Content note: Two of the four photographs show the bodies of dead Viet Cong fighters, laid out on the ground, as issued. This object is shown as it was published. Why
Thừa-Thiên diệt Cộng (Thua Thien Destroys the Viet Cong, From January 1, 1965 to November 20, 1965)
A tall sheet under a red headline gives a ledger of enemy losses in Thua Thien province from 1 January to 20 November 1965 (1,317 killed, 342 captured alive, 352 surrendered, with captured weapons and 38 secret bunkers) beside four photographs. Two show dead men, one of them laid out in rows beside stacked rifles; one shows captured weapons; one shows a general pinning medals on soldiers. The tell is the tally and the bodies together: loss counts and corpses carry the claim of success, and the sheet offers no friendly losses.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1965
- 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
- Theme
- War and the military
- 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-2-948.
Text on the object
THỪA-THIÊN DIỆT CỘNG ( TỪ 1-1-65 ĐẾN 20-11-1965 ) TA GÂY TỔN THẤT CHO ĐỊCH : Chết : 1317 tên Bắt sống : 342 tên, 782 tên tình nghi Quy hàng : 352 tên TỊCH THU VŨ KHÍ : 1 đại bác không giật 75 ly của Trung-Cộng 10 súng cối 60 ly - 2 đại bác 57 ly 6 đại-liên - 12 trung liên 79 súng tiểu liên đủ loại 452 súng cá nhân Hàng trăm lựu đạn và hàng ngàn viên đạn đủ loại. QUẬT PHÁ : 38 hầm bí mật Nhiều cơ sở bị phát giác và tiêu diệt. Xác chết của bọn VC cùng với vũ khí của chúng tại trận đánh Quảng-Lợi. Xác Việt-Cộng tử thương tại chiến trường Nam-Hòa 17-11-1965. Chiến thắng Nam-Hòa đêm 17-11-1965, vũ khí tịch thu của Việt-Cộng. Trung-Tướng Nguyễn-Chánh-Thi, Tư-Lệnh Vùng 1 Chiến Thuật và Thiếu-Tướng Nguyễn-Văn-Chuẩn đích thân khen thưởng và gắn huy chương cho các chiến sĩ hữu công. SP-948
THUA THIEN DESTROYS THE COMMUNISTS ( FROM 1-1-65 TO 20-11-1965 ) WE INFLICTED LOSSES ON THE ENEMY: Killed: 1,317 [persons, 'tên'] Captured alive: 342, plus 782 suspects Surrendered: 352 WEAPONS SEIZED: 1 Chinese-Communist 75 mm recoilless gun 10 60 mm mortars - 2 57 mm guns 6 heavy machine guns - 12 light machine guns 79 submachine guns of various kinds 452 individual weapons Hundreds of grenades and thousands of rounds of various kinds. UNCOVERED: 38 secret bunkers Many bases discovered and destroyed. Bodies of the VC together with their weapons at the battle of Quang Loi. Bodies of dead Viet Cong at the Nam Hoa battlefield, 17-11-1965. Victory at Nam Hoa on the night of 17-11-1965, weapons seized from the Viet Cong. Lt. Gen. Nguyen Chanh Thi, Commander of I Corps Tactical Zone, and Maj. Gen. Nguyen Van Chuan personally commend and pin medals on the meritorious fighters. SP-948
'Tên' is a contemptuous counting word for people; rendered here as 'persons'. 'Diệt Cộng' is rendered 'destroys the Communists'; NARA translates it as 'destroys the Viet Cong'.
