I was watching Ken Burns' documentary about the Vietnam War and I learned about Peter Dewey, a Lieutenant Colonel in the Office of Strategic Services.
In September 1945, immediately after Japan's surrender, he was stationed in Saigon during a uprising by the Viet Minh. He had stable relationships with both the Viet Minh and the French, even being able to set up negotiations between the two factions, much to the consternation of Douglas Gracey, a British officer who believed in the full restoration of French rule to Vietnam. Dewey's sympathies for the Vietnamese independence movement even earned him respect from Ho Chi Minh, then still a ally of the United States.
On September 24th 1945, he cabled his superiors, urging the United States to abandon Southeast Asia and proclaiming that the French and British were finished in Vietnam. Two days later, on his way to the airport to fly back to OSS Headquarters, he was gunned down by the Viet Minh, who had mistaken him for a Frenchman. One week later, French troops arrived in Saigon, taking over from the British.
But what if Dewey had not been killed and made his way to the US? Would he be able to somehow convince the US to take a anti-imperialist stance in regards to Vietnam and encourage the French to give the Vietnamese independence or at least increased autonomy, avoiding the bloody and humiliating quagmire of the First Indochina War?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._Pe...dLkJeT83TzCoWdn5mjv3zpzSijDWw4-hFJqhuLOe-pvpY
In September 1945, immediately after Japan's surrender, he was stationed in Saigon during a uprising by the Viet Minh. He had stable relationships with both the Viet Minh and the French, even being able to set up negotiations between the two factions, much to the consternation of Douglas Gracey, a British officer who believed in the full restoration of French rule to Vietnam. Dewey's sympathies for the Vietnamese independence movement even earned him respect from Ho Chi Minh, then still a ally of the United States.
On September 24th 1945, he cabled his superiors, urging the United States to abandon Southeast Asia and proclaiming that the French and British were finished in Vietnam. Two days later, on his way to the airport to fly back to OSS Headquarters, he was gunned down by the Viet Minh, who had mistaken him for a Frenchman. One week later, French troops arrived in Saigon, taking over from the British.
But what if Dewey had not been killed and made his way to the US? Would he be able to somehow convince the US to take a anti-imperialist stance in regards to Vietnam and encourage the French to give the Vietnamese independence or at least increased autonomy, avoiding the bloody and humiliating quagmire of the First Indochina War?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._Pe...dLkJeT83TzCoWdn5mjv3zpzSijDWw4-hFJqhuLOe-pvpY