Ho Chi Minh City Journal; Hanoi Hannah Looks Back, With Few Regrets - New York Times
2
16/10/2013 Ho Chi Mi nh Ci ty Journal ; Hanoi Hannah Look s Back , Wi th Few Regrets - New York Ti mes w ww.nytimes.com/1 994/1 1/26/world/ho-chi-minh-cit y -journal-hanoi-hannah-looks-back -with-fe w -regrets .html?pagew ante d=print& src=pm 1/2 Ho Chi Minh City Journal; Hanoi Hannah Looks Back, With Few Regrets By PHILIP SHENON Published: November 26, 1994 Not many calling cards list an alias, but even in Vietnam few people would know this slight, elegant 65-year-old woman by her real name, Trinh Thi Ngo. The alias -- Thu Huong -- means Autumn Fragrance, the name she first used as an English-language radio announcer in the 1950's because it was easier for her non-Vietnamese listener s to prono unce. "Fewer syllables ," she said in the clear, nearly accentless English that helped her become a legend. And even that is not the name that milli ons of American v eterans would recognize. For a generation of American troops at war in Indochina, Mrs. Ngo was Hanoi Hannah, the silky-voiced announcer on North Vietnamese radio, the Voice of Vietnam, who tried to convince American G.I.'s that the war was immoral, that they should lay down their arms and go home. "My work was to make the G.I.'s understand that it was not right for them to take part in this war," she said. "I talk to them about the traditions of the Vietnamese, to resist aggression. I want them to know the truth about this war and to do a little bit to demoralize them so that they will refuse to fight." It was the Americans who dubbed her Hanoi Hannah, the Vietnam War's counterpart to Tokyo Rose. "I only heard the name later," said Mrs . Ngo, wh ose pro paganda broadcasts to American troops l asted from 1965 until the Am ericans left in humiliation a decade later. "Hanoi begins with an H; Hannah begins with an H," she said. "The Americans like nicknames." After Saigon was overrun in 1975 a nd renamed for Ho Chi Minh, she m oved here with her h usband, a southerner who ha d been sympathetic to the Com munists since student days. He is a retire d engineer, wh ile she still works in broadcasting, now at Vietnamese television. Their home today is a simple, spo tles s apartment a few blocks from w hat used to be South Vietnam's President ial Palace - - the "den of the puppets," as it was called by the North Vietnamese propagandists during the war. Reared in Hanoi during the French occupation, Mrs. Ngo was sent to private tutors in the early 1950's to study English, a language that Hollywood had made her eager to learn. "I always preferred American movies to French films," she said. "The French talked too much. There was more action in American movies. I remember 'Gone With the Wind' with Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh. It was so popular in Hanoi. I remember we took bread and sausages with us to the theater because it was such a long film." Mrs. Ngo joined the Voice of Vietnam in 1955, the year after the Communists under Ho Chi Minh ousted the French and took power in Hanoi after years in the jungle. She was selected as an announcer on the radio's new English-language shortwave service, which was beamed overseas. "I wanted to join the Voice of Vietnam because it was a good opportunity to help my country," she said, holding a silver-framed photograph that showed the staff of the Voice of Vietnam at a reception in 1967 with Ho Chi Minh and Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap, the army commander. "I was not political. I was patriotic." Her work did not take an anti-American turn until 1965, when the first American ground troops landed in Vietnam and the Hanoi Government decided to begin special broadcasts to them. Using scripts prepared by the North Vietnamese Army, Mrs. Ngo said, she was never tempted to alter a word, no matter how strident the tone. "I agreed with these scripts," she said. "We were trying to make the Americans understand that it was not right for them to be in Vietnam, that they were an aggressor, that this was a problem for the Vietnamese to sort out." Her 30-minute programs, which were repeated several times a day, were not known for their subtlety. Mrs. Ngo announced the names of the American troops who died in batt le the previous month. "We wanted to make them a little bit sad," she said. She also read clippings from American newspapers and magazines about anti-war demonstrations in the United States -- "we thought if we used the American magazines, it would be more convincing" -- to remind the troops of how unpopular the war was back home. Mrs. Ngo said her goal was always to project a soothing, convincing voice. She said she never felt aggression toward Americans as a people "except during the bombing" -- the 1972 Christmas bombing of Hanoi, when she and her staff were evacuated to a remote station 20 miles from the ca pital . "When the bombs came, I did feel angry," she said. "To the Vietnamese, Hanoi is sacred ground. But even then, when I spoke to the G.I.'s I tried always to be calm." And if she did once feel anger towa rd the United St ates, Mrs. Ngo insis ts that she put it behind her years ago. Like many northern Vietnamese, she expres ses li ttle but fascination tod ay f or the land of her former enemy , and she hopes somed ay to v isit "New Y ork, Washington, many places." Her enthusiasm for things Am erican also extended to music, she said. To entice the American troops to tune in to h er show, the prop aganda was World
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Transcript of Ho Chi Minh City Journal; Hanoi Hannah Looks Back, With Few Regrets - New York Times
7/27/2019 Ho Chi Minh City Journal; Hanoi Hannah Looks Back, With Few Regrets - New York Times
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16/10/2013 Ho Chi Minh City Journal; Hanoi Hannah Looks Back, With Few Reg rets - New York Times
www.nytimes.com/1994/11/26/world/ho-chi-minh-city-journal-hanoi-hannah-looks-back-with-few-regrets.html?pagewanted=print&src=pm 1/2
Ho Chi Minh City Journal; Hanoi Hannah Looks Back, With Few RegretsBy PHILIP SHENON
Published: November 26, 1994
Not many calling cards list an alias, but even in Vietnam few people would know this slight, elegant 65-year-old woman by her real name, Trinh
Thi Ngo.
The alias -- Thu Huong -- means Autumn Fragrance, the name she first used as an English-language radio announcer in the 1950's because it
was easier for her non-Vietnamese listeners to pronounce.
"Fewer syllables," she said in the clear, nearly accentless English that helped her become a legend. And even that is not the name that millions of
American veterans would recognize.
For a generation of American troops at war in Indochina, Mrs. Ngo was Hanoi Hannah, the silky-voiced announcer on North Vietnamese radio,
the Voice of Vietnam, who tried to convince American G.I.'s that the war was immoral, that they should lay down their arms and go home.
"My work was to make the G.I.'s understand that it was not right for them to take part in this war," she said. "I talk to them about the traditions
of the Vietnamese, to resist aggression. I want them to know the truth about this war and to do a little bit to demoralize them so that they will
refuse to fight."
It was the Americans who dubbed her Hanoi Hannah, the Vietnam War's counterpart to Tokyo Rose.
"I only heard the name later," said Mrs. Ngo, whose propaganda broadcasts to American troops lasted from 1965 until the Am ericans left in
humiliation a decade later. "Hanoi begins with an H; Hannah begins with an H," she said. "The Americans like nicknames."
After Saigon was overrun in 1975 and renamed for Ho Chi Minh, she m oved here with her husband, a southerner who had been sympathetic to
the Communists since student days. He is a retired engineer, while she still works in broadcasting, now at Vietnamese television.
Their home today is a simple, spotless apartment a few blocks from what used to be South Vietnam's Presidential Palace -- the "den of the
puppets," as it was called by the North Vietnamese propagandists during the war.
Reared in Hanoi during the French occupation, Mrs. Ngo was sent to private tutors in the early 1950's to study English, a language that
Hollywood had made her eager to learn.
"I always preferred American movies to French films," she said. "The French talked too much. There was more action in American movies. I
remember 'Gone With the Wind' with Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh. It was so popular in Hanoi. I remember we took bread and sausages with
us to the theater because it was such a long film."Mrs. Ngo joined the Voice of Vietnam in 1955, the year after the Communists under Ho Chi Minh ousted the French and took power in Hanoi
after years in the jungle. She was selected as an announcer on the radio's new English-language shortwave service, which was beamed overseas.
"I wanted to join the Voice of Vietnam because it was a good opportunity to help my country," she said, holding a silver-framed photograph that
showed the staff of the Voice of Vietnam at a reception in 1967 with Ho Chi Minh and Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap, the army commander.
"I was not political. I was patriotic."
Her work did not take an anti-American turn until 1965, when the first American ground troops landed in Vietnam and the Hanoi Government
decided to begin special broadcasts to them. Using scripts prepared by the North Vietnamese Army, Mrs. Ngo said, she was never tempted to
alter a word, no matter how strident the tone.
"I agreed with these scripts," she said. "We were trying to make the Americans understand that it was not right for them to be in Vietnam, that
they were an aggressor, that this was a problem for the Vietnamese to sort out."
Her 30-minute programs, which were repeated several times a day, were not known for their subtlety. Mrs. Ngo announced the names of the
American troops who died in battle the previous month.
"We wanted to make them a little bit sad," she said.
She also read clippings from American newspapers and magazines about anti-war demonstrations in the United States -- "we thought if we used
the American magazines, it would be more convincing" -- to remind the troops of how unpopular the war was back home.
Mrs. Ngo said her goal was always to project a soothing, convincing voice. She said she never felt aggression toward Americans as a people
"except during the bombing" -- the 1972 Christmas bombing of Hanoi, when she and her staff were evacuated to a remote station 20 miles from
the capital.
"When the bombs came, I did feel angry," she said. "To the Vietnamese, Hanoi is sacred ground. But even then, when I spoke to the G.I.'s I tried
always to be calm."
And if she did once feel anger toward the United States, Mrs. Ngo insists that she put it behind her years ago. Like many northern Vietnamese,
she expresses little but fascination today for the land of her former enemy , and she hopes someday to v isit "New Y ork, Washington, many
places."
Her enthusiasm for things American also extended to music, she said. To entice the American troops to tune in to her show, the propaganda was
World
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www.nytimes.com/1994/11/26/world/ho-chi-minh-city-journal-hanoi-hannah-looks-back-with-few-regrets.html?pagewanted=print&src=pm 2/2
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intercut with m usic from records and tapes taken to Hanoi by v isiting anti-w ar protesters from abroad.
"We had Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and I always liked Elvis Presley," she said. "He's 'the King,' yes?"
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