Oral history transcript, L. Wade Lathram, interview 1 (I), 3/21/1985, by Ted Gittinger
Title:
Oral history transcript, L. Wade Lathram, interview 1 (I), 3/21/1985, by Ted Gittinger
Number of Pages:
37
Description:
Lathram's career history and how he became a Foreign Service officer; how Lathram was assigned to be the deputy director of the Agency for International Development (AID) in Vietnam; safe haven locations for the families of Foreign Service officers assigned to Vietnam; Lathram being apart from his wife while he was in Vietnam; Charlie Mann as director of AID in Vietnam when Lathram arrived; problems with the port at Saigon; a lack of progress with pacification; Bill Porter and the development of the Office of Civil Operations; removing Vietnamese people from their land and caring for the refugees; the decision to merge the Office of Civil Operations with the Revolutionary Development (CORDS) support staff of Military Assistance Command Vietnam under the new name Civil Operations Revolutionary Development Support; the ability of the military to work well with civilian province chiefs; the Hamlet Evaluation System and its reliability; the lack of appropriate weapons and training for the Regional Forces and Popular Forces; Lathram's activities and communication during the Tet offensive of 1968; the stockpiling of supplies for refugees to use; the effect of Tet on the pacification program; why the U.S. got involved in Vietnam; the role of the Revolutionary Development cadre; Daniel Ellsberg's work in Vietnam; Lathram's relationship with Robert Komer; how Lathram went to work in Korea; Lathram's involvement in negotiations for the release of the crew of the U.S.S. Pueblo.
