135. Memorandum for the Record by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Taylor)1
Washington, September 19,
1963.
SUBJECT
- Visit of Former Ambassador Tran Van Chuong
- 1.
- Ex-Ambassador Tran Van Chuong called on me today at his request. The purpose was to warn me against the optimistic reports on the military situation coming from military officials in South Vietnam. He is convinced that the basic facts are quite different. He thinks that there can be no final victory with the Diem Government which is more disliked by the people of the country than was the government of Bao Dai.
- 2.
- He recited his resistance to the Diem program and his efforts to change the character of the Administration. In July 1962, he wrote a very strong letter to Diem urging him to become a political figurehead [Page 269] while retaining the position of President and giving the real political power to a Prime Minister. He resigned this year after seeing the ineffectiveness of his recommendations for change.
- 3.
- He stresses the predominant importance of Saigon, not only as the capitol and population center but also as being the “heart and brains” of South Vietnam. Hence, Diem’s unpopularity in Saigon has a particular significance.
- 4.
- I told him that I hoped to revisit South Vietnam fairly soon and asked how I could learn the true situation, who were some senior civilians with whom I might talk and exchange views. Tran Van Chuong replied that it was impossible since it would be too dangerous for such civilians to communicate with me.
- 5.
- I urged him to think over the problem of a foreign official trying to understand the situation in Vietnam and to telephone me if he had any constructive suggestions.
MDT
- Source: National Defense University, Taylor Papers, T-186-69. Confidential.↩