Kenneth tells of Admiral Layton going out on the town. As he had drank quite a bit, he ended up in the hotel late. Upon waking, he found eel in front of his door. He suspected the Japanese girls were being kind, when in reality it was leftovers of…
Kenneth's most amusing experience while working at the Board of Economic Warfare happened one day when Max Ways said to him that the Joint Chiefs of Staff wanted someone who had expertise on elephants to come over and instruct them on the animals. He…
The cost of Kenneth's trip to Thailand was $1367 one way by plane to Bangkok, plus $342 for his baggage! He flew on a C-54 military plane. The C-47 was the workhorse. But the C-54 was much more substantial. He flew from New York City, flying out over…
Kenneth came in at 8:00 to find many members already at work, studying materials in the library, which was growing daily. Kenneth tells of Walt Rostow and Attorney General Robert Kennedy who would be coming in the next day. Kenneth also received the…
Merle Cochran was convinced that the administration that had been set up in Indonesia would be reelected. Kenneth was convinced that there would be a change. The two men argued about it. When Kenneth boarded the plane the next day, Merle Cochran's…
Kenneth also arranged for a police assistance program for the police general and a military assistance program for Sarit "because", as Sarit said, "if you're going to give forty-some million dollars of aid to General Pao, the police chief, you ought…
Kenneth explains that he was the person in our government who arranged for military assistance to both Thailand and Vietnam initially, when the State Department was still in the Old Executive Office Building.
Kenneth walked across the street and into the old high commissioner's palace, which was just a few hundred yards from the hotel. He asked to see Ho Chi Minh, and the staff people asked him who he was, which he told them. No one asked him to prove it.…
Kenneth talks about the head of the Far East section of the State Department, a man nicknamed "Baldy" Ballantyne, who would stutter when he didn't know what to say and would keep stuttering until he found the word he wanted. Ballantyne gave Kenneth…
Kenneth tells of his start in bread making. He tells of his rye recipe, which given by Betty Bond. His first batch of bread was resulted from his inquiring to Margaret on how to make it--alarmed, she merely handed him the cook book. Kenneth later…
Around the time he turned fifty, Kenneth started making a list of all the things he wanted to do in his life. On this list, he had that he wanted to write short stories. he finally got his chance and got them published in the Saturday Evening Post in…
Kenneth tells of becoming a member of the Congressional Golf Club. He had been trying for quite some time, and finally, through Larry, the husband of his piano teacher, was able to get on as a member. The price was drastically cheaper back then,…
Kenneth represented the State Department at the ceremonies. They were very formal, white tie, tails, and top hat. Every morning, during the ceremonies—which went on for several days, first the cremation, then the wedding, which Kenneth didn't attend,…
In 1945, when Kenneth arrived in Bangkok, he had only been there a few days when Pridi gave him an official dinner. At the dinner, Pridi said he had read Kenneth's book and commented that it was a very fair book. He wanted to know how Kenneth got…
Kenneth, after being removed from his job leading insurgency seminars, was able to travel some. He had received the position of Dean of Area Studies, and wanted to set up the program correctly. He studied the area studies programs at some of the…
Kenneth tells of his trip through Afghanistan and an incident in which nomads were required to wash the car as they'd made it dirty. Kenneth also recalls buying a lamb-skin hat there, made from the skin of an unborn baby lamb. He bought one for Peggy…
Bao Dai sent an official driver to pick Kenneth up in a big limousine. They went up into the mountain area where Bao Dai was staying, with the road along the edge of a cliff, and it was breathtaking. There were no guard rails or anything! The driver…
Kenneth tells of how he was poisoned at a dinner in Bangkok. There was a dinner at the Legation during which Kenneth became violently ill, supposedly from food poisoning with arsenic. There were Thai in Bangkok who were very suspicious of Kenneth,…
Kenneth tells of the time when he was to be the political adviser to Admiral Edwin Layton. The Admiral was taking a tour around the Pacific countries and was particularly interested in Japan. Kenneth was asked what he would be drinking on the trip,…
Bill Godel had gotten into some trouble. They talked with Kenneth about testifying on his character. Kenneth exclaimed that he figured Godel innocent, as he wouldn't piddle around with anything less than $10,000--more than that, though, he might have…
Bill was a natural golfer. He could have been a professional golfer if he had wanted to. He had good timing, coordination, grace. Bill wanted to run the mile, so he went out for the track team at school. Later on, when he was living in Seattle, he…
Kenneth tells of the time he was to brief McGeorge Bundy and Walt Rostow on Laos, as he was just returning from there. This briefing was right after John F. Kennedy was elected president. He found that McGeorge Bundy was quite the knowledgeable man,…
Kenneth recalls going up to stay at a British hill station after his operation for appendicitis and listening to British gentlemen there discussing what they would do when the Japanese attacked, and of how easily a small group of them could link…
Kenneth speaks of the Office of War Information that Donovan also set up and for which he made Thai language broadcasts. The original idea for the broadcasts came from the Thai Legation, as early as October, 1941, before the war began. Immediately…