Daniel Endsley's Vietnam Journal letters

This afternoon we have the PPA conference, with all 14 of the Delta PPA's present. But in the morning Jerry has arranged for a guided tour of the visitors - Godwin and I plus some new people from Saigon - Dyaird of Policy, Plans and Research, Anthony of news and Third Country, as well as OFO deputy Frank Eakin and desk Officer Simmonds. Not all went along - only those who hadn't seen it before.

The tour covered the combined Psychological operations Center to see the support facilities available, and then there were visits to the province Psyop and VIS offices, the TV station, and then over to CORDS for a classified briefing on how we stand in the Delta and what we're doing about it. The briefing was one of the best I have ever attended, and I was pleased that it had confirmed some of the impressions I've gathered during my very short sojourn in IV Corps.

On the tour I was particularly impressed with the VIS office. Everyone was working with an air of purpose about them, and the chief clearly had control. He had developed a very sophisticated circular chart which let him know at all times what each employee was doing, right down to the hamlet level I don't know what Saigon means with its constant carping about us in the field, and I'm beginning to think that the people who do the talking don't know first base from a hole in the ground. I repeat, VIS seems to function reasonably well as a distribution system, and there is no way it can ever be much more that under the present set-up, which we seem to have brought if we didn't actually inspire it. I've already concluded that I would much rather stay in the field than go back to my job in Saigon. I don't know what they do with all those people, and I don't see how I can work effectively with so many layers of control above me.

Before lunch we stopped by the office and Simmonds handed me a letter from Washington which he had brought down. It was bad news - my application for transfer from reserve to regular status has been turned down, presumably because I am now 50 years old. It doesn't make any immediate difference but will eventually; for one thing, as a reserve I am in the Civil Service retirement plan, which is not as good a deal as the Foreign Service plan. Also, reserve appointments are for a limited period of time and an effort it being made to cut them way back. However, the waves of cuts in the last couple of years have put the agency well below its previous strength, and I believe they'll be gearing up again by the time my appointment ends. Still, I didn't like it, especially since the Agency's director of training and personnel had promised to keep an eye on my application and "give me a reading" on it. He didn't. He also knew I had a good job offer and might have figured I would take it rather than go to Vietnam. Or he might not have[unintelligible] at all!

I noticed on the Schedule that the official name of Palm springs West is Abramson Place, so I enquired at lunch whether it was named for our Fred. It was, and the province where he worked is just across the river. I will be going there before I return to Saigon, and will try to find someone who knew him and can give me the details of what happened.

This afternoon I understand that General McConery the two star gentleman who runs DMAC, will give us a pep talk.