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Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6" x 9" black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. Bell & Howell Information and Learning 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 USA 800-521-0600 UMI THE MEN ON THE GROUND; THE OSS IN VIETNAM, 1944-1945 DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for The Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Dixee R. Bartholomew-Feis, M.A Ed. ***** The Ohio State University 2001 Dissertation Committee: Approved by Professor John F. Guilmartin, Adviser Professor James R Bartholomew ~ r \ . Adviser Professor Stephen Dale jDepartih^t of History UMI Number: 9999373 Copyright 2001 by Bartholomew-Feis, Dixee Regan All rights reserved. UMI UMI Microform 9999373 Copyright 2001 by Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Copyright by Dixee R. Bartholomew-Feis 2001 ABSTRACT During World War II, Japan's occupation of Vietnam deepened the poverty of most Vietnamese, substantially weakened the French position in the eyes of both its colonial subjects and the Allies, and strengthened the position of the Viet Minh who, in addition to being able to champion an anti-colonialist stance, could also claim to participate alongside the Allies in the war. Wliile their activities were little more than a nuisance to the Japanese, they reaped significant benefits from the Japanesecoup de main in March 1945, which effectively ended French colonial rule for a brief period and, following Japan’s defeat, created a power vacuum into which stepped the Viet Minh. Also entering this wartime situation were American soldiers of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). As part of their mission to defeat the Japanese in Indochina, those chosen for OSS worked covertly with a variety of groups. It was their association with Ho Chi Minh and the Viet Minh, however, that has been the subject of great debate, especially after the United States’ involvement in Vietnam from 1965-1975. Yet the fact remains that during and immediately after World War II these debates were completely inconsequential. The OSS was concerned with winning the war and finding allies to aid in that mission, even communists and little known indigenous nationalists. Yet many OSS operatives were committed to an idealism - buttressed by what they witnessed in Indochina - that led them to conclude that the age of French colonialism should end. Many believed they were acting on the wishes of President Franklin Roosevelt himself. Many in the OSS became the targets of harsh criticism because of their sympathy for the Vietnamese. But those working for OSS in 1945 were not yet colored by the rhetoric of Cold War anti-communism. Instead, they evaluated the situation as they saw it on the ground during, and immediately following the war. It is the actions and interactions of the OSS men on the ground, and the individuals and groups with whom they worked, which form the basis of this study. ui ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Many people played an indispensable role in helping to complete this dissertation. I give full credit to the people mentioned below, but I alone am to blame for all errors. First, I express my deepest gratitude to my advisor. Professor John F. Guilmartin and co­ advisor, Professor James R. Bartholomew. Dr. Guilmartin taught me a tremendous amount about Vietnam, military history, and the intricacies of weaving together oral interviews and primary documentation. I am especially appreciative of the many fine evenings spent with he and Lore Guilmartin and the fine food and conversation that came with each one. I am deeply indebted to Dr. Bartholomew for providing me with the firm foundation in modem Japanese history that allowed me to pursue this study and to ht Vietnam and the OSS into the context of the Japanese occupation of Southeast Asia. I am also grateful for the support he provided throughout my graduate studies. I owe a special debt to the men of the OSS who served in Vietnam in the 1940s. In particular I would like to thank Rene Defoumeaux, Charles Fenn and Carleton Swift for opening up their lives, their archives and their homes to me. Henry Prunier, Frank Tan, Allison Thomas and Frank White were consistently generous with their time, spending many hours over the telephone being interviewed and answering the myriad of questions that emerged with each step of this work. 1 also owe a special thanks to George iv Wickes, as well as the others, who shared with me their own written recollections of those turbulent months in Southeast Asia. I would also like to thank John Taylor at the National Archives and Records Administration for providing endless guidance through the OSS records and Kate O’Brien at the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives for her help with the Sir Douglas Gracey Papers. I would also like to thank Dr. Jeanne Tinsley, Dean of the School of Social Sciences at Buena Vista University for her support which manifested itself in so many ways. 1 could never repay the enormous debt of gratitude that 1 owe my parents, Richard and Sharon Bartholomew and my grandparents Philip and Fern White for their unwavering support and faith in me. 1 would also like to thank my mother- and father-in- law, Polly and Gil Peis, and my grandparents-in-law. Dr. Bill and Anne Doering, for their encouragement. Without my dear friends Lisa Tuttle, David Hogan, Joyce Grimes and Suzanne Studer, and my sister-in-law, Mary Peis Karczewski, the dissertation process would have been a weary one - thank you for the many pick-me-ups as I confined myself to the office. Finally, to my husband and best friend. Bill Peis, 1 owe the greatest debt of all. He waited endless hours for me to emerge from the Archives, spent too many nights and week-ends waiting for me to lift my eyes from a computer screen and patiently read and critiqued each page without complaint. As we close this chapter, we begin the next adventure. VITA August 6, 1965............................................. Born - Morgantown, West Virginia 1989 ..............................................................M.A. Ed. - College of William and Mary 1989 - 1993 .................................................. Graduate Teaching and Research Associate The Ohio State University 1993 - 1996 ................................................. Adjunct Instructor of History Heidelberg College, Tiffin, Ohio 1996 - present...............................................Assistant Professor of History Buena Vista University, Storm Lake, Iowa FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field; History VI TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract ............................................................................................................ n Acknowledgments ......................................................................................... iv Vita................................................................................................................. vi List of Maps................................................................................................... viii Chapters; Introduction....................................................................................................... 1 1. The Situation on the Ground............................................................... 9 2. The First on the Ground, 1940-1944: Miles, Meynier and the GST.. 40 3. The Chameleon: Charles Fenn............................................................ 80 4. Endings and Beginnings...................................................................... 110 5. After the Coup de Main. March and April 1945............................... 152 6. The Relationship Deepens: Ho Chi Minh and the Americans 195 7. On to Hanoi ........................................................................................... 264 8. Cochinchina is Burning ......................................................................... 334 Conclusion.........................................................................................................391 Bibliography......................................................................................................409 Vll LIST OF MAPS Map Page 1. French Indochina...............................................................................