In his youth, Merle Cochran had spent time in France, and he had acquired a magnificent set of French furniture. When he finished his assignment in Djakarta, he sold that furniture to the government for a fancy price, enough to finance his retirement…
Kenneth tells of his transition between offices in his job with the Operations Coordinating Board. In the process, his beloved avocado tree got a chill and died. He had various offices in different buildings.
Kenneth gives an account of a conversation he had with Mrs. and Mr. True. Mrs. True was going on about the merits of Harvard, but Kenneth stood up for his son, Kip, who was attending Wheaton. Mrs. True argued that Harvard was significantly more…
Kenneth tells of his visiting Nelson Rockefeller's office. Rockefeller had a working fireplace. He had insisted upon this, and to further the elegance, he had flawless birchwood logs which he would burn.
Nelson Rockefeller, the Assistant Secretary for Latin American Affairs in the State Department, managed to have his chimney opened (many of the chimneys were not in working order). One day Kenneth had occasion to go in there, and he saw a load of…
At the first meeting of the Far Eastern section of the OCI, Kenneth's new chief bawled him out for contacting people all over the city that he thought might be of help to him. Kenneth never worried about protocol, so he never paid attention to the…
A group of Thai freed from Germany was held in New York and pretending that they didn't speak much English, so Kenneth was sent to speak to them. They were stunned when they heard Kenneth speak Thai. Most of the Thai people wanted to return to…
Kenneth would be expected back at Earlham Collge in January for the spring semester, but then Pearl Harbor happened, and all bets were off. During that period, there was quite an interest in Kenneth among various government agencies, which tried to…
Donovan brought a man named James Phinney Baxter down from Harvard to run the OCI, and he brought a number of men down from Harvard and Yale, and "the eastern seaboard boys began to take over." Both Yale and Harvard had Far Eastern departments.…
Kenneth tells of the scholars on Southeast Asia who built on his work on the region. A man named Skinner, a professor at Cornell, studied The Chinese in Thailand, and came out with his own book on the Chinese in Thailand (Chinese Society in Thailand,…
There was a lot of partying during Kenneth's time in Bangkok. He went dancing almost every night. When the Japanese were in the country there were no nightclubs, but when the allied forces came in this all changed. By the time Kenneth arrived there…
As Kenneth had worked two jobs, receiving two full time incomes over the past year, in 1965 he was able to fully pay off the mortgage on the 4711 Fulton St. house in which they lived.
Peggy was sixteen at the time Kip was born, and she'd come home and help with the baby. She was going to Wilson High School. So was Bill. Carol was ten and attending school at Alice Deal Junior High. One night, Kenneth collapsed when he and Carol…
Peggy experimented with quite a number of boys in her dating. One night she went out with an Italian boy who was a real tough guy. She never dated that one again. She always had lots of boyfriends. One of them hoped to become a professional baseball…
Kenneth went to a party and played the piano. Life magazine, Kenneth thinks it was, had an article on how to play the piano in four or five lessons. He sat down with that, figured it out, and did it. All he had to know was the melody, and it showed…
Kenneth went over to Saigon with a picture of Harry Truman autographed by the President to former Emperor Bao Dai, who had fled from Hanoi up to Hong Kong, and then later had come down to head up the government of South Vietnam with the French…
Kenneth tells of Queen Ramphai Barni. He visited her farm, recalling the time that she had visited his home in Washington. She remembered the visit as well, and they had a pleasant time together.
Kenneth had good relations with the Thai. As such, he was to be honored with the Order of Exalted White Elephant award. However, as he was not a general, he wasn't able to receive the same ranking of White Elephant as the generals in the group. As…
During work in Thailand, Donovan was to create an aid program for General Pao. Kenneth, however, realized that General Sarit was a rising power, and that Donovan should also pay attention to him. Donovan created a plan for Sarit as well, this being a…
For recreation Kenneth would go out to Glen Echo, up the Potomac River outside Washington, where there was an amusement park, and swim in the public swimming pool. It was very crowded.
Kenneth goes to great lengths detailing his various reflections on the Country Team Seminar. Altogether, there were four five-week sessions and one instructors' course which was two weeks in length. There were 277 members to go through the program,…
Kenneth and Bill Donovan went up to the extreme northern part of Thailand for the repatriation of the KMT troops. Both the previous ambassador, Ed Stanton, and the ambassador to Burma, David Key, had been told to assure their respective governments…
Upon switching full time to American University, Kenneth retired from government service at the end of 1965. Dean Rusk hosted the reception for him, and awarded Kenneth a medal for his years of service.
Once again, years later, Kenneth met Mrs. Yipintsoi again and was asked to dinner with her after he spoke quite highly of her at a meeting with a few hundred women. Regrettably, he was unable to attend as he fell quite ill.
Kenneth tells of the return trip with Admiral Layton. He recalls the plethora of items that the Admiral and Bill Godel were returning with, including a three-wheeled bicycle taxi! Kenneth also tells that this was his first encounter with a to be…