What Donovan wanted from Kenneth was reports on the situation in Southeast Asia as he knew it; the French in Indochina and their relations with the Thai, for instance. Another report had to do with the British in Burma, and where Malaysia and…
Kenneth only called on President Roosevelt once, he says, and he didn't say anything. Donovan did all the talking, presenting Kenneth's report. This was at the end of the three weeks. After this, Kenneth said to Donovan that his three weeks were up,…
Kenneth explains why the OCI became the OSS. The OCI was concerned with developing and coordinating information, and its staff consisted of scholars on the areas of interest. The OSS included that function but also had other branches of "activists…
Kenneth says the US would not have declared war on Japan if the Japanese had not attacked Pearl Harbor and the Philippines. The US did not oppose the Japanese even when they were stripping China and murdering people by the millions. There are many…
Kip has been reading Kenneth's letters of the time to Margaret, who was still in Richmond, Indiana with the children. Kenneth was forever expressing concern about her health, and urging her to walk for exercise, something she loathed to do. "I just…
In 1941 Kenneth Landon kept an office in the Library of Congress, where he enlisted the help of Shio Sakanishi, a Tokyo-born Japanese expert working in the Division of Orientalia. Horace Poleman, who became one of Landon’s best friends, worked with…
Margaret returns to Kenneth's first weeks in Washington and the report he presented, based on his knowledge of the terrain in Thailand. She says that when she and Kenneth were in the final years of their second tour in Siam that the Japanese were…
Margaret recalls a story of the Well's fine set of sterling silver. When the Japanese invaded Thailand, they had to flee. Wells, at the time, was a headmaster at a boy's school in Chiang Mai. Teachers at the school snuck out and secretly buried the…
Margaret explains how, in World War I, President Wilson discovered that the US had no such thing as an intelligence service, and so began to address this issue, but the little that he did at that time had probably disappeared when WWII started. The…
When the Japanese invaded Thailand, many Westerners fled. Thomas Byrd, the British Consul General in Chiang Mai at the time, was one of these fleeing. Margaret recalls the story that Byrd was in a car while others were walking, and upon passing a…
Peggy tells of finding out that she was to have another sibling. Margaret was shocked to find that Peggy and Bill were quite excited at the prospect of a new baby.
Peggy tells of the time the Landons lived in Indiana. She tells of the house they lived in and recalls the mahogany desk which she remembers her mother sitting and writing.
Peggy tells of the summer of 1942 in which the Landons moved to Washington. Margaret would join them a little later, as she stayed behind to take care of the moving and packing.
Peggy tells of the birth of her new sibling. She also recalls the house-hunting process in which, when they found their house, they simply knew it was the right one!
Brad was amazed at how Kenneth and Margaret had made a living. He was especially amazed at what Kenneth was doing as professor of philosophy, then when he entered the government, and when Margaret soldAnna and the money began to flow in. He couldn't…