1970 Podwal Anti-Vietnam War Propaganda Poster Map of the United States

This is a 1970 Mark Podwal anti-Vietnam War propaganda poster map of the United States. Podwal combines iconic American imagery with quotations illustrating how lost the American people were by 1970. In many instances, Podwal is referencing the 1968 My Lai Massacre.

A Closer Look

Traditional American iconography, such as the American flag, an eagle, and the date 1776, is compellingly juxtaposed with quotations that illustrate the complexity of American divisiveness over the Vietnam War. One of the larger quotes (in the Pacific Northwest) references a quote by Myrtle Meadlo, the mother of Paul Meadlo, one of the most notorious shooters at the My Lai Massacre, 'I sent them a good boy, and they made him a murderer.' A second quote is difficult to trace, but it also undoubtedly references My Lai, 'But I guess this incident has eroded much of that goodwill both here and overseas'. Other quotes serve to represent the cold-hearted racism adopted by some Americans during the war: 'We should blow up all of those slant-eyed bastards,' 'Those women and kids are the enemies too!' and 'One million of them aren't worth one of us. They should have killed all of them in that village', and 'how can they blame 1 or 2 men?'.

My Lai Massacre

The My Lai Massacre took place on March 16, 1968, during the Vietnam War. It is one of the most notorious events in U.S. military history. A unit of the American Army, Charlie Company, led by Lt. William Calley, descended on the hamlet of My Lai in South Vietnam with the belief that it was harboring Viet Cong soldiers. Over the course of a few hours, American soldiers systematically killed and raped between 347 and 504 unarmed Vietnamese civilians, mostly women, children, and elderly. The event was initially covered up, but once exposed, it intensified anti-war sentiment in the United States and globally. Over 25 American army personnel were charged in relation to the My Lai Massacre, but Lt. Calley was the only one found guilty and was sentenced to life in prison, though his sentence was later reduced, and he served just three and a half years under house arrest.

Publication History and Census

This map was created and published by Mark Podwal in 1970. We note examples as being part of the collections at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History and the Godwin-Ternbach Museum.