Content note: Photographs show a funeral procession and open coffins of a priest and two boys killed in February 1966, and a crowd of protesters with raised fists, as issued. This object is shown as it was published. Why

The People Protest Against the Viet Cong

A poster (code SP-1040) says that on the morning of 20 February 1966 the Viet Cong killed Father Louis Valour as he went to Mass at Cam Hoa, along with two parishioners. Photographs show a rain-cloaked crowd with a banner asking who killed the clergy, a funeral procession and a Quang Tri province chief reading a eulogy at the coffins. A named killing is joined to mass protest imagery, so the sheet works as outrage-bait and as a show of public consensus.

Propaganda techniques used in this poster

Outrage bait Manufactured consensus

Date: 1966
Period: Cold War
Made by: Joint U.S. Public Affairs Office (JUSPAO) printing section, for the South Vietnamese government, for the South Vietnamese government
Region: North America
Country: United States
Medium: Poster
Issuer type: State
Regime: Johnson Administration
Leader: Lyndon B. Johnson
Audience: Mixed
Purpose: Demonize
Themes: War and the military, Religion
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, for the South Vietnamese government, for the South Vietnamese government. National Archives and Records Administration, 306-VP-5-1040.

Text on the object

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

DÂN CHÚNG PHẢN ĐỐI VIỆT CỘNG

SÁNG NGÀY 20—2—1966, VIỆT CỘNG ĐÃ GIỰT MÌNH SÁT HẠI LINH MỤC LOUIS VALOUR KHI ÔNG ĐANG ĐI HÀNH LỄ TẠI CAM HÒA; CÙNG ĐI VỚI LINH MỤC CÓ HAI GIÁO DÂN, TẤT CẢ ĐỀU TỬ NẠN.

SP-1040

ĐỒNG BÀO QUẬN CAM LỘ VÔ CÙNG PHẪN UẤT TRƯỚC HÀNH ĐỘNG VIỆT CỘNG SÁT HẠI CÁC VỊ TU HÀNH.

ĐÁM TANG LINH MỤC VÀ HAI GIÁO DÂN NGUYỄN VĂN THIỆN 12 TUỔI VÀ NGUYỄN CẬN 11 TUỔI ĐƯỢC CỬ HÀNH TRỌNG THỂ TRƯỚC SỰ LUYẾN TIẾC CỦA CÁC GIỚI ĐỒNG BÀO.

ÔNG TỈNH TRƯỞNG QUẢNG TRỊ ĐỌC ĐIẾU VĂN CHIA BUỒN CÙNG GIÁO DÂN ĐÔNG HÀ VÀ LÊN ÁN VIỆT CỘNG.

[banner in photograph, partly legible:] AI SÁT HẠI CÁC BÁC TU HÀNH ? VIỆT CỘNG

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

THE PEOPLE PROTEST AGAINST THE VIET CONG

On the morning of 20-2-1966, the Viet Cong stealthily murdered Father Louis Valour as he was going to Mass at Cam Hoa; with the priest were two parishioners, all of whom died.

SP-1040

The compatriots of Cam Lo district are extremely indignant at the Viet Cong action of murdering the clergy.

The funeral of the priest and the two parishioners, Nguyen Van Thien aged 12 and Nguyen Can aged 11, was held solemnly amid the grief of all circles of compatriots.

The Quang Tri Province Chief reads a eulogy of condolence to the Dong Ha parishioners and condemns the Viet Cong.

[banner in photograph, partly legible:] WHO MURDERED THE HOLY ONES? VIET CONG

The People Protest Against the Viet Cong

Propaganda techniques used in this poster

Text on the object

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