Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Thanks,
George
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It's a South Vietnam military stamp, issued in June, 1961, picturing a soldier guarding a village. It's listed in Scott as M1, valued in my 2014 Scott Vietnam catalogue at $4 mint, $1.50 used.
The stamp pictures a "strategic hamlet," a joint U.S./South Vietnam project designed to relocate Vietnamese peasants in order to "protect" them from the Viet Cong. From Wikipedia:
"The Strategic Hamlet Program…was a plan by the governments of South Vietnam and the United States during the Vietnam War to combat the communist insurgency by pacifying the countryside and reducing the influence of the communists among the rural population.
In 1962, the government of South Vietnam, with advice and financing from the United States, began the implementation of the Strategic Hamlet Program. The strategy was to isolate the rural population from contact with and influence by the National Liberation Front (NLF), more commonly known as the Viet Cong. The Strategic Hamlet Program, along with its predecessor, the Rural Community Development Program, played an important role in shaping of events in South Vietnam during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Both of these programs attempted to create new communities of "protected hamlets." The rural peasants would be provided protection, economic support, and aid by the government, thereby strengthening ties with the South Vietnamese government (GVN). It was hoped this would lead to increased loyalty by the peasantry towards the government.
The Strategic Hamlet Program was a failure, alienating more rural Vietnamese than it helped and contributing to the growth in influence of the Viet Cong. After President Ngo Dinh Diem was overthrown in a coup in November 1963, the program was cancelled. Peasants moved back into their old homes or sought refuge from the war in the cities. The failure of the Strategic Hamlet and other counterinsurgency and pacification programs were causes that led the United States to decide to intervene in South Vietnam with air strikes and ground troops."
Bob
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Bob,
Thanks for the information! I should have referred to my Scott catalogs before posting the question! But now others will know the answer as well.
George
PS: Also sent you PM through SOR messaging.
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10:31:43am
" ... The failure of the Strategic Hamlet and other counterinsurgency and pacification programs were causes that led the United States to decide to intervene in South Vietnam with air strikes and ground troops." ..."
I can't recall precisely but I think that program's unpopularity factored in the coup which resulted in the assassination of Diem and his brother. Our CIA was up to its kiester in what occurred in Saigon in early November '63. About two weeks later we had the incident in Dallas, 11/22/63.
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ah, Diem, yet another example of us trying to implement regime change to foster the desired results in a conflict a zillion miles away..... we never learn, and we almost never, ever, get it right
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On October 26, 1962, South Vietnam issued four stamps commemorating, according to the Scott description, the "'Strategic village' defence system".
According to what I've read, the "system" was not a system, but a bureaucratic nightmare, and it didn't defend the villagers all, but forcibly removed them from their ancestral villages, often at gunpoint.
The following item is, I assume, from a sheet of essays or colour trials which didn't make the cut.
Such items seem very common, although they're a bit expensive. I'm guessing that a lot of "printer's waste" ended up on the black market.
Bob
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There used to be a stamp dealer on Tu Do Street in Saigon who probably sold lots of those. He also sold Black Market Cigarettes under the counter. I bought a 357 Magnum there for twenty cartons of Camels worth about $44.00 in 1966...
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Other than a week in 3rd Surgical Hospital, my visits to Saigon were limited to inprocessing and out-processing and passing through TSN to and from R&R in Hawaii. Otherwise I was knee=deep in the Delta living with and advising the Vietnamese. Any stamps I might have found would probably have dissolved in the high humidity or been carried off by the largest "insects" I have even seen!
I kept hearing from others about the wonders of Saigon, bu feel that I was better off where I was.
George
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George,
I was stationed at TSN so Saigon was easy to get to, we used to rotate to Bien Hoa and Da Nang but Saigon was just a quick bus ride from Ton Son Nuit.
Welcome Home Brother
Bill
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Just arrived, an imperforate block of the South Vietnam military stamps commemorating the failed Strategic Hamlet program. As you can see, the inscriptions are missing. Above right, a normal used stamp. Below right, a mint mis-perfed copy.
Bob
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Nice stamps, Bob!
David in Ottawa
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Thanks, David. I was surprised to find them on eBay, and at a good price, too.
I paid a bit more for this block, which just arrived today; Stamporama member biggeorge alerted me to it; it was being offered in the Stamp Out Cancer Auction, which he was helping to organize:
The envelope that the block is packaged in seems as collectible as the block! It would be interesting to know its history. "MILITARY IMMUNITY" would seem to be an explanation of the stamp's subject, South Vietnam's "Strategic Village" program, which was supposed to protect (immunize?) villagers from attacks by the Viet Cong. I'm curious about the "145$" price. What cultures put the dollar sign after the amount?
Biggeorge pointed out to me that the block has double horizontal perforations. Here's a detail image of the perfs at the centre of the block:
Bob
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Bob,
The early stamps of South Vietnam all have the $ sign after the number. That is just the way they wrote an amount back then in South Vietnam, as on this stamp below...
Linus
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OK. Of course…. Face now red. Scarlet! So my perf-error block probably came initially from a Vietnamese dealer. Bloc of course is French for block, and many Vietnamese speak French.
Bob
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Hi Bob,
But "duble" isn't French for double.
I just couldn't resist mentioning that.
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Sure it is, Benque. The "o" is just invisible, or, in French, invisible!
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Bob,
I certainly was not meaning to make you turn red, but there finally was a question asked on this board that I knew the answer to! 
Those are real nice blocks, Bob. In my opinion, I would keep the "double-perf" block in the original packaging and keep it "as is." There are actually double perfs at the bottom of the block also, making this a "double-double." Paired along with the imperf block with missing inscriptions, you have the makings of a great specialty exhibit on this issue.
Thanks for sharing,
Linus
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Well, Linus, it's probably worthwhile to have a red face now and then.
The block is indeed "duble duble" misperfed block, and I agree, the packaging is as interesting as the block! Someone apparently folded the envelope "duble" at some point, but the block of stamps doesn't seem to be damaged.
I probably could do a one-frame exhibit based on the Strategic Village program, assuming I wanted to exhibit again, but I'd have to extent its scope quite a bit, possibly with stamps and covers illustrating the American involvement in that program and other "missteps" that happened along the way. One could include stamps picturing South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem along stamps picturing John Kennedy, who sanctioned Diem's assassination shortly before his own assassination. I have a postcard picturing Kennedy along with Cardinal Francis Spellman, a strong anti-communist and supporter of American intervention in Vietnam. Then there's Lyndon Johnson, who out and out lied to the American people about America's early role in Vietnam.
Bob
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A fellow club member was going through a box lot for this Saturday's Stamp Out Cancer Auction. They came across this item and had no idea of what it is. From my Vietnamese language training the upper right designates "Army Post Office" and it is from the Republic of Viet Nam. What really intrigued them was the price and the RARE comment. I feel that the price may not be a US amount. The $ sign is behind the denomination. Any ideas of what this is?
Thanks,
George
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re: Viet Nam Military Post Office???
It's a South Vietnam military stamp, issued in June, 1961, picturing a soldier guarding a village. It's listed in Scott as M1, valued in my 2014 Scott Vietnam catalogue at $4 mint, $1.50 used.
The stamp pictures a "strategic hamlet," a joint U.S./South Vietnam project designed to relocate Vietnamese peasants in order to "protect" them from the Viet Cong. From Wikipedia:
"The Strategic Hamlet Program…was a plan by the governments of South Vietnam and the United States during the Vietnam War to combat the communist insurgency by pacifying the countryside and reducing the influence of the communists among the rural population.
In 1962, the government of South Vietnam, with advice and financing from the United States, began the implementation of the Strategic Hamlet Program. The strategy was to isolate the rural population from contact with and influence by the National Liberation Front (NLF), more commonly known as the Viet Cong. The Strategic Hamlet Program, along with its predecessor, the Rural Community Development Program, played an important role in shaping of events in South Vietnam during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Both of these programs attempted to create new communities of "protected hamlets." The rural peasants would be provided protection, economic support, and aid by the government, thereby strengthening ties with the South Vietnamese government (GVN). It was hoped this would lead to increased loyalty by the peasantry towards the government.
The Strategic Hamlet Program was a failure, alienating more rural Vietnamese than it helped and contributing to the growth in influence of the Viet Cong. After President Ngo Dinh Diem was overthrown in a coup in November 1963, the program was cancelled. Peasants moved back into their old homes or sought refuge from the war in the cities. The failure of the Strategic Hamlet and other counterinsurgency and pacification programs were causes that led the United States to decide to intervene in South Vietnam with air strikes and ground troops."
Bob
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re: Viet Nam Military Post Office???
Bob,
Thanks for the information! I should have referred to my Scott catalogs before posting the question! But now others will know the answer as well.
George
PS: Also sent you PM through SOR messaging.
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Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..
21 Apr 2017
10:31:43am
re: Viet Nam Military Post Office???
" ... The failure of the Strategic Hamlet and other counterinsurgency and pacification programs were causes that led the United States to decide to intervene in South Vietnam with air strikes and ground troops." ..."
I can't recall precisely but I think that program's unpopularity factored in the coup which resulted in the assassination of Diem and his brother. Our CIA was up to its kiester in what occurred in Saigon in early November '63. About two weeks later we had the incident in Dallas, 11/22/63.
Login to Like
this post
re: Viet Nam Military Post Office???
ah, Diem, yet another example of us trying to implement regime change to foster the desired results in a conflict a zillion miles away..... we never learn, and we almost never, ever, get it right
Login to Like
this post
re: Viet Nam Military Post Office???
On October 26, 1962, South Vietnam issued four stamps commemorating, according to the Scott description, the "'Strategic village' defence system".
According to what I've read, the "system" was not a system, but a bureaucratic nightmare, and it didn't defend the villagers all, but forcibly removed them from their ancestral villages, often at gunpoint.
The following item is, I assume, from a sheet of essays or colour trials which didn't make the cut.
Such items seem very common, although they're a bit expensive. I'm guessing that a lot of "printer's waste" ended up on the black market.
Bob
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re: Viet Nam Military Post Office???
There used to be a stamp dealer on Tu Do Street in Saigon who probably sold lots of those. He also sold Black Market Cigarettes under the counter. I bought a 357 Magnum there for twenty cartons of Camels worth about $44.00 in 1966...
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re: Viet Nam Military Post Office???
Other than a week in 3rd Surgical Hospital, my visits to Saigon were limited to inprocessing and out-processing and passing through TSN to and from R&R in Hawaii. Otherwise I was knee=deep in the Delta living with and advising the Vietnamese. Any stamps I might have found would probably have dissolved in the high humidity or been carried off by the largest "insects" I have even seen!
I kept hearing from others about the wonders of Saigon, bu feel that I was better off where I was.
George
Login to Like
this post
re: Viet Nam Military Post Office???
George,
I was stationed at TSN so Saigon was easy to get to, we used to rotate to Bien Hoa and Da Nang but Saigon was just a quick bus ride from Ton Son Nuit.
Welcome Home Brother
Bill
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this post
re: Viet Nam Military Post Office???
Just arrived, an imperforate block of the South Vietnam military stamps commemorating the failed Strategic Hamlet program. As you can see, the inscriptions are missing. Above right, a normal used stamp. Below right, a mint mis-perfed copy.
Bob
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re: Viet Nam Military Post Office???
Nice stamps, Bob!
David in Ottawa
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re: Viet Nam Military Post Office???
Thanks, David. I was surprised to find them on eBay, and at a good price, too.
I paid a bit more for this block, which just arrived today; Stamporama member biggeorge alerted me to it; it was being offered in the Stamp Out Cancer Auction, which he was helping to organize:
The envelope that the block is packaged in seems as collectible as the block! It would be interesting to know its history. "MILITARY IMMUNITY" would seem to be an explanation of the stamp's subject, South Vietnam's "Strategic Village" program, which was supposed to protect (immunize?) villagers from attacks by the Viet Cong. I'm curious about the "145$" price. What cultures put the dollar sign after the amount?
Biggeorge pointed out to me that the block has double horizontal perforations. Here's a detail image of the perfs at the centre of the block:
Bob
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re: Viet Nam Military Post Office???
Bob,
The early stamps of South Vietnam all have the $ sign after the number. That is just the way they wrote an amount back then in South Vietnam, as on this stamp below...
Linus
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re: Viet Nam Military Post Office???
OK. Of course…. Face now red. Scarlet! So my perf-error block probably came initially from a Vietnamese dealer. Bloc of course is French for block, and many Vietnamese speak French.
Bob
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10:33:59am
re: Viet Nam Military Post Office???
Hi Bob,
But "duble" isn't French for double.
I just couldn't resist mentioning that.
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re: Viet Nam Military Post Office???
Sure it is, Benque. The "o" is just invisible, or, in French, invisible!
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re: Viet Nam Military Post Office???
Bob,
I certainly was not meaning to make you turn red, but there finally was a question asked on this board that I knew the answer to!
Those are real nice blocks, Bob. In my opinion, I would keep the "double-perf" block in the original packaging and keep it "as is." There are actually double perfs at the bottom of the block also, making this a "double-double." Paired along with the imperf block with missing inscriptions, you have the makings of a great specialty exhibit on this issue.
Thanks for sharing,
Linus
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re: Viet Nam Military Post Office???
Well, Linus, it's probably worthwhile to have a red face now and then.
The block is indeed "duble duble" misperfed block, and I agree, the packaging is as interesting as the block! Someone apparently folded the envelope "duble" at some point, but the block of stamps doesn't seem to be damaged.
I probably could do a one-frame exhibit based on the Strategic Village program, assuming I wanted to exhibit again, but I'd have to extent its scope quite a bit, possibly with stamps and covers illustrating the American involvement in that program and other "missteps" that happened along the way. One could include stamps picturing South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem along stamps picturing John Kennedy, who sanctioned Diem's assassination shortly before his own assassination. I have a postcard picturing Kennedy along with Cardinal Francis Spellman, a strong anti-communist and supporter of American intervention in Vietnam. Then there's Lyndon Johnson, who out and out lied to the American people about America's early role in Vietnam.
Bob
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