Kenneth was the first political officer FE ever had who had lived in Southeast Asia and spoke a Southeast Asian language. Up to that time, all matters regarding Souteast Asia had been dealt with by the Europeans, and the FE had to nod their heads and…
Ken and Margaretta fled from Thailand to India when the Japanese invaded. Kenneth was here when they reached this country in early 1944, and he found Ken a job with the State Department in the research section. What Ken did was much more "sedate"…
As the war really got going, people started coming into the State Department from the field, like John Davies, Jack Service, and fellows who were cashiered later on in the McCarthy era. John Davies was fired. Service made a fool of himself by making…
Hornbeck was the political adviser on Asia to the Secretary, but he arrogated to himself the responsibility of adviser to the Secretary on anything. He once delivered to Ballantyne and Kenneth an elaborate speech, all in indirection. Kenneth told him…
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…
When he later worked on the Operations Coordinating Board, he often said that he had been given the best outdoor job in town. He was officially assigned to follow up on all operations to carry out U.S. policy in countries from Afghanistan to the…
Kenneth speaks of what an informal situation it was in Washington at the time. One could freewheel around the town in all the government agencies. He had his own phone book that he made up of all the people who were useful to him. So often he could…
The State Department decided to hire Kenneth because they had no one who knew anything about Thailand, and Kenneth had told them there was going to be a lot more traffic of communication on Thailand. They decided they had better keep it in the…
Kenneth continued working with Donovan in an unofficial way, though he was no longer with the OSS. He helped with the Free Thai movement and then he started drafting telegrams to Gen. Timmerman in Colombo. The response to the first of these came to…
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.
Years later, U.S. News and World Report had a "Where Are They Now?" on Jean Saintenay and Kenneth Landon, asking the question of where they were presently. CBS picked it up, and Marvin Kalb came out to the Landon's home with a big crew to tape…
When Kenneth traveled out to Southeast Asia in late 1945, after the war, he had another experience concerning time. He was to meet some Siamese officials and US Legation members. Kenneth urged his fellow Americans to be on time, but they would hurry…
At the Thai celebration dinner, Dr. Thongpleo delivered an eloquent speech of gratitude to the Americans. He was one of Thailand’s "senators," and was quite an orator. He expressed elaborate appreciation to Kenneth for all he had done, and to the…
One night, Charlie Yost, Irena, and Kenneth had gone to the Royal Palace, and were standing about having "pre-prandial drinks" when the lights went out. Phumipol lit a cigarette lighter and held it under his chin, so that everyone was in shadow,…
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…
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,…
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 explains how he obtained the classified documents of Regent Pridi Panomyong. It was through a Thai who was an aide to Pridi who wanted to marry a girl in the church at Trang, a Christian girl. He was not a Christian. He came to Kenneth to…
Prince Dhani, the minister of education at that time, came all the way down from Bangkok to read Pridi's economic plan that Kenneth had obtained when he was still a missionary. The documents were classified and could not be in the public domain. The…
While in Bangkok, Kenneth met a man by the name of James Thompson who had been in the town for some time and received a letter from his wife in the US that she was divorcing him because he was not coming back. Thompson was devastated by the letter…
Kenneth remembers king Ananda and his family coming back from Switzerland while Kenneth was still in Bangkok. He read a speech and it was obvious that he did not speak Thai as well as Kenneth did. The royal family subsequently held a dinner and…
From Rangoon, Kenneth went on over to Bangkok. There was an OSS mission in Bangkok, represented by James Thompson. On the Legation side, only one other American was there, having arrived the day before Kenneth to represent the USAF, Ted Grundahl. He…
When Kenneth arrived in Burma, the consul general, Glen Abby briefed him on conditions in the country. Burma was disturbed politically, and the Burmese were determined to drive the British out of their country. There were plots and people being shot…
On his way to Bangkok from Paris, Kenneth flew over northern Africa past the pyramids. He could see the scene of devastation as a result of the war. They flew on across India, landing first in Karachi and then at Calcutta. From Calcutta, they flew to…
Kenneth tells of his experience flying in a C-54, which was a propeller plane. After flying on this sort of plane for a few days, he seemed to continue hearing the propellers. Those planes made an awful racket. The stops were fairly frequent because…