Vietnam Research Exercise: Hannah Belden

The Use of Psychological Warfare and Propaganda in Vietnam
Psychological warfare was first used in Ancient Greece by Alexander the Great, but it hadn't been used nearly as heavily or as advanced in any war leading up to Vietnam.  Psychological Operations (PSYOP) is an organization through the US government that chooses selected audiences (usually the enemies) and uses different psychological tactics, such as sight and sound, to play on their emotions, senses, behavior, reasoning, and motives.  This can be done through leaflets and posters, television, radio, and/or in person contact.  For this to work though, planned propaganda must be used.  This is done by doing intensive research on the enemy and knowing their vulnerabilities, what makes them feel safe, and what they fear inside and out.  These are then used to make the enemy soldiers perform a specific action that will be beneficial for the government employing the psychological warfare.  It is important to note, that this type of warfare can be just as effective of a weapon as traditional warfare tactics, without the use of bloodshed.
North Vietnam spread propaganda to the American troops urging them to give up on the war through radio broadcast shows, such as "Hanoi Hannah", where pro- VC messages were mixed in with soothing music.  The US soldiers also handed out leaflets to wounded VC soldiers saying if they surrendered they would be given full medical treatment and safety from the US soldiers.  They also would drop leaflets from planes depicting a dead VC soldier on them laying on the battlefield, unburied, with the caption "Will you be next?" on them? They even used had to coerce the Vietnamese enemies to sign the peace treaty through psychological threats of air strikes and bombings.  But, probably the most shocking and one of the most well known PSYOP campaign was created by the US and used on the VC, called The Wandering Soul.
This operation was used against the Viet Cong soldiers and it had some of the most lasting effects on the soldiers.  The US played on the deep rooted Vietnamese belief in the wandering souls and was able to use it to scare opposing troops.  The VC believe that if someone dies on land that is not their homeland (North Vietnam), then their soul will never be able to rest and will wander around forever looking for it's "home".  The US troops set up speakers in bushes and broadcasted different audio clips from airplanes and played different audio tapes around VC troops, mostly at nighttime.  Some included music and children laughing, but many of them played the audio of the "wandering spirits" talking and haunting the soldiers because they could not peacefully be laid to rest.  Some of the audio included them crying and moaning, and others included their wives and children asking where they had gone, and why they were not home yet.  This scared the VC soldiers greatly because for all they knew, they could be one of these soldiers next.
I was able to get most of my information from: http://www.psywarrior.com/VietnamOBPSYOP

A plane dropping propaganda leaflets onto opposing troops