Dien Bien Phu was a major battle of the first Indochina war in which the French fought against the Viet Minh communists. The French objective had been to support the soldiers at Dien Bien Phu, deep in the hills of northwestern Vietnam to cut off Viet Minh supply lines into neighboring Laos. The Viet Minh, however, were able… Read More "The Fall of Dien Bien Phu and the Rise of U.S. Involvement in Vietnam"
Easter with Newt Gringrich
Easter is a time of joy, a belief in miracles, and reconciliation. But some people draw the line at people from another political party, as Joe Borich, who served as Consul General in Shanghai from 1994 to 1997, recounts. This excerpt is taken from “Shanghai Stories,” commemorating 30 years of the U.S. Consulate in Shanghai. Read More "Easter with Newt Gringrich"
Guns and Ganja: Marijuana Usage in the Foreign Service
Like many countries, the U.S. has recently grappled with the issue of how to deal with marijuana usage: Should it be legalized or merely decriminalized? What about the use of medical marijuana? What are the human costs if possession is a felony? And what are the costs if it’s readily available? The following excerpts provide… Read More "Guns and Ganja: Marijuana Usage in the Foreign Service"
The Downing of KAL Flight 007
On August 30, 1983, a Boeing 747, Korean Airlines 007 took off for Seoul from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport. With 246 passengers and 23 crew on board, the routine yet ill-fated flight would never complete the second leg of its journey from Anchorage to Gimpo Airport. Significantly off course, Captain Chun Byung-In… Read More "The Downing of KAL Flight 007"
My Lai — Atrocity and Cover-up in the Midst of Vietnam
On March 16, 1968, in what was one of the most shocking incidents of the Vietnam War and in the history of the U.S. military, an estimated 500 Vietnamese villagers were killed by U.S. Army soldiers from Company C of the 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 11th Brigade of the 23rd (Americal) Infantry Division in… Read More "My Lai — Atrocity and Cover-up in the Midst of Vietnam"
John S. Service – The Man Who “Lost China,” Part I
During the 1950’s hundreds of government employees, entertainers, educators, and union activists were accused of being communists by Senator Joseph McCarthy. Careers were ruined, reputations smeared as people found themselves on black lists and the victims of unjust persecution. In 1950, Senator Millard Tydings (D-MD) headed the Tydings Committee to investigate McCarthy’s claims of Communist penetration of the federal… Read More "John S. Service – The Man Who “Lost China,” Part I"
The U.S. De-recognizes Taiwan in Favor of Communist China — January 1, 1979
“The Government of the United States of America acknowledges the Chinese position that there is but one China and Taiwan is part of China.” With this Second Joint Communiqué of the U.S. and China, issued on January 1, 1979, the Carter Administration no longer recognized Taiwan as a sovereign state, but rather preserved the “cultural,… Read More "The U.S. De-recognizes Taiwan in Favor of Communist China — January 1, 1979"
Ringing in Y2K — on Fiji
The Year 2000 Problem, more commonly referred to as Y2K, was a worldwide scare stemming from the belief that when clocks ticked over from 1999 to 2000, chaos would reign as computers and everything they controlled, including stop lights, electrical grids, and even nuclear missiles, would malfunction because the code, which was often written decades… Read More "Ringing in Y2K — on Fiji"
John S. Service – The Man Who “Lost China,” Part II
John Service, the son of missionaries who grew up in China, was one of the Department’s “China hands,” an expert on the region who also served as a key member of the “Dixie Mission,” which met with Mao and other Communist Chinese in Yenan in 1944. He and a few others correctly predicted that Chiang Kai-Shek,… Read More "John S. Service – The Man Who “Lost China,” Part II"
The Civil War in China, Part II –The Dixie Mission and Losing China
After attempting to convince Washington that a civil war in China was imminent and that the Communists would be the likely victors, John S. Service and a group of other U.S. diplomats traveled to Yenan in July 1944 to meet with the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party. Nicknamed the Dixie Mission, the U.S. Army Observation… Read More "The Civil War in China, Part II –The Dixie Mission and Losing China"