B-side "Mexico City" Genre Country Writer(s) Tom T. Hall | Released 1965 Label Decca Producer(s) Owen Bradley | |
"Hello Vietnam" is the title of a song written by Tom T. Hall and recorded by American country music singer Johnnie Wright. It spent twenty weeks on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles chart with three weeks at number one. The single, with backing vocals from Wright's wife, Kitty Wells, was Wright's most successful release on the U.S. country music chart as a solo singer. His singing partner from Johnnie and Jack, Jack Anglin, was killed in a car accident in March 1963.
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Somewhat unusual for this song's success was the fact that the song openly (and uncharacteristically) supported the Vietnam War effort, as the song's spoken third verse by Wright indicated:
Wright's popularity of the song came at a time when war protest songs dominated pop music charts and when public support for the war eroded. The song was used as the opening theme in the film Full Metal Jacket.