Meaning of Compulsory Service poster 222 (Vietnamese poster distributed in Saigon)
A Vietnamese-language poster with a colour woodcut-style picture of a woman reaping rice and a smiling man seated beside a conical hat and teapot, above a verse dialogue. She asks him the difference between mobilisation (dong vien) and compulsory service (quan dich); he answers that service means a year of training for the nation's youth and then a return to one's trade, while mobilisation is for emergencies. The tell is plain folks: a farm-couple banter makes military service sound ordinary and brief.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- May 24, 1957
- Period
- Cold War
- Made by
- U.S. Information Agency (predecessor: State Department International Information and Educational Exchange Program), Propaganda Posters Distributed in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East series
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- State
- Regime
- Eisenhower Administration
- Leader
- Dwight D. Eisenhower
- Audience
- Foreign public
- Purpose
- Recruit
- Theme
- War and the military
- Event
- Cold War
- Source
- Unidentified Source blurred: contractors, cutouts, buried disclosure
- Source
- U.S. National Archives (NARA), Record Group 306, Posters in Asia, Latin America, Middle East, retrieved October 4, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (U.S. government work; NARA RG 306)
U.S. Information Agency / Department of State, May 24, 1957. National Archives, Record Group 306 (NAID 6949134, 306-PPB-222).
Text on the object
NỮ ĐỐ: Đố anh, anh giảng cho mau: « Động-Viên, Quân-Dịch khác nhau thế nào ? » Chàng mà giảng được thấp cao, Mới là xứng bậc anh hào thanh-niên. NAM ĐÁP: Quân-Dịch khác với Động-Viên, Quân-Dịch là giúp thanh-niên nước mình. Sớm hôm quân-sự tập tành, Để khi cần đến sẽ thành chiến-binh. Một năm nhiệm-vụ hoàn thành, Trở về tiếp tục nghề mình như xưa. Động-Viên là lúc nguy-cơ, Có quân xâm-lược cõi bờ tự-do. Gọi ra bảo-vệ cơ-đồ, Phải cần phục-vụ dưới cờ thật đông. NỮ: Khen chàng giảng giải đã thông, Em xin kết mối tơ-đồng từ đây.
WOMAN (posing a riddle): Riddle me this, and explain it quickly: how do mobilisation and compulsory service differ? If you can explain high and low, you will be worthy of the title of a hero among youth. MAN (answering): Compulsory service differs from mobilisation; compulsory service is to help the youth of our country. Morning and evening they practise soldiering, so that when needed they will become fighters. When the one-year duty is completed, they return to carry on their trade as before. Mobilisation is for times of danger, when an invading army threatens the free borders; those called out to defend the nation must serve in great numbers under the flag. WOMAN: I praise you, your explanation is complete; from here I ask to tie the bond of marriage.
No imprint or credit line is printed on the sheet. Translation is literal and approximate.
