Having Fish for Food Without Paying for It!

A three-photograph sheet reports that villagers of Buon Ale B in the Central Highlands dug a fish pond after the Ban Me Thuot fish hatchery encouraged them, that a release ceremony was attended by the province chief and Vietnamese and American guests, and that on 12 November 1966 the village headman handed each of more than 100 families a fresh fish, nearly 100 kilos in all. The headline promises fish 'without paying for it'. The tell is the dated, counted hand-out presented as the reward for following the government's advice.

Propaganda techniques used in this poster

Testimonial Card stacking

Date: 1966
Period: Cold War
Made by: Joint U.S. Public Affairs Office (JUSPAO) printing section, Saigon, for the South Vietnamese government
Region: North America
Country: United States
Medium: Poster
Issuer type: State
Regime: Johnson Administration
Leader: Lyndon B. Johnson
Audience: Domestic public
Purpose: Persuade or win support
Themes: Economy and finance, Home front
Event: Vietnam War
Source: Unidentified Source blurred: contractors, cutouts, buried disclosure
Source: U.S. National Archives (NARA), RG 306, Psychological Warfare Posters, Vietnam War (NAID 561393), retrieved October 3, 2026
Rights: NARA Unrestricted; hosted by owner decision
Joint U.S. Public Affairs Office (JUSPAO) printing section, Saigon, for the South Vietnamese government. National Archives and Records Administration, 306-VP-7-1635.

Text on the object

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

Vào thượng tuần tháng tư năm 1966, đồng bào buôn ALÊ B, hưởng ứng lời khuyến khích của trại cá giống Banmêthuột, đã tự động khởi công đào ao nuôi cá ....
[Rhade text, not transcribed]

NUÔI CÁ ĐÃ GIÚP GÌ CHO ĐỜI SỐNG ĐỒNG BÀO THƯỢNG ?
[Rhade headline, not transcribed]

Sau gần 30 ngày làm việc, ao cá đã hoàn thành. Buổi lễ thả cá được Trung-Tá Tỉnh-trưởng đặc biệt đến chủ tọa, cùng với đông quan khách Việt-Mỹ. Đồng bào tin tưởng sự thành công của mình và hy-vọng...
[Rhade text, not transcribed]

ĐƯỢC CÓ CÁ TƯƠI ĂN MÀ KHÔNG MẤT TIỀN MUA.
[Rhade headline, not transcribed]

Và hy-vọng đã đến, hồi 9g00 ngày 12-11-66 đồng bào tề tựu để nhận thấy thành quả của mình. Chính tay ông chủ làng trao cho mỗi người một con cá tươi vừa lưới ở ao lên. Số cá phân phát cho trên 100 gia đình trong ấp, cân nặng gần 100 kí-lô.
[Rhade text, not transcribed]

SP-1635

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

WHAT HAS FISH FARMING DONE FOR THE LIFE OF THE HIGHLAND PEOPLE?

In the first ten days of April 1966, the people of Buon Ale B, answering the encouragement of the Ban Me Thuot fish hatchery, voluntarily began digging a fish-raising pond ....

After almost 30 days of work the fish pond was finished. The fish-release ceremony was specially presided over by the Lieutenant-Colonel Province Chief, together with many Vietnamese and American guests. The people believe in their own success and hope...

HAVING FRESH FISH TO EAT WITHOUT PAYING FOR IT.

And the hoped-for day came: at 9:00 on 12-11-66 the people gathered to see the result of their work. The village headman himself handed each person a fresh fish just netted from the pond. The fish distributed to more than 100 families in the hamlet weighed nearly 100 kilograms.

SP-1635

Highland-language parallel text (Latin script) is not read by FRAME and is marked as not transcribed, so the translation covers the Vietnamese only.