On February 8, 1967, famed American author John Steinbeck, then in Bangkok, Thailand, sent Secretary of State Dean Rusk a letter. In it, Steinbeck excoriated the performance of the press in Vietnam and criticized anti-war protesters. Steinbeck is the author of major American literary classics such as Tortilla Flat (1935), Of Mice and Men (1937), … Continue reading The Wrath of Steinbeck: John Steinbeck on the Press in Vietnam, 1967
Today's post was written by Martin Gedra, archivist with the A2 Reference, Research Rooms, and Augmented Processing Branch. March 29, 2023, marks the 50th anniversary of the end of active U.S. military involvement in the Vietnam War and also the end of the U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV). When the Paris Peace Accords were … Continue reading 60 Days, 50 Years Ago
Please enjoy this countdown of our most popular blog posts of 2021. Thank you for continuing to read the Text Message and we hope you join us for more stories, insights, and highlights from the textual records of the National Archives in 2022! #5 "Lucy, I'm Home!"... from the Army Armed Forces Newsmap, vol 1, … Continue reading Text Message Top 5 of 2021
Previous posts, described some of the Department of State’s actions relating to the publication of the “Pentagon Papers.” One key point in the government’s argument against publication was that it would provide aid and comfort to America’s overseas opponents. As the Department’s June 17 telegram about the repercussions of the publication of the documents predicted, … Continue reading The Pentagon Papers, 1971: Use By American Adversaries
As noted in a previous post, the legal battle over publication of the “Pentagon Papers” by the New York Times took place in the Federal court in New York, where the Times was located. To support the government’s position in court, the Department sent information to its officials in New York City through the U.S. … Continue reading The Pentagon Papers: The Department of State Supports Action in the Courts
On June 13, 1971, the New York Times began publishing articles based on a “Top Secret” Office of the Secretary of Defense study of the U.S. involvement in Vietnam from 1945 to 1967. The study had been leaked to that newspaper by Daniel Ellsberg, one of the analysts who worked on the project. The study, entitled … Continue reading The Pentagon Papers: The Department of State Reacts
Today’s post is written by Cody White, Archivist at the National Archives at Denver and Subject Matter Expert for Native American Related Records 58,318. That’s how many names are carved into the reflective black marble of the wall, or were as of 2017 according to the National Park Service. Today, I just want to talk … Continue reading Remembering Tony Dedman
Section I: Enemy at the Outskirts On February 27, 1966, the Panamanian cargo ship, SS Lorinda, was sailing up the Long Tau River heading towards Saigon. The Long Tau is the deep channel passage to Saigon, but is one of several rivers that flow down from Saigon into the South China Sea. Before entering the … Continue reading Operation JACK STAY: US Marines in the Forest of Assassins
Today's post was written by David Langbart, archivist in Textual Reference at the National Archives in College Park, MD Noted journalist Robert Sam Anson died on November 2, 2020. The obituaries printed in The New York Times and The Washington Post mentioned that he was captured and held by Communist forces in Cambodia while covering … Continue reading “Amazingly Poor Judgement”: Robert Sam Anson in Cambodia, August 1970
Today’s post is written by David Langbart, an Archivist in the Textual Records Division at the National Archives at College Park. Dean Rusk served as Secretary of State from January 1961 to January 1969, the second longest tenure in that job in U.S. history. As with many men of his generation, he saw military service … Continue reading Dean Rusk Remembers World War II, 1968
