Hanoi Hannah - Defect, GI!

To commemorate the victory of Vietnam against an imperialist force, we decided to do a small spotlight on Hanoi Hannah, one of my personal favorite icons of courage in the face of an overtly oppressive enemy.

Countless lives were lost in the Vietnam War, and the effects of it on the people of Vietnam and abroad are still being felt to this day; it truly was one of the greatest tragedies of our time. Thankfully, the Vietnamese won!

Hannah's real name was Trinh Thi Ngo, we'll be referring to her as Ngo from now on. Ngo was a major player in the fight against the US and foreign invasion, being born in 1931 and unfortunately passing in 2016. Ngo first joined the radio broadcast group: Voice of Vietnam in 1955 under the name Thu Huong. It wasn't until 10 years later when the US began invading that her objective changed a bit - from what might have been a more normal job as a broadcaster, to broadcasting 3 times a day from 1965 to 1973, where she changed the lives of many GIs. Who knows how many soldiers finally realized; "We're the bad guys here.."

Above we embedded a broadcast from Ngo, we highly recommend giving it a listen.

Here's a quote from one of the American soldiers: JOHN ROCKHOLD: You could listen to Hanoi Hannah almost throughout the Southern Vietnam. And there was no restrictions or anybody saying that you could not listen to that. And in a way, it gave you a different view from just listening to the radio programs put out by the U.S. government and the military. (Source: https://www.npr.org/2025/04/27/nx-s1-5377424/50-years-ago-hanoi-hannah-spoke-to-american-gis-in-vietnam-through-a-radio-show)

If you'd like more info on Ngo, here's some more from NPR; (https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/10/05/496662815/hanoi-hannah-whose-broadcasts-taunted-and-entertained-american-gis-dies-at-87)

We'd like to thank Ngo and everyone else involved in the war for their service and what they did for their country. An anniversary worth celebrating for in many countries - especially Vietnam (Of course, there's already celebrations going on but we want more!)

Thanks for reading.