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The Truth About 'Christmas in Cambodia' From Someone Who Would Know
Andrew Antippas served as a Foreign Service officer in the U.S. Embassy in Saigon (March 1968 to February 1970) as the "Cambodia Man" and at the U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh, Cambodia (1970 to 1972). He spent 32 years with the State Department (1960-92). ---------------------------------------------- I was startled to read the Aug. 10 issue of the editorial page of The Washington Times concerning the assertion attributed to Sen. John Kerry that he had spent Christmas 1968 aboard his swift boat some five miles inside Cambodia and had been shot at by our Vietnamese allies, as well as the Khmer Rouge. I would like to offer some insights and some background about the subject of Cambodia as it related to the U.S. war effort in Vietnam in that period. I served as a Foreign Service officer in the American embassy in Saigon from March 1968 to February 1970 and subsequently at the American embassy in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, from 1970 to 1972. My job in the political section of our embassy in Saigon was to be the "Cambodia Man." My principal tasks were to follow border incidents involving U.S. forces along the Cambodian border. I worked as a liaison with U.S. forces, wrote reports to Washington, followed the intelligence about Communist use of Cambodia and, given that we did not have an embassy in Phnon Penh at that time, maintained contact with the Australian embassies in Saigon and Phnom Penh because the Australians were the U.S. protecting power in Cambodia. I also worked with the International Control Commission (ICC) in Saigon and Phnom Penh. More at the link Posted by: Capt America 2004-08-13 |
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