Radio Hanoi was a propaganda radio station run by the
North Vietnamese Army
The People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN; vi, Quân đội nhân dân Việt Nam, QĐNDVN), also recognized as the Vietnam People's Army (VPA) or the Vietnamese Army (), is the military force of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the armed win ...
during the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
. It originated in 1945, when it broadcast from
Hanoi
Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...
a week after the declaration of the
Democratic Republic of Vietnam
North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; vi, Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa), was a socialist state supported by the Soviet Union (USSR) and the People's Republic of China (PRC) in Southeast Asia that existed f ...
with the declaration "This is the Voice of Vietnam, broadcasting from Hanoi, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.". The station was noted for
Hanoi Hannah
Trịnh Thị Ngọ (; 1931 – 30 September 2016), also known as Thu Hương and Hanoi Hannah, was a Vietnamese radio personality best known for her work during the Vietnam War, when she made English-language broadcasts for North Vietnam dire ...
’s propaganda speeches, which were used to undermine American morale, such as when she correctly read out lists of names concerning a ship’s arrival. Her broadcasts ran for 8 years, ending when US forces left in 1973.
[Lamb, David (4 April 1998). "'Hanoi Hannah' Fondly Remembers Her Role". ]Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
. . Retrieved 4 October2016. The station was later merged with the NLF’s Liberation Radio to become the
Voice of Vietnam Station.
In September 1967, Radio Hanoi transmitted a message by General
Võ Nguyên Giáp
Võ Nguyên Giáp (; 25 August 1911 – 4 October 2013) was a Vietnamese general and communist politician who is regarded as having been one of the greatest military strategists of the 20th century. He served as interior minister in President ...
entitled "The Big Victory, The Great Task". Unbeknownst to Americans listening to the message, it was actually an outline to the upcoming
Tet Offensive
The Tet Offensive was a major escalation and one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War. It was launched on January 30, 1968 by forces of the Viet Cong (VC) and North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) against the forces o ...
(which occurred on January 30, 1968). In the message, Giap stated: "U.S. Generals are subjective and haughty, and have always been caught by surprise and defeated."
References
Radio stations in Vietnam
Vietnam War and the media
Defunct mass media in Vietnam
{{Asia-radio-station-stub