeal, Scapegoating, Name-calling). Content note: 1868 print with a racial slur, racist caricature and dialect; the Library of Congress describes it as strongly racist. - [You must make your choice. Birds of a feather flock together](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/miller-birds-of-a-feather-1872/) (United States · 1872 · Transfer, Scapegoating)