B: Here in Vietnam, we have gone 62 days with no new case of COVID-19 community transmission. Of Vietnam’s 335 cases, 325 have fully recovered. No deaths from the disease have been reported in Vietnam.

A: Thanks to early success in fighting the pandemic, Vietnam has been able to ease its restrictions and arrange flights to bring home Vietnamese citizens who have been awaiting overseas.

B: Some of those flights have brought listeners’ letters which got stuck during the epidemic. We’d like to acknowledge letters and emails from William Clinqempeel of the US, Grant Skinner of the UK, and Fumito Hokamura and Hayato Furukawa of Japan.

A: Listeners expressed their interest in our broadcasts, praised Vietnam’s response to the epidemic, and shared their empathy with affected people around the world.

B: We’ve received a growing number of entries to our contest “What do you know about Vietnam?” this week, now that the epidemic is under control in many countries.  

A: We liked the beautifully illustrated and informative entry Ashik Eqbal Tokon of Bangladesh submitted. In a preface, he wrote: “Thanks to you, VOV,  for giving me mental power while staying at home with my radio and ensuring my family’s safety through your powerful English program. I am happy to participate in your contest “What do you know about Vietnam?”

B: Mr Tokon praised our contest for giving listeners open questions to demonstrate their knowledge of and feelings about Vietnam and VOV. He wrote: “This certainly adds something extra to your wonderful contest. We, the VOV Spectators Association of Bangladesh, the main fan club of VOV in Bangladesh, is going to publish a one pager article on this contest to inform all our listeners about it and encourage them to take part. Promoting VOV’s English broadcast is one of our organizational objectives, so we advertise in some of the DX magazines in Bangladesh. Our club slogan is “Linking Vietnam with Amity, Cordiality and Friendship.”

A: Thank you very much Mr. Tokon for sharing your story with us. Mr. M Ferhat Bezazel of Algeria sent us some beautiful pencil drawings. He wrote: “ Like flowers in my heart, cordial greetings from Algeria. I hope you are doing well. I like the special award you added to this year’s “What do you know about Vietnam?” contest. Because this year’s contest takes place amid a pandemic, the organizers will award a special prize for the most impressive story or impressive slogan about Vietnam’s success fighting COVID-19. Because I’m an Algerian artist I have made these pencil drawings about Vietna’s efforts to contain COVID-19. I hope you like them and I will win.”

B: Thank you very much for the drawings and for participating in our contest. This week, we received feedback from Ejaz Kareem of Pakistan on our contest “What do you know about Vietnam?” He wrote: “This is great news for VOV’s listeners. Hopefully listeners from all corners of the world will take part. Listeners in Pakistan will send in their entries. We’ve introduced the contest to people in our area and now looking for answers to the questions. Please release details about the remaining prizes so as many as friends as possible will listen to VOV’s programs and take part in the contest.”

A: Thank you all for your interests in our program, keep visiting our website at vovoworld.vn for more information about the prizes. We encourage all listeners around the world to participate in our contest which is held every five years to show your love for Vietnam and VOV and possibly win a free trip to Vietnam.

B: Vietnamese journalists are celebrating Vietnam's Revolutionary Press Day, which falls on June 21^st. To mark the occasion, we’d like to dedicate part of our Letter Box to a former presenter of VOV’s English program, legendary announcer Trinh Thi Ngo, whose voice still lingers in the memories of generations of VOV listeners including former Gis who fought in Vietnam and who always referred to her as Hanoi Hannah.

A: Ngo started working at VOV in 1955 as an announcer for VOV’s English language broadcasts. Many listeners throughout Southeast Asia and Europe loved VOV’s English broadcasts and Ngo’s voice.

B: In 1965, when American troops were sent to Vietnam, Radio the Voice of Vietnam began broadcasting a program aimed at the American soldiers. “A small talk to American GIs” gave them another point of view about the war they were fighting.

A: Trinh Thi Ngo became famous for this program, which was aired at night after each long day of fighting. The opening was always: “This is Thu Huong, talking with American soldiers in southern Vietnam…” Initially, each program was 5-6 minutes long and broadcast twice a week. Later it was extended to 30 minutes and broadcast three times a day. Each day, Ngo spent 90 minutes talking to hundreds of thousands of American servicemen.

B: Ngo used the alias “Thu Huong”, but the American GIs called her “Hanoi Hannah”. Because the program was broadcast from Hanoi and Hannah is an American woman’s name that starts with the letter H. Americans like word games, Ngo said.

A: American servicemen who listened to “A small talk to American GIs” said Trinh Thi Ngo’s voice made them hate and fear but unable to resist.” Many of them, after listening to Ngo’s talks, sought ways to oppose the unjust war and get back home.

B: When the war ended, Ngo’s program ended as well. But many American journalists came to Vietnam to talk to her and many war veterans kept recordings of her radio programs.

A: On April 30, 1975, Trinh Thi Ngo was the first person to read in English Vietnam’s historical news: “Saigon is liberated, Vietnam is completely independent and unified.” After liberation day, Ngo and her husband moved to the south to live. She worked at the Ho Chi Minh City TV Station until her retirement. She died in 2016 at the age of 87.

B: That’s the story of our predecessor Hanoi Hannah, who we always remember on Vietnam Revolutionary Press Day.

A: We’d like to acknowledge letters and emails from Mitch Johnson, David Pascale, John Beregi, Andrew Booth, and Timmy William Harvath of the U,  and Christos Lakkos of Greece. They reported strong reception of our English broadcasts on the frequency of 7315 khz. We thank you all for sending us detailed reception reports. We’ll confirm them with e-QSL cards.

B: We welcome your feedback at: English Service, VOVworld, the Voice of Vietnam, 45 Ba Trieu street, Hanoi, Vietnam. Or you can email us at our new email address: englishsection@vov.vn. You’re invited to visit us online at vovworld.vn, where you can hear both live and recorded programs.

A : We look forward to your feedback on the mobile version of vovworld.vn. Once again, thank you all for listening.