A full-page 1966 advertisement by the Mothers' Crusade for Victory over Communism of Mesa, Arizona, argues that U.S. trade with communist countries helps them arm the Viet Cong, and asks readers to sign and mail a petition to the House of Representatives.
What it says
The page is laid out like a newspaper. A bold headline asks the question. Below it come capitalized claims, four columns of quoted statements headed by a line attributed to President Johnson's January 1965 State of the Union message, the group's statement of belief, three actions for the reader, and a petition with a signature grid. FRAME could read the headline and the belief statement clearly; the columns of quotations, the officers' names, and the petition text are too small in the scan and are marked illegible, so this page does not quote them.
WHY SHOULD WE HELP COMMUNISTS KILL AMERICANS?
[...]
THAT VICTORY OVER COMMUNISM CAN BE WON ONLY BY ENDING TRADE WITH RUSSIA AND HER SATELLITE SLAVE STATES, INSURING THEIR ECONOMIC SUICIDE. [...]
IF YOU THINK IT RIGHT TO HELP COMMUNISTS KILL OUR SONS, DO NOTHING!
[...]
THE ONLY SIGNATURE REQUIREMENT IS UNITED STATES CITIZENSHIP.
Who paid for it
A private group of citizens, the Mothers' Crusade for Victory over Communism, based in Mesa, Arizona. It is not a government product. The advertisement asks readers to form local committees, rerun the page in their own newspapers, and write the President and Congress. The Library of Congress copy, item 2016649205, retrieved 29 September 2026, is recorded as a U.S. publication without a copyright notice.
How to read it
FRAME tags it card stacking and fear appeal. The fear is in the headline and the closing dare: anyone who disagrees is helping to kill "our sons." That line turns a policy dispute about trade into a question of loyalty, and it is unfair to the many Americans who held the opposite view in good faith.
The argument underneath is still a real one, and it is stated plainly: stop trading with adversaries and let their economies fail without "firing one more shot." People could and did argue the other side. The point to keep is how the group made its case. It signed its name and address, quoted officials with dates, and asked citizens to petition their representatives. That is the First Amendment working as designed, with heated rhetoric included. Compare the U.S. Embassy pamphlet Why Viet Nam from the year before. The government's case for the war and this private case for a harder line were both speech the public could weigh.
Sources
- FRAME object record, Why should we help communists kill Americans?, 1966. Mothers' Crusade for Victory over Communism (Mesa, Arizona). Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, item 2016649205, retrieved 29 September 2026. Rights as recorded: U.S. publication without copyright notice; no known restrictions on publication.
