CLIPPINGS FROM
JOHN WEAR'S SCRAPBOOK

Safe Conduct Pass
(Chieu Hoi Leaflet)

Back

Translation (back):

Bring this Safe Conduct Pass and cooperate with the Vietnamese Government. You will be: - Welcome - Guaranteed your health and welfare - Fairly treated with open arms Signed: Nguyen Van Thieu President South Vietnam This Safe Conduct Pass is honored by all Vietnamese Government Agencies and Allied Forces.

These leaflets were known as "Chieu Hoi" leaflets (pronounced "Chew Hoy").
Chieu Hoi means "Please Come Back." This leaflet was submitted by former Marine
John Wear who, in an e-mail about the leaflet, wrote:
"It's a safe conduct pass that they used to drop all over the DMZ before
we'd go out on a sweep. Sort of stupid way to warn the gooks that we
were coming, huh?"

The flags on the front of the leaflet represent the allied countries of the
United States, Australia, Thailand, South Korea, New Zealand and the
Philippines with the South Vietnamese flag in the center.

The "DMZ" was the De-Militarized Zone, a kind of no-man's land that separated
North and South Vietnam. "Sweeps" were military operations used to seek out and
clear an area of Viet Cong (Gooks) and North Vietnamese Army (NVA). A newspaper
article about one of these sweeps can be seen by Clicking Here.

Many thanks to John Wear, former Third Tanks Marine, for supplying
this great, historical item for inclusion in the scrapbook.