1968 Vietnamese Anti-American Propaganda Banner (8-Feet Long!)

An incredible survival, this is an eight-foot-long 1968 Vietnamese anti-war banner. Translated as 'America Must Withdraw Troops from South Vietnam', this banner was produced to protest the war and propagate anti-American sentiment. It likely represents Vietnamese student anti-war protests rather than Viet Cong propaganda. The banner was found in December 1968 in the Mekong Delta by the 9th Infantry Division, who promptly tore it down.

Student Protests

In the United States, the anti-Vietnam War movement is well documented. However, the Vietnamese protest movement, spearheaded by student organizations, is less well known. Professor Van Nguyen-Marshall at Trent University and Professor Heather Stur at the University of Southern Mississippi have produced important studies highlighting Vietnamese student protests. While it is impossible to know who created the present banner, realizing that protesting the American presence in Vietnam was not the exclusive domain of the Viet Cong helps bring the reality of the war into sharper focus.

Provenance: Major General Ira A. Hunt

This banner is from the archive of Major General Ira Augustus Hunt Jr. (1924 - 2022), an American Army officer, historian, and author. Born in Lincoln, Nebraska, Hunt entered the United States Military Academy at West Point, graduating in 1945, at which point he became a second lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers. He was sent overseas, where he served in several post-war engineer assignments in Europe. A distinguished military and academic career followed, including multiple prestigious degrees, as well as service in Korea. Pertinent to the current banner, during the Vietnam War (1955 - 1975), he served as Chief of Staff of the 9th Infantry Division and as Commanding Officer of its 1st Brigade. After Vietnam, he was made Assistant Commandant of the Engineer School at Fort Belvoir, then Deputy Chief of Staff for Training and Schools at Headquarters TRADOC, Fort Monroe, Virginia. He retired in 1978, after which he wrote three books: The 9th Infantry Division in Vietnam: Unparalleled and Unequaled, Losing Vietnam: How America Abandoned Southeast Asia, and My Lai Cover-Up: Deceit and Incompetence.