Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project KENNETH P. LANDON Interviewed by: Albert W. Atwood Initial interview date: April 1982 Copyright 1999 ADST TABLE OF CONTENTS Education Princeton University, T eological Seminary 1927 University of C icago; Masters Degree 1932 University of C icago; Doctors Degree Early Career Presbyterian Minister, Columbus, Missouri 1927 Professor of P ilosop y, Earl am College 1939-1941 ,ang-o-, T ailand .Siam/; T ai 0anguage study T ailand .Siam/; Presbyterian Missionary 19312s Columbia University; Editor; 3ournal of P ilosop y Professors ips 19412s University of Cincinnati 4ale University U.S. 6overnment Services Office of Strategic Services 1941-1942 ,oard of Economic 7arfare 1942-1943 Department of State; Political Officer, Far East 1943-1984 Operations Coordinating ,oard, National Security Council 1984- Radio Propaganda broadcast to T ailand Reports re T ailand and 3apan Organizing t e Free T ai Movement Preparing Counter Insurgency Course Travels t roug out t e Far East Hanoi; Ho C i Min Angor 7ar T ai Royalty 6eneral comments and experiences Cosmos Club 1 Visit to MIT to discuss curriculum State Department2s Country Team Seminar President Kennedy Aut or and boo-s about Siam INTERVIEW Q: I re all the first time that I met you% it was at a very busy interse tion in Washington. My wife and I were riding with Mrs. Nelson Johnson, wife of the former Ambassador to China and also a former Club member, 1919-195,. It was an amusing in ident be ause we stopped at this busy interse tion and you were going a ross as a pedestrian and - re ogni-ed her and ame rushing over to the ar to greet her, both of you utterly oblivious to the line of ars ba . of her/ I was introdu ed to you at that time. 0nfortunately, I had never .nown Nelson Johnson. He died before I really be ame a 2uainted with Mrs. Johnson. Did you .now him3 0ANDON: 4es. I -neA Nelson 3o nson in t e Foreign Service A en Ae Aere bot ere in 7as ington after 7orld 7ar II. I ad a number of anecdotes about im from various Foreign Service officers. One of NelsonBs favorite stories Aas about an American going abroad for t e first time, by s ip. He found imself sitting at meals beside a Frenc man A o spo-e little or no Englis . T e first time t ey met t e Frenc man said bon appetit, and t e American, t in-ing t at t is Aas is name, replied, C3ones.C 0ittle more Aas said because of t e problem of communication. ,ut at eac meal t e tAo exc anged t e same pleasantry, t e Frenc man saying Cbon appetiteC and t e American replying C3ones.C ToAard t e end of t e trip it occurred to t e American t at surely t ey didnBt ave to introduce t emselves on eac occasion and t at per aps t ere Aas some misunderstanding of an international nature. On t e last evening on s ipboard as t e tAo came to dinner t e American decided to explore t e possibility t at t e Frenc man Aas not really just introducing imself but Aas conveying some friendly sentiment, and so e spo-e first and exclaimed, Cbon appetit.C T e Frenc man Aas surprised and delig ted and in t e spirit of t e occasion boAed and exclaimed C3ones.C I eard Nelson tell t is story many times, and it alAays broug t roars of laug ter from imself, A ic of course broug t muc laug ter from me. He seemed to feel t at t is tale reflected t e problems of international understanding. Q: Ken, I noti ed from the re ords that you5ve been a member of the Cosmos Club for some 30 years, joining in 1952. Do you re all who your sponsors were at that time3 0ANDON: My primary sponsor Aas a geologist friend, 7illiam D. 3o nston. He Aas a very eavy man and yet seemed agile in t e climbing of mountains. He Aas also internationally minded and became interested in T ailand, an interest t at broug t us 2 toget er. He ad an amusing Aay of tal-ing and telling stories, and Ae Aere often toget er at Scientist Cliffs in Maryland A ere Ae too ad our vacations. I ad been encouraged to become a member by 7illiam Cullen Dennis, t e president of Earl am College, A ere I taug t p ilosop y in 1939-41. At t at time I came to 7as ington, initially to ma-e a report on t e 3apanese in Indoc ina on t e invitation of Colonel 7illiam Donovan in August 1941 A en e began to set up t e Office of t e Coordinator of Information. ,ut I Aas t en so preoccupied Ait t e Aar t at I didnBt ta-e time to appreciate t e Cosmos Club. Q: As I understand it, you be ame a minister in the Presbyterian Chur h in 1927 and shortly thereafter you and your wife were sent to Siam as missionaries. I understand that you spent one year in Bang.o., learning the language, ustoms, and traditions of the ountry, and the next nine years as a missionary in various parts of Siam, as the ountry was then .nown. Do tell me a bit about those ten years you had over there. 0ANDON: I became a missionary because of a series of sermons I preac ed in Columbus, NeA 3ersey, A ere I Aas pastor of a c urc A ile I Aas also a student in t e t eological seminary at Princeton. I Aas one of my oAn converts. At Princeton my studies ad included Semitic p ilology, HebreA, and 6ree-. So I expected to become a missionary in t e Middle East. At one time it seemed t at Margaret, my Aife, and I mig t be sent to a place called Hilla, A ic Aas on t e road to ,ag dad. ,ut t e only opening at t e time Aas in Siam. T e day before Ae landed in ,ang-o- on a little 91 ton steamer going up from Singapore, Margaret as-ed me to tell er all I -neA about Siam. I said t at I understood t at most of t e T ai people Aere tAins. S e t oug t t at Aas interesting and as-ed for more information. I said t ey ad a great many A ite elep ants in t e country and I Aas sure it must rain a lot as I ad seen a picture of t e -ing sitting under an umbrella built li-e a fountain Ait nine tiers. Aside from t ese observations I didnBt -noA a t ing. I didnBt even -noA A ere Ae Aere going A en Ae landed. Fortunately Ae Aere met and ta-en to a residence. T e same day Ae landed, our Ford coupe, s ipped in a box from NeA 4or-, Aas unboxed and fueled and I ad my first adventure in driving on t e Arong side of t e road as traffic moved in t e Englis rat er t an t e American pattern. T e first year Ae spent in ,ang-o- studying t e language. IBve never been bas ful about languages so t at as soon as I learned a feA Aords IBd rus out into t e street and try t em out on someone. My first tAo Aords Aere C oA muc C and Cexpensive.C I Aent into numerous s ops and as-ed C oA muc C A ile pointing at somet ing. After getting a reply I Aould say CexpensiveC and start out of t e s op. 7 at folloAed in Aords Aas beyond me because I ad not yet learned to count. Feeling sorry for frustrated s op-eepers A o Aould folloA me doAn t e street A ile loAering t eir price step by step, I Duic-ly learned oA to count so as to -noA A at t e price actually Aas. ,ot Margaret and I studied t ree ours a day Ait a teac er and t en spent anot er t ree ours studying for t e next lesson. 7e learned t e language t oroug ly as Ae expected to Aor- Ait people and -neA Ae ad to be able to converse Ait ease and Ait out dictionary in and. After six mont s I preac ed my first sermon in a ,ang-o- c urc , not 3 Ait out some consternation in t e audience. An elder in t e c urc came to me afterAard and congratulated me on my sermon and Ait a -indly smile said t at I ad told im somet ing neA about 3esus t at e ad never eard before. I ad said t at 3esus Aas crucified on a pair of Aooden pants. T e Aords for cross and for pants Aere close in sound, and I ad used t e Aord for pants. I Aas as amused as t e elder Aas. 7e discovered t at t e T ai language reDuired an ear for tone, for music, as t e meaning of a Aord or sound c anged Ait t e tone, A et er it Aas ig , loA, even, rising or falling, or acute eit er ig or loA.