Rapaire has it right except for the part about the "liberal media" not reporting the Hue massacre. It was widely reported almost immediately. The Communist propaganda story was that the U.S. and South Vietnamese were responsible. That way Hanoi could have its cake and eat it too.

Ownership of virtually any land in the "Democratic" Republic of Vietnam in the '50s - even half an acre - qualified you for execution as an "enemy of the people."