M. Forsythe - While Rome Was Sleeping

Jim nodded his acceptance, aware that the murder had far reaching ramifications and he suspected that Evan Scott was a powerful player. “What about your agency or the CIA?”

“No,” Evan responded. “I’ll handle the matter at my end.” Then looking intently at Ben, Andrew and Jim, he continued.

“Even though Vietnam is technically behind us there is much that is not open information even now, so there may be holes in this discussion that I cannot fill. Ask if you have questions, but I may not be able to answer all of them.”

“Just tell us what you can about Kelshaw and how he and Paul Thayer were connected,” Andrew stated flatly.

“That is, whatever you are permitted to tell us,” Father Ben added, attempting to soften Andrew’s abrupt demand.

Evan began, “Paul Thayer began his second tour of duty in Vietnam in November of 1968. George Kelshaw had been assigned to CIA Station, Saigon. Thayer had been a military advisor to the South Vietnamese in 1964 and 1965 and had worked with Kelshaw previously. Both knew the territory well.”

Evan drained his coffee cup and placing it carefully on the desk in front of him continued. “This time around, Colonel Thayer was assigned to headquarters Military Assistance Command Vietnam J-3 (Joint Operations). Among other duties his job was to gather information and report to an office in the Pentagon on the American strategy that was in place prior to the 1968 Tet Offensive. For a multitude of reasons the war was not going well; actually it had not been going well for some time.”

Evan stood up and began to pace back and forth slowly as he talked. Now and then he would look at the three men facing him, take a deep breath and continue.

“Officially the U.S. was not active in Laos, but… do any of you here remember the Domino Theory? It was feared that Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and all of South East Asia could conceivably come under Communist domination. Laos was the key.

By the late 1950’s Laos was in turmoil due to Communist insurgents. After the French withdrawal from Indochina, the eight member SEATO alliance organized under the Southeast Asia Defense Treaty was created to oppose further Communist gains in Southeast Asia. But it could only intervene if all member nations agreed.

Lacking unanimity, SEATO was ineffective, so the United States decided to do something unofficial. The CIA and the USAF Air Commandos were tagged to set up air and ground operations to help counter the Communists. Much later on, a portion of these operations would come under the direct authority of the U.S. Ambassador in Vientiane, Laos”.

Evan commented sardonically, “Everybody was in neutral Laos; Soviet KGB, Chinese, and North Vietnamese regulars. Also Cambodian military or mercenary troops and on top of that you had the Pathet Lao, or the LPF Lao Patriotic Front, the turncoat army that randomly attacked and robbed the Laotian refugees and villagers. The tribal Laotian people were the ones who took the brunt.

“Pathet Lao Army troops invaded villages, captured and sold strong and healthy villagers to the North Vietnamese as slave laborers. Some were sent to work on road crews maintaining the Ho Chi Minh trail while others were conscripted into the North Vietnamese Army. Everything in village life was up for grabs.”

Evan stopped to refill his coffee cup and before he could continue Andrew used the opportunity, “You mentioned Kelshaw and Thayer were in Saigon at the same time, why are we talking about Laos?”

“To answer your question, Andrew, to understand George Kelshaw it’s important that you know a little about the background. CIA and its mission were to work with the anti-communist factions in Laos and provide intelligence on Pathet Lao and North Vietnamese activities. We needed people who knew languages and knew the country. George Kelshaw was born in Laos and was fluent in most of the languages.”

He went on. “Our people were located in various provinces working with locals, monitoring troop movements, communications, and supplying food and medicine to friendly tribes, like the Hmongs or Meos if you prefer, with the help of Air America. That type of aid was used to secure friendship and some alliances, and we did in fact ameliorate some of the suffering of the people.

“Additionally, as time went on we were trying to get a handle on our MIAs and POWs while seriously monitoring the activities of the Soviets and the Chinese. They had an unspoken working relationship although militarily, things were deteriorating between Bejing and Moscow”

Andrew broke in, “What about Chernakov? You were not surprised when I told you that Thayer’s letter referred to a Soviet military officer with him, a defector. You must have known what happened to Thayer…” Andrew stopped; it suddenly occurred to him that Neil or ‘Evan’ knew much more about Charlene Thayer’s situation than he was telling.

“Andrew, this is one of the areas I’m not at liberty to discuss fully.

“By the late 1960’s peace negotiations were beginning and we had hopes of prisoner exchanges. So it was imperative that we were careful to get as much information as possible on the numbers.

“Our government had listed over 550 United States personnel as unaccounted for in Laos alone, and there was a considerable amount of uncertainty surrounding the POW/MIA question. We also had information that POWs were regularly moved around, in and out of Vietnam and Laos.

“The Pathet Lao would not provide lists of those who had fallen into their hands, nor did they adhere to any international conventions on the treatment of prisoners or allow access by the International Red Cross. We didn’t have much to bargain with. We had a list of the names of nearly 300 MIA’s identified as unconfirmed POW’s from reliable sources in Vientiane.

“One of our sources was told by a representative of the Pathet Lao delegation, that their leadership had a detailed accounting of American prisoners and the locations where they were being held, and that those prisoners would be released after the cease fire. If they were captured in Laos they would be returned to Laos for release. As you know it didn’t happen. Only 591 U.S. POWs were repatriated by the North Vietnamese; none from Laos.

“The State Department had been told by a former employee of the National Security Agency that overall there could be as many as 5000 American Prisoners being held. Based on those figures, only 15 percent of American prisoners were repatriated.”

“The Vientiane agreement which the Pathet Lao didn’t honor wasn’t signed until 1973, are you saying that before that we were working covertly for some kind of arrangement to get our people out?” Andrew queried.

“Yes, Andrew; actually, our first objective was to get an accurate accounting of our prisoners; having prisoners returned of course, was the ultimate goal. We knew that our POWs were being moved in and out of country. George Kelshaw became an integral part of collecting information on the movement of these prisoners. In fact George was at one time a prisoner himself.”

The words that Kelshaw had been a ‘prisoner’ caught each of them by surprise. They were strangely silent. Even Andrew whose mind was filled with questions was struck by the revelation that Kelshaw had been a POW. He could only guess at what information Kelshaw had carried as ‘Aunt Martha’s luggage’.

“I cannot give you specific details of George’s entire mission, but I will say that because of his courage and determination, much more was learned about the POW’s than from any other single source.”

Turning to Jim, Neil said,” When I told you there was more at stake than George Kelshaw’s murder, I want you to understand that George carried with him information that could have a serious impact on international relations. The picture I have described to all of you is very sketchy, I know, but I hope that you can see the implications beyond George.”