Propaganda
Heroes Remember
Propaganda
Transcript
Successfully completing a mission and reaching an objective
is of capital importance, of course, but staying alive while
doing it is often challenging.
In Korea, surviving means more than just living through battles…
it also means trying not to go insane while being constantly
exposed to propaganda aimed at convincing all UN soldiers that
they are fighting an unjust war!
They did a lot of propaganda. China and North Korea are great
propagandists.
They spoke English very well, and sometimes they spoke in French.
We think that they probably came in twos, carrying a speaker and
wire, and set up near the barbed wire to talk to us.
"What are you doing here, Canadians? Why are you here?
Go home! We've got no beef with you, it's the Americans we're
fighting with."
They would ask us what we were doing there and tell us that our
wives were having fun in Canada, while we were there freezing.
It was an everyday occurrence.
They'd fly a plane, broadcasting music and saying, "Canadians,
go home! You have no business here."
Four Canadian Soldiers holding signs.
They put up posts with tin cans, and they would put letters in them. They called them post offices. There were some below all our positions. There was a picture . . . you could see a pool, with two guys and two girls, having a drink or something like that. Or they would send over bombs with messages in them. The Chinese ones were red. They said, "Give up!" and "Don't fight for the Americans." There was a woman dressed in white parading on a white horse. They were never able to catch her. She kept saying, "Your mom and dad are waiting for you. Go back home. Christmas is coming." You know, stuff like that. We spent Christmas there singing Christmas carols to each other over the phone lines, watching the Chinese put up some signs about Merry Christmas and “let’s have peace” and “no more war” and “why fight the Americans’ battles.” There was music, and they put holiday cards in the barbed wire. On one side there was a black and white picture of us hiding in the trenches, while on the other side there was a color picture of Americans celebrating Christmas. With a great big turkey, just out of the oven! When you're sitting there, eating canned soup, and you see this beautiful turkey dinner it really makes you think. Stuff like that aimed at bringing down morale, but we were aware of their tactics. Our superiors told us what to expect. So we knew, and we didn't let it bother us.Description
Meta Data
- Medium:
- Video
- Owner:
- Veterans Affairs Canada
- Duration:
- 3:17
- Person Interviewed:
- War Korean
- War, Conflict or Mission:
- Korean War
Related Videos
Arrival and smell
Camaraderie
Civilian Population
Food
Friend or Foe
Korea_friend_or_foe
Hill 355
Psychological Strain
Pests
Terrain
Static Front
Patrols and No Mans Land
The Enemy
Outcome
- Date modified: