The Case of Peter Dewey: A Revisit Chau Huy Ngoc, Master Candidate National University of Singapore.
Life and Death (1916-1945) _ Son of Charles S. Dewey, U.S. Representative from Illinois (1941-1945) _ Educated in Switzerland, Yale, and University of Virginia _ Was a journalist for Chicago Daily News in Paris before enlisting in 1940.
_ Exceptional military career: + Polish Military Ambulance Corps + Liaison officer between Free French and Latin America + 1942-43: 8 intelligence missions after joining U.S. Army
_ Joined OSS in 1943: Mission Etoile, Southern France 1944: valuable intelligence and helped to capture 400 Nazis, destroyed 3 tanks
_ Decorations: various incl. Croix de Guerre and Legion of Merit.
_ July 1945: appointed leader of Operation EMBANKMENT to Saigon.
_ Arrived at Saigon on September 4, killed 22 days later on September 26
Peter Dewey in Saigon
_ Mission: “investigation of war crimes, prisoners of war, and the condition of (U.S.) properties…the collection of such documents and published materials…”: not a full disclosure of the team real aims.
_ Had close interaction with the Vietnamese, including Viet Minh leaders in South Vietnam: Trần Văn Giàu, and Phạm Ngọc Thạch
_ Planned for Thạch (Foreign Minister) to go to the U.S. appealing directly to President Truman
_ Moved the OSS HQ from the center of Saigon to the outskirt: better observation of Vietnamese political “atmosphere”
_ Clashed with the British and French: tension grew high esp after September 23
_ Ordered to leave Saigon on September 26 1945
_ Killed when passed a roadblock 500 yards away from OSS HQ, close to the Airport
The “myth” surrounding the death of Peter Dewey
_ The body has never been recovered despite much effort
_ Who killed?: top Viet Minh leaders denied involvement, even blame the French, sent out letters of apology, and called for investigation
_ 1970: the “revolution” memoir Phạm Văn Chiêu, prominent Viet Minh leader in Gia Định: Viet Minh guerrillas did.
Directive: “destroy the evidence, totally”, and concealed the incident from their superiors.
_ At the height of the Vietnam War: Peter Dewey turned into an “American advisor” and his death became a “victory”
Peter Dewey and the understandings of the Vietnam Wars
_ “Cochinchina is burning, the French and British are finished here, and we ought to clear out of Southeast Asia”: seen as an unheard warning to U.S. involvement in Vietnam
_ Access to his dispatches would provide greater knowledge on his ideas regarding the future role of the U.S. in Viet Nam: another possible answer to the question Why Vietnam? Why did a French sympathizer switch to anti-French and pro-Viet Minh?
_ The 1s and 2nd Vietnam Wars: failure due to misunderstanding? May help to prevent further cases?
_ What was the real mission of Dewey’s team? _ Urgent need for writing a history of Peter Dewey’s team in Saigon; Vietnamese version and effort to “clear” his name in Viet Nam historiography
_ History from below and micro history? + Voice of the unheard: postwar-early Cold War transitional generation: OSS men and women + American ideologies as reflected in Peter Dewey + Multi voices from U.S. military.
