Content note: Photograph of the body of a Buddhist monk with visible wounds, captioned as issued as murdered by the Viet Cong in Vinh Binh Province. This object is shown as it was published. Why
The Viet Cong Attack Religious Leaders, Destroy Pagodas and Churches
An English-language sheet carries a photograph of a dead Buddhist monk, captioned as murdered by the Viet Cong in Vinh Binh Province, above a photograph of seated monks at the Tra Dieu Temple beneath banners condemning the killing. The headline generalises from one named incident to 'religious leaders', 'pagodas and churches', and pairs a graphic image with a crowd of the victim's co-religionists protesting.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1965
- Period
- Cold War
- Made by
- Joint U.S. Public Affairs Office (JUSPAO) psychological-operations output, as placed by the National Archives series; no issuing body printed on the sheet
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- State
- Regime
- Johnson Administration
- Leader
- Lyndon B. Johnson
- Audience
- Foreign public
- Purpose
- Demonize
- Themes
- War and the military, Religion
- Event
- Vietnam War
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- 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). National Archives and Records Administration, 306-VP-011-30.
Text on the object
THE VIET CONG ATTACK RELIGIOUS LEADERS, DESTROY PAGODAS AND CHURCHES. BUDDHIST MONK OF TRA DIEU TEMPLE MURDERED BY VIET CONG IN VINH BINH PROVINCE. Banner (Vietnamese): CỰC LỰC LÊN ÁN BỌN VIỆT CỘNG SÁT HẠI SƯ SÃI SƠN THƯƠNG TẠI CHÙA TRÀ ĐIỀU Banner (left): [Khmer text, not transcribed] Banner (right edge): [partial text in a non-Latin script, not transcribed] Monks of the Tra Dieu Temple protest the murder of their colleague. Their banner reads: STRONGLY CONDEMN THE VIET CONG FOR HAVING KILLED THE MONKS AND NUNS OF TRA DIEU PAGODA.
Banner (Vietnamese), literal: STRONGLY CONDEMN THE VIET CONG BAND WHO KILLED THE MONKS [Sơn Thương, as printed] AT TRÀ ĐIỀU PAGODA. The English text is as printed.
