---
title: Why should we help communists kill Americans?
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/mothers-crusade-help-communists-kill-americans-1966/
description: A full-page, newspaper-style advertisement headed "Why should we help communists kill Americans?" says Soviet-bloc weapons reach the Viet Cong and that…
section: Collection
---

[Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/)

[![Why should we help communists kill Americans?](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/mothers-crusade-help-communists-kill-americans-1966.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/mothers-crusade-help-communists-kill-americans-1966.jpg)

# Why should we help communists kill Americans?

A full-page, newspaper-style advertisement headed "Why should we help communists kill Americans?" says Soviet-bloc weapons reach the Viet Cong and that U.S. trade with communist countries "helps them avoid total economic collapse". It sets quotations from officials and press reports under bold-type claims, then closes with "If you think it right to help communists kill our sons, do nothing!" and a petition to cut out and mail.

- **Date:** 1966
- **Period:** [Cold War](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#era=cold-war)
- **Made by:** Mothers' Crusade for Victory over Communism (Mesa, Arizona)
- **Region:** [North America](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#region=north-america)
- **Country:** [United States](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#country=united-states)
- **Medium:** [Advertisement](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#medium=advertisement)
- **Issuer type:** [Movement](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#actor=movement)
- **Regime:** [Johnson Administration](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#regime=johnson-administration)
- **Leader:** [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#leader=lyndon-b-johnson)
- **Audience:** [Domestic public](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#audience=domestic-public)
- **Purpose:** [Mobilize or secure compliance](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#purpose=mobilize-comply)
- **Themes:** [War and the military](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#theme=war-military), [Economy and finance](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#theme=economy-finance)
- **Event:** [Vietnam War](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#event=vietnam-war)
- **Techniques:** [Card stacking](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/card-stacking/) [Fear appeal](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/fear-appeal/)
- **Source:** Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- **Source:** [Library of Congress](https://www.loc.gov/item/2016649205/), retrieved September 29, 2026
- **Rights:** U.S. publication without copyright notice; LoC: no known restrictions on publication Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print

## Text on the object

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

```
WHY SHOULD WE HELP COMMUNISTS KILL AMERICANS?
THE SOVIET UNION AND HER EAST EUROPEAN SATELLITES ARE SWORN TO OUR DEFEAT!!!
COMMUNIST NATIONS ARE PRODUCING WEAPONS AND SHIPPING THEM TO THE VIET CONG, TO KILL OUR SONS...
ALL COMMUNIST COUNTRIES ARE ON THE BRINK OF ECONOMIC COLLAPSE. WITHOUT THE SOVIET UNION, COMMUNIST CHINA COULD NOT EXIST. EVERY PRODUCT AMERICA SELLS OR GIVES TO COMMUNIST COUNTRIES HELPS THEM AVOID TOTAL ECONOMIC COLLAPSE, AND FREES MORE OF THEIR RESOURCES TO PRODUCE WEAPONS OF WAR TO KILL OUR SONS.
...WHY DOES THE UNITED STATES HELP THEM?

[Four columns of quoted statements, headed by a quotation attributed to President Johnson, State of the Union message, January 1965, with further dated attributions: [illegible]]

THE MOTHERS' CRUSADE FOR VICTORY OVER COMMUNISM
BELIEVES:
THAT THE GOVERNMENT OF THE U.S. AND HER ALLIES SHOULD IMMEDIATELY STOP HELPING THE ECONOMY OF ALL COMMUNIST NATIONS.
THAT WE CANNOT WIN BY SACRIFICING OUR SONS' LIVES BY FIGHTING COMMUNISM IN ONE AREA OF THE WORLD, WHILE GIVING AID, FOOD, AND TECHNICAL KNOW HOW TO THE COMMUNISTS IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD.
THAT VICTORY OVER COMMUNISM CAN BE WON ONLY BY ENDING TRADE WITH RUSSIA AND HER SATELLITE SLAVE STATES, INSURING THEIR ECONOMIC SUICIDE. COMMUNISM CAN BE DEFEATED WITHOUT FIRING ONE MORE SHOT, OR THE LOSS OF ONE MORE LIFE, IF THE CAPITALIST COUNTRIES WOULD ALLOW THE SOCIALIST COUNTRIES TO STRANGLE THEMSELVES.

IF YOU THINK IT RIGHT TO HELP COMMUNISTS KILL OUR SONS,
DO NOTHING!
OTHERWISE, WE RECOMMEND YOUR TAKING ONE OR ALL OF THE FOLLOWING ACTIONS AT ONCE:
1. CUT OUT THE PETITION ON THIS PAGE. TALK IT OVER WITH YOUR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS. ASK THEM TO SIGN IT. MAIL COMPLETED PETITIONS TO: MOTHERS' CRUSADE FOR VICTORY OVER COMMUNISM, P.O. BOX 943, MESA, ARIZONA 85201. THE ONLY SIGNATURE REQUIREMENT IS UNITED STATES CITIZENSHIP.
2. FORM A COMMITTEE IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD, TOWN, OR STATE, AND REPEAT THIS ADVERTISEMENT IN YOUR LOCAL NEWSPAPER.
3. WRITE THE PRESIDENT, SENATORS AND CONGRESSMEN, STATING YOUR PROTEST DIRECTLY.

[Petition to the United States House of Representatives, with signature grid, and officers' names: [illegible]]
```

Read from a 1024 px LoC scan with calibration bars in the margin. The four columns of quoted statements, the officers' names and the petition text are too small to read and are marked [illegible] rather than guessed; the headline and the sponsor's statement of belief are clear.

[← คอมมิวนิสต์ หรือ เสรีภาพ (Communism or Freedom), Thai-language poster no. II, religion panel](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/communism-or-freedom-thai-religion-1966/) [Chúng tôi đã rời bỏ hàng ngũ V.C... Các bạn còn chần chờ gì nữa? (We Left the VC Ranks... What Are You Still Waiting For?) →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/chieu-hoi-reunion-spring-1967/)

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