North Vietnam Me-Tri Radio Station - 1959

NORTH VIETNAM issued on 10 August 1959 a set of stamps commemorating Me-Tri Radio Station, transmission site for Radio Hanoi during the Vietnam War. That said, these block sets were postmarked Hanoi, Viet Nam, 2 September 1959. Bùi Trang Chước designed the stamps. Tien Bo Printing House used an offset bicoloured printing method to print these ungummed stamps.

For twelve days in December 1972 the U.S. bombarded Hanoi, Haipong and elsewhere. The Me Tri radio signal transmitter station of  Radio Hanoi (now The Radio Voice of Vietnam) was hit on the night of 18 December. Despite heavy property damage, Radio Hanoi broadcasts resumed after nine minutes in silence.

Declassified CIA files revealed equipment was initially received from Communist as well as Western nations, and the influx of equipment continued during the Vietnam War. The CIA viewed the increased communication system as a viable propaganda threat.

In recent years the transmitter site has undergone much upgrading. New equipment and an office tower for The Radio Voice of Vietnam occupies the site.

Source: Voice of Vietnam and CIA documents from 1969.