Nàng Hannah bí ẩn

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Her name was Trinh Thi Ngo, but she called herself Thu Huong, “The Fragrance of Autumn.” We called her Hanoi Hannah. She was North Vietnam’s chief voice of propaganda (tuyên truyền), reaching out over the airwaves (sóng phát thanh) to American servicemen (quân nhân, binh lính) across South Vietnam, attempting to convince (thuyết phục) them that the war was immoral (vô đạo) and that they should lay down their arms (hạ vũ khí) and go home (về nhà).

Her job was to chill (làm ớn lạnh; làm nhụt (nhuệ khí, nhiệt tình...); giội gáo nước lạnh (bóng) ) and frighten, not to charm and seduce (thuyết phục; cám dỗ, rủ rê, quyến rũ (làm cái gì sai trái..)). Her English was almost impeccable (hoàn hảo, không chê vào đâu được, không có chỗ xấu, không tỳ vết (đồ vật...)); men would stumble across her while tuning their radios and be unable to turn away. “How are you G.I. Joe?” she asked in a June 1967 broadcast. “It seems to me that most of you are poorly informed (cung cấp thông tin sai lệch) about the going of the war, to say nothing about a correct explanation of your presence over here. Nothing is more confused than to be ordered into a war to die or to be maimed (bị thương tật) for life without the faintest idea (ý nghĩ mơ hồ nhất) of what’s going on.”

She was born in Hanoi in 1931. Her father owned the largest glass factory in Vietnam.

...Her broadcasts were mostly exaggerated (thổi phồng) war news, encouragement to “frag” — assassinate (ám sát) — an officer and go AWOL, or suggestions that the soldiers’ wives or girlfriends were cheating (phản bội, lừa dối, ngoại tình) on them. She was mostly greeted with loud laughter. But taped interviews with downed pilots (phi công bị bắn hạ) or from American antiwar advocates (ủng hộ phản chiến) like Jane Fonda were heard with anger.

For bored G.I.s, Hannah’s broadcasts were often rare sources of amusement (giải trí, buồn cười). A man’s radio was, after his rifle (súng trường), his most valued possession. Like the rifle butt, the radio was often wrapped in frayed black tape for protection. Troops would laugh over Hannah’s attempts to scare them into defection (đào ngũ) or suggestions to frag an officer. However, they did wonder if she was as lovely as she sounded, and many considered her the most prominent enemy after Ho Chi Minh.