Vietnam Postal History During The Vietnam War

I searched the internet for R K Malott and found this...

http://www.aerophilately.ca/2020%20...iography.pdf

From this article, here is one paragraph:

"In 1973 Dick was volunteered to go to Vietnam, where he was part of the Canadian Delegation of the International Commission of Control and Supervision (CANDEL ICCS) at the end of the Vietnam War. While there he obtained hundreds of special military Vietnam cancels and Canadian postal markings. He was able to buy cigarettes at $1 a carton, and gave them to postal clerks who were happy to co-operate in the production of his covers."

Many thanks, Linus, for the additional information about Mallot and the link you provided. I will search in our society publications and see if there is more about Mallot.

I have complete collections of the Vietminh stamps and Vietcong stamps and now I try to complete my South Vietnam stamp collection (I have about 70%). In addition, I have different items like covers and FDC's from South Vietnam.

In the next post I will show my Vietminh collection:

League for the Independence of Vietnam

The League for the Independence of Vietnam, known as Viet Minh, was a national independence coalition formed by Ho Chi Minh on May 19, 1941, initially formed to seek independence for Vietnam from the French Empire.

During World War II, Japan occupied French Indochina. In late 1943, the Viet Minh forces, led by General Vo Nguyen Giap, began to infiltrate Vietnam to launch guerrilla operations against the Japanese. The Viet Minh forces liberated considerable portions of northern Vietnam. After the Japanese surrender to the Allies, Viet Minh units seized control of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh proclaimed the Democratic Republic of Vietnam on September 2, 1945. Negotiations between the French and Viet Minh broke down quickly. What followed was nearly ten years of war against France, known as the First Indochina War or, to the Vietnamese, the French War.

During the war, The Viet Minh took control over many rural areas of the country and began to advance towards the French occupied areas. Following their defeat at the Battle of Dien Biên Phu, in 1954, the French began negotiations to leave Indo-China. As a result of peace accords worked out at the Geneva Conference in Switzerland, Vietnam was divided into North Vietnam and South Vietnam until unifying elections could take place in 1956. Ho Chí Minh was appointed Prime Minister of North Vietnam, which would be run as a socialist state. Ngô Dình Diem, who was previously appointed Prime Minister of South Vietnam by Emperor Bao Dai, eventually assumed control of South Vietnam.

Some time after the declaration of independence, on September 2, 1945 and until December 1946, the new government overprinted several Indo-Chinese stamps for use by the Viet Minh forces and in their controlled area. The common overprinted inscriptions are "Viet-Nam Dân-Chu Công-Hoa" ("Democratic Republic of Viet Nam") and "Viet Nam - Doc lap – Tu do – Hanh phúc" (Viet Nam - Independence, Freedom, Happiness). Usually, the colony name INDOCHINE is covered by a black strip overprint. Several of these stamps were also surcharged by local currency. Since the process methods used to issue these stamps were relatively primitive, many varieties of these stamps are known like double overprint, inverted overprint, missing letters, etc.

Viet Minh Stamp Collection (I):

Viet Minh Stamp Collection (II):

Viet Minh Stamp Collection (III):

The Stamps of the National Liberation Front for South Vietnam, known as the Vietcong

During the Vietnam War, a communist guerrilla force began to form in South Vietnam. This force was formally established on December 12, 1960 and called the "National Liberation Front for South Vietnam", also known as the Vietcong.

On October 5, 1963, North Vietnam issued the first set of stamps for the "National Liberation Front for South Vietnam" (Vietcong) for use by the Vietcong forces in South Vietnam. The stamps were printed in Hanoi and distributed by the official governmental agency, Xunhasaba. From October 1963 until June 1976, 69 stamps were issued for the Vietcong.

Several changes occurred in the Vietcong stamps over the years:
Until 1969 the inscription on the stamps read: Mat tran Dân toc Giai phóng mien Nam Viet Nam ("The National Liberation Front for South Vietnam"). The stamps' denominations were valued in North Vietnamese Dong.

From June 6, 1969, when the "Provisional Revolutionary Government of South Vietnam" was established by North Vietnam, the inscription on the stamps read: Cong Hoa Mien Nam Viet Nam ("Republic of South Vietnam"):

In April 1976, after the fall of the Republic of Vietnam (what we call South-Vietnam), the Provisional Revolutionary Government of South-Vietnam started to plan the official unification of the two parts of Vietnam. On June 24, 1976, the last stamps of North Vietnam and the Vietcong were issued, to commemorate the first conference of the National United Assembly. On July 2, 1976, the two parts of Vietnam officially reunified to become one state named "Socialist Republic of Vietnam". New stamps were issued with the inscription Viet Nam Buu Chính (Vietnam Post). At the end of 1977, the distribution of the North Vietnamese and Vietcong stamps was ceased and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam stamps became the only postage stamps in use.

3rd Anniversary of the Establishment of the National Liberation Front (I) - October 5, 1963

Independence, Democracy, Peace, Neutrality

Independance, Democratie, Paix, Neutralite

Independencia, Democracia, Paz, Neutralidad

3rd Anniversary of the Establishment of the National Liberation Front (II) - October 5, 1963

Battle Scene:

Battle of Ap Bac - January, 1963:

4th Anniversary of the Establishment of the National Liberation Front - December 20, 1964

Demonstration for Vietnam Unification

Vietcong Autarchic Farm

Attack on USS "Card" in Saigon Seaport (May 2, 1964)

Issued as se-tennant

1st Anniversary of the Execution of Nguyen Van Troi - October 15, 1965

Nguyen Van Troi was a Vietcong fighter captured when trying to assassinate US Secretary of Defence Robert McNamara and Ambassador Henry Lodge who were visiting South-Vietnam. Since Nguyen Van Troi is 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.

Attack on USAF Aircrafts in Bien Hoa Air Base

Nguyen Van Troi (1940 - 1964)

Thanks, LaoPhil, for the scans and information added to this thread. Your Viet Minh pages look very nice. Thanks for sharing them with us.

Scanned below is a picture postcard from my collection that I bought at a postcard show in Iowa City, Iowa, USA, years ago. The message reads: "July 30, 1969 - We couldn't resist the glories of the Paris of the East so we flew here for a quick visit. Tomorrow on to Hong Kong." Then it was signed by a group of people.

My initial reaction to reading this message was: Don't these people know there is a war going on? Kind of strange? Then I learned what happened on July 30th.

On this day in 1969, President Richard M. Nixon made his eighth visit to South Vietnam, but his first as president. He made a previously unannounced, 5 and a half hour stopover, in the war-torn nation.

The Nixon foray came during his round-the-world trip, with stops in Guam, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, India, Pakistan, Romania and Britain. The Nixon trip was code-named Moonglow to mark the success of NASA's Apollo 11, the first manned mission to land on the moon.


Nixon met in Saigon with South Vietnam's President Nguyen Van Thieu to discuss further U.S. troop withdrawals. He also met with senior U.S. military commanders to review possible changes in military tactics, emphasizing his continuing Vietnamization policies, which he wanted the press to label "The Nixon Doctrine."

In visiting American troops of the U.S. 1st Infantry Division at Di Am, 12 miles north of Saigon, Nixon asked nearly every soldier he shook hands with about his favorite football or baseball team.

Nixon expressed pride at being the first president to visit an active war zone since Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1943 trip to Casablanca, Morocco, during World War II.

During the visit, Nixon said the war was a worthy cause to let the South Vietnamese "choose their own way" and to "reduce the chances of more wars in the future."

I guess the people signing this postcard got lucky on their visit time to Saigon.

Linus

Thanks Linus for your warm words. Thanks also for sharing the PC and the story about Nixon visit in the same day it was sent. In my collection several covers sent during the war and I will post them with time.


5th Anniversary of the Establishment of the National Liberation Front - December 20, 1965:

7th Anniversary of the Establishment of the National Liberation Front - December 20, 1967:

"Fight for Freedom", Paintings by Long Châu and H. P. Dông - 1968


"Vietcong Fighter", by Long Châu

"Forest March", by H. P. Dông


Woman Fighter", by H. P. Dông


"In the Face of the Enemy", by H. P. Dông

8th Anniversary of the Establishment of the National Liberation Front - December 20, 1969

Elections

Battle Scene

Indépendance, Démocratie, Paix, Neutralité, Prospérité (Vietcong Slogan)

Independence, Democracy, Peace, Neutrality, Prosperity (Vietcong Slogan)

The two last stamps were issued as se-tennant

This is the last set with the inscription Mat Tran Dan toc Giai phong mien Nam Viet Nam ("The National Liberation Front for South Vietnam"). On June 6, 1969, the "Provisional Revolutionary Government of South Vietnam" was established by North Vietnam. From the next set, issued in 1970, all issued Vietcong stamps bear the inscription: Cong Hoa Mien Nam Viet Nam ("Republic of South Vietnam").