North Vietnamese Propaganda, 1965

Metal sign (11 3/4 x 17 1/2 in.; 300 x 445 mm), painted white with   "Dá - dáo kê Mac na mara" in red lettering, translates "Down with the plans of Macnamara"; metal creased and cut at center, 2 holes at top where it was nailed, scattered rust spots. Together with: Typed letter signed by Col. Sidney B. Berry Jr. ("Sid Berry"), 3 pages on 7th Infantry Division Advisory Detachment letterhead (10 1/2 x 8 in.; 265 x 200 mm), San Francisco, 11 October 1965, enclosing the metal sign and detailing how it was found and the activities of the 7th Division and the 32nd Ranger Battalion, and a photograph of Berry with Captain Michael McNamara (who found the sign) and Captain Bui Ban Huan; letter browned along left margin.  And with: a political cartoon from the magazine Viet-Nam (VC) of McNamara digging a foxhole captured in the Cadam V.C. base 12 August 1965, mounted on the backing of the sign. And with: 3 Viet Cong propaganda leaflets distributed to American servicemen, found by Daniel Ellsberg in 1965 and 1966 during his visits to the provinces.

Metal sign (11 3/4 x 17 1/2 in.; 300 x 445 mm), painted white with "Dá - dáo kể Mac na mara" in red lettering, translates "Down with the plans of Macnamara"; metal creased and cut at center, 2 holes at top where it was nailed, scattered rust spots. Together with: Typed letter signed by Col. Sidney B. Berry Jr. ("Sid Berry"), 3 pages on 7th Infantry Division Advisory Detachment letterhead (10 1/2 x 8 in.; 265 x 200 mm), San Francisco, 11 October 1965, enclosing the metal sign and detailing how it was found and the activities of the 7th Division and the 32nd ranger Battalion, and a photograph of Berry with Captain Michael McNamara who found the sign and Captain Bui Ban Huan; letter browned along left margin. And with: a political cartoon from the magazine Viet-Nam (VC) of McNamara digging a foxhole captured in the Cadam V.C. base 12 August 1965. And with: 3 Viet Cong propaganda leafletts distributed to American servicemen, found by Dan Ellsberg in 1965 and 1966 during his visits to the provinces.
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"From McNamara to McNamara through courtesy of the Viet Cong." Senior Advisor to the 7th Infantry Division, Col. Sidney B. Berry, encloses a metal sign created by the Viet Cong that reads "Down with the plans of Macnamara." It was a captain of the 32nd Ranger Battalion, coincidentally named Michael McNamara, who had found it nailed to a coconut tree.  "Knowing that the sign referred to Robert S. McNamara but recognizing that its sentiments could aptly apply to his own plans," Col. Berry explains, "Captain McNamara liberated the sign and brought it out as a souvenir."  Earlier on 2 March 1965, a U.S. aerial bombing campaign of North Vietnam had begun and on 8 March the first U.S. combat troops arrived in Vietnam.

In closing, Col. Berry mentions that the staff of the Senate Preparedness Investigating  Sub-committee will be visiting his offices the following day. He wryly suggests that "Perhaps it was they, rather than the Viet Cong, who posted the sign ..."