Vietnam Postal History During The Vietnam War

The 5th anniversary establishment of the National Liberation Front (Vietcong, NLF), issued by North Vietnam on December 20, 1965:

Both countries, North and South Vietnam, issued stamps on July 20, 1964 to mark the 10th anniversary of Geneva agreement which led to partition of Vietnam and to Vietnam War.

North Vietnam issued a set of two stamps, the second shows the flag of the Vietcong forces in South Vietnam:


South Vietnam issued a set of three identical design stamps:

The 20th anniversary of North Vietnamese national army, issued by North Vietnam on December 22, 1954:



The last two stamps were issued as se-tenant:

The following set was issued by North Vietnam on November 25, 1964 to publicize the "World Solidarity Conference" held in Hanoi in that year. Since the stamps have anti-US designs, I think they fit this thread:



The stamps were issued as se-tenant:

During the first and second Indochina wars, Ho Chi Minh made several important calls for national resistance and unity. These stamps, issued by North Vietnam on January 30, 1967, show famous quotations from HO Chi Minh calls. I used ChatGPT to translate them:

"We would rather sacrifice everything than lose our country, and we absolutely will not become slaves..." (Excerpt from the 1946 appeal by the President):

"Nothing is more precious than Independence and Freedom. ... Fellow countrymen and soldiers of the entire nation, courageously advance!" (Excerpt from the 1966 appeal by the President):

The second stamp reissued on April 25, 1968 in small format and four different colors:

To mark the 85th birth anniversary of President John F. Kennedy, Guinea issued on February 20, 2002 a souvenir sheet shows the famous news conferences of Kennedy held in the State Department, Washington, D.C. on March 23, 1961. In this conference, Kennedy made a brief statement about Laos and stated that the security of all Southeast Asia will be endangered if Laos loses its neutral independence in case it would completely fall to the communists.

Here is a photo taken in the conference:

the complete news conference:
https://www.jfklibrary.org/archives...conference-8

Correction:


I replaced one letter from one Vietnamese word in the slogan of the above stamp, and this mistake led to a bad translation. A Vietnamese philatelist corrected me and the correct translation is:
"175,000 enemy forces, including 85,000 Americans and vassal states [i.e. allies], were annihilated."

Nguyen Van Troi (1940-1964) was a Vietcong fighter captured when trying to assassinate US Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara and Ambassador Henry Lodge who were visiting South-Vietnam. Since Van Troi became the first executed fighter of the Vietcong, he became a symbol of the North Vietnamese campaign for Vietnam unification and of many leftist groups in the world.

Nguyen Van Troi, issued by North Vietnam on July 20, 1965 to commemorate the 11th anniversary of the Geneva agreement which led to partition of Vietnam and to Vietnam War.



First anniversary execution of Van Troi, stamp issued for use by the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam (Vietcong) on October 15, 1965:

The Vietcong stamp design based on this famous photo shows Van Troi execution:

First locomotive in North Vietnam Tu Luc (self-reliant) named after Nguyen Van Troi, issued by North Vietnam on March 23, 1964 to publicize the Transport Ministers' Congress held in Hanoi:

1963 South Vietnamese coup d'état

Ngo Dinh Diem (1901 – 1963) was a South Vietnamese politician who was the final prime minister of the State of Vietnam (1954–1955) and later the first president of South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) from 1955 until his assassination in 1963. Here are stamps of Diem issued in 1956:



The first anniversary of the coup d'état, issued by South Vietnam on November 1, 1964:

1963 South Vietnamese coup d'état

Second set commemorating the 1963 coup d'état against Ngo Dien Diem was issued by South Vietnam on November 1, 1966 to mark the 3rd anniversary of the event:

Liberation of Hanoi



The 10th anniversary of the liberation of Hanoi, issued by North Vietnam on October 10, 1964:


Victorious Viet Minh soldiers parade through the streets of Hanoi on October 9, 1954:

The Tet Offensive

The Tet Offensive was a major escalation and one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War. The Viet Cong (VC) and North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) launched a surprise attack on 30 January 1968 against the forces of the South Vietnamese Army (ARVN), the US Armed Forces and their allies. It was a campaign of surprise attacks against military and civilian command and control centers throughout South Vietnam. The name is the truncated version of the Lunar New Year festival name in Vietnamese, Tet Nguyen Dan, with the offense chosen during a holiday period as most ARVN personnel were on leave. The Tet Offensive is widely considered a military failure that resulted in great losses for the Vietcong who had expected the people of the South to rise up and join the fight with them. It was, however, a public relations victory for the Communists as the American public, under the impression victory was close at hand, became disillusioned, leading to the start of U.S. troop withdrawal.

Two sets of stamps about the Tet offensive were issued by South Vietnam during 1970:

Help for the victims of the Tet offensive, issued on January 31, 1970. The inscription on the stamps reads: "Victims of the Spring Offensive of the Year of the Monkey"


Rebuilding the cities damaged in the Tet offensive of 1968, issued on September 15, 1970:

The Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN; Vietnamese: Luc quan Viet Nam Cong hoa) composed the ground forces of the South Vietnamese military from its inception in 1955 to the Fall of Saigon in April 1975. At the ARVN's peak, an estimated 1 in 9 citizens of South Vietnam were enlisted, composed of Regular Forces and the more voluntary Regional Forces and the Popular Force militias. It is estimated to have suffered 1,394,000 casualties (killed and wounded) during the Vietnam War. (Wikipedia)

Armed Forces Day, issued by South Vietnam on June 19, 1971. Stamps were issued with tab with inscription "Happy Armed Forces Day":

During Vietnam War, many Communist countries issued stamps supporting North Vietnam. Cuba issued several sets to express its solidarity with the Vietnamese people. Here is one of them, issued on May 19, 1970 to commemorate Ho Chi Minh 80th birth anniversary:

The People's Self-Defense Force (Vietnamese: nhan-dan tu ve) was a South Vietnamese part-time village level militia during the Vietnam War. The People's Self-Defense Force mainly protected homes and villages from attacks by the Viet Cong (VC) and the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN).

People's Self-Defense Force, issued by South Vietnam on June 15, 1972:



Female members of the People's Self-Defense Force of Kien Dien, in Ben Cat District, Binh Duong Province (Wikipedia):