31. Memorandum of Conversation Between Dr. Wesley Fishel of Michigan State University and the Counselor of Embassy in Vietnam (Mendenhall), Saigon, January 23, 19621
SUBJECT
- Situation in Viet-Nam
Dr. Fishel dropped by the office to correct certain information which he had passed on to me about conversions to Catholicism within the Vietnamese Government and Army (see memorandum of conversation dated January 16, 19622). He said that he has since learned that the information indicating that three Cabinet Ministers, including Thuan, had been converted to Catholicism, is incorrect. There has been only one conversion to Catholicism among the Cabinet Ministers, and that is Huynh Huu Nghia, Secretary of State for Labor.
Fishel said that he also believes that the earlier information that “thousands of officers in the armed forces” had been converted to Catholicism is an exaggeration. Nevertheless, he said that the best information he has been able to get indicates that the number has been large. It has often been based on the expectation that promotion comes faster to Catholics, but he has heard that this is by no means necessarily the case, since he has been told that Catholics are often passed over.
In passing along this correction, Fishel specifically said that he had no reason to change any of the other information or conclusions which he had given me earlier.
- Source: Department of State, Vietnam Working Group Files: Lot 66 D 193, 14. GVN 1962, Political Situation, General. Confidential. Drafted by Mendenhall on January 24.↩
- Document 23.↩