The use of psychological warfare and propaganda, also known as PSYOP, is using threats, propaganda, and other forms of psychological ideas to impact how the enemy is thinking or how they behave. They mainly focus on targeting the enemies values, belief systems, emotions, motives, and more. During the Vietnam War, one of the most popular PSYOP techniques delivered by the US onto the Vietnamese was the use of the audio clip “Wandering Soul”. In the Vietnamese culture, they hold a very powerful belief that people who have died must be buried where their home was. They believed that if someone is buried, or left without being buried outside of their homeland, that their soul would continue to live in pain, isolation, hunger, and sadness. The US military used the belief to their advantage. They employed engineers, who spent weeks recording sounds intended to sound like the Vietnamese dead who had never been properly buried in their homeland due to dying in combat. They were known as “Ghost Tape Number 10” and were played from helicopter speakers, and backpacks soldiers would hide in the jungle. Several stories have been told about when this actually worked. At some moments when the Vietnamese let their superstition take over, they would make rash decisions such as firing their weapons, leaving their positions in spite of fear which would reveal their posts. Even after learning it was just a recording, they were affecting by constantly thinking about how dying in battle could just mean a restless afterlife of wandering. (Word count: 270)
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Viet Cong guerrillas on patrol during the Vietnam War. Picture from BBC World News
Source Link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p058m0zj |
Kaitlyn, this was a truly interesting read! I had no idea how devious the actions of the Americans were during this time. The fact that our soldiers and engineers could come up with a soundtrack that was capable of driving the enemy insane and out of their positions is a genius concept. It makes you wonder if the people that came up with this idea were evil of some sorts.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a very over looked aspect to war in general especially this specific war. Gaining a mental edge on an opponent that may be more capable than you In regards to equipment, training, or financial assets, can be the difference between winning and loosing, something the Vietnamese used to their advantage to fend off superior forces.
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ReplyDeleteThe Psychological warfare used in Vietnam was awful. This is completely inhumane way of fighting a war. It is hard to believe the United States could approve of this use of warfare on the Vietnamese people.
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