UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIAL

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 05013677
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: March 9, 2023
• Document Release Date: December 14, 2021
• Case Number: F-2019-00574
• Publication Date: March 5, 1973

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&NTIRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20505
OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR
5 March 1973
MEMORANDUM FOR: Dr. Henry A. Kissinger
Assistant to the President for
National Security Affairs
SUBJECT : Unsolicited Testimonial
?S-
1. As you will recall, shortly after the President's 17 May 1972
instructions that the overall U.S. propaganda/psychological warfare
effort against North Vietnam should be overhauled, intensified and
improved, we established -- in conjunction with ARVN's General
Political Warfare Directorate (GPWD) -- a new radio program beamed
at the north and known as "Channel 11." or "Mother Vietnam." The
program was and is built around a particular female announcer,
whose real name is Hien but has herself virtually become "Mother."
2. Ever since this program was started (on 1 June 1972),
it has shown signs of tweaking tender chords within the Party
structure. It has been sharply attackec3. in Nhan Dan and apparently
has generated a fairly broad, and faithful, audience within North
Vietnam and the NVA. We have just received another unsolicited
testimonial to this program's impact from sources within North Yietnam.
3. According to a GPWD memorandum sent to our 'Saigon
Station on 2 March, on Sunday, 13 February, three ARVN officers
accompanied the Four-Party Joint Military Commission to Hanoi to
witness the release of a group of U .S. POWs. These three (all born
in North Vietnam) were the first ARVN officers to see Hanoi since
1954. Among the three was -a Lieutenant Duong-Phuc, a correspondent
of the South Vietnamese equivalent of our Armed Forces (Radio)
Network. When Communist Party cadre saw Lieutenant Duong-Phuc
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speak into his tape recorder about what he was witnessing in Hanoi,
the cadre realized Lieutenant Duong-Phuc was a correspondent for
the ARyN radio. The cadre then began asking Lieutenant Duong-Phuc
about the "Mother Vietnam Program." Even though the ARVN Lieutenant
professed ignorance about the program, "two Communist cadre of
Hanoi Radio," as the 2 March GPWD memorandum put it, "revealed
to him the following opinions as if to burden all their anger on him."
The GPWD memorarxitim goes on to recount:
The Communist soldiers disclosed the following:
"1) The power of Mother Vietnam program
is very strong, it can be heard very clearly and
its reception is very easy.
"2) Miss Hien, the announcer of Mother
Vietnam program is very well-known to cadre
of Hanoi Radio.
"3) Miss Hien's voice is very gentle and
affectionate (in contrast to the hostile, sour
voice of the Hanoi Radio announcers).
"4) The substance of Mother Vietnam
program is very reactionary, the people
wouldn't listen to it even if they are allowed
to (in reality, all foreign radios are
forbidden to the NVN people except for
Hanoi, Liberation, Moscow and Peking radios
"5) Everyday, the cadre of Radio Hanoi
have to tape the whole of Mother Vietnam program
then type it out and submit it to the Vietnam
Lao-Dong Central Party.
"Through the above revelations, we can conclude that
Mother Vietnam program has become a headache for the Hanoi
CommUnist authorities. It is certain that this program has
created a pretty favorable impression in NVN, therefore
-2-
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Hanoi had to order its cadre to follow closely Mother
Vietnam program everyday and never hesitate to attack it
as Hanoi regards Mother Vietnam program as reactionary
aid is harmful to the morale and psychology of the NVN
people."
4. Even allowing for a little hyperbole on the part of the GPWD,
the fact remains that such a spontaneous tirade from two members of
the Hanoi Radio staff is quite a testimonial to Channel Ilts impact.
James R. Schlesinger
Director
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VIETNAMESE AFFAIRS STAFF
OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR OF CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE
DATE: 5 March 1973
TOThe Director
:
FRcyvcACarver, Jr.
SUBJECT:
REMARKS:
'Bill Colby and I were chatting after the
5 March Morning Meeting and jointly
thought you might find it useful to forward
something along the lines of the attached
memorandum. The President's 17 May
instructions were quite tart and explicit.
(To be blunt, he blew a fuse --
justifiably -- over the poor state of the
overall U.S. Government psychological
warfare effort against North Vietnam.)
The attached discusses a step taken in
direct response to the President's wishes,
a step that seems to have worked along
the lines he directed.
Geo ge A. Carver, Jr.
Special Assistant for Vietnamese Affairs
Attachment
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