Michigan State University Archives and Historical Collections
Major Allison K. Thomas Collection
00222
Table of Contents
Summary Information
- Repository
- Michigan State University Archives and Historical Collections
- Creator
- Thomas, Allison K., 1914-2005
- Creator - Correspondent
- Vo, Nguyen Giap, 1911-2013.
- Title
- Major Allison K. Thomas collection
- ID
- 00222
- Date
- 1945-1997, 2001-2011, undated
- Extent
- 2.0 Cubic feet 4 boxes
- Language
- English
Preferred Citation
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: "Item title, Collection title, Collection Identifier, Michigan State University Archives & Historical Collections, East Lansing, Michigan."
Biographical Note
Allison (Al) Kent Thomas was born on September 21, 1914 in Lansing, Michigan. In July 1945, as an Officer of the Strategic Service, he led Deer Team. The team parachuted into Ho Chi Minh's camp in French Indochina to help General Giap and Ho train insurgents to fight the occupying Japanese army.
After the war Thomas returned to Lansing and became an attorney. In 1995, he returned to Vietnam and visited with General Giap as part of a Ford Foundation project to repair relations with Vietnam.
Al Thomas passed away May 7, 2005.
Scope and Contents note
The Allison K. Thomas collection contains photographs, correspondence, books, magazines, and articles. Thomas served in Vietnam with Ho Chi Minh and helped the fight against the Japanese. The materials include correspondence from Giap, articles about Thomas, Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh, photographs of Thomas in Vietnam, excerpts from Thomas, diaries, copy of Thomas' report on Deer Mission, and photographs of Thomas' return to Vietnam in the 1990s.
Administrative Information
Publication Information
Michigan State University Archives and Historical Collections August 2012
Conrad Hall888 Wilson Road, Room 101
East Lansing , MI, 48824
517-355-2330
archives@msu.edu
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.
Legal Status
Copyright: Michigan State University. Property Rights: Michigan State University.
Conditions Governing Use
Permission to publish material from this collection must be obtained from University Archives & Historical Collections, Michigan State University.
Controlled Access Headings
Corporate Name(s)
- United States. Office of Strategic Services.
Genre(s)
- Clippings (Books, newspapers, etc.)
- Diaries
- Letters (correspondence)
- Maps
- Periodicals
- Photograph albums
Geographic Name(s)
- Vietnam -- History
Personal Name(s)
- Ho, Chi Minh, 1890-1969
- Thomas, Keith
Subject(s)
- Intelligence officers -- United States
- World War, 1939-1945
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Secret service -- United States
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Secret service -- Vietnam
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Underground movements -- Vietnam
Collection Inventory
|
Photograph Album |
||||
| Box | Folder | |||
|
Album pages circa 1945 |
1 | 1 | ||
|
Loose photographs from album circa 1945 |
1 | 2 | ||
|
Patriotic Vietnamese music undated |
1 | 3 | ||
|
Album |
||||
| Box | Folder | |||
|
Photographs - Ho Chi Minh and Vo Nguyen Giap, group portrait of U.S. men with Minh and Giap undated |
1 | 4 | ||
|
Newspaper article about Thomas 1947 |
1 | 5 | ||
|
Report on Deer Mission by Major A.K. Thomas - draft circa 1945 |
1 | |||
|
Diary entries 1945 |
1 | 7 | ||
|
Photograph - U.S. men in front of hut undated |
1 | 8 | ||
|
Diary entries - laminated copies 1945 |
1 | 9 | ||
|
Propaganda flyer circa 1945 |
1 | 10 | ||
|
Letter (to wife?) September 5, 1945 |
1 | 11 | ||
|
Declaration of Independence of the Republic of Vietnam by Ho Chi Minh undated |
1 | 12 | ||
|
The Imperial Rescript on the Abdication of Ex-Emperor Bao-Dai undated |
1 | 13 | ||
|
The Emperor's Letter to His Royal Clan on the Occasion of His Abdication undated |
1 | 14 | ||
|
Correspondence to Thomas by Ho Chi Minh undated |
1 | 15 | ||
|
Letter to Thomas from Giap circa 1945 |
1 | 16 | ||
|
Letter to Thomas from Giap 2 folders undated |
1 | 17-18 | ||
|
Letter to Thomas from Giap April 2, 1946 |
1 | 19 | ||
|
Letter to Thomas from Giap November 11, 1946 |
1 | 20 | ||
|
Letter to Thomas from Giap, with note from Ho Chi Minh undated |
1 | 21 | ||
|
Letter to Thomas from Giap January 6, 1993 |
1 | 22 | ||
|
Note outlining correspondence in the collection, photocopy of a letter in vietnamese 2007, undated |
1 | 23 | ||
|
New Constitution for Indo-China undated |
1 | 24 | ||
|
Extracts from Letters from Simon Yu, Caltex Hanoi 1946 |
1 | 25 | ||
|
Surrender Ultimatum by Thomas (photocopy) undated |
1 | 26 | ||
|
Receipt from Giap to Thomas, copy September 11, 1945 |
1 | 27 | ||
|
Autographed photo and business card of Vo Nguyen Giap 1990, undated |
1 | 28 | ||
|
Photographs - Thomas with Giap 1990 |
1 | 29 | ||
|
Photographs - Thomas' visit to Vietnam 1995 |
1 | 30 | ||
|
Photographs - Thomas at Banyan tree, with transcription of plaque by tree 1995 |
1 | 31 | ||
|
Letter to Thomas from US Indo-China Reconciliation Project July 1, 1997 |
1 | 32 | ||
|
Report on Deer Mission to OSS by Thomas - copy September 1945 |
1 | 33 | ||
| Box | Folder | |||
|
Articles 1946-1996, undated |
1 | 34 | ||
|
State Journal article on Thomas April 21, 1968 |
1 | 35 | ||
|
Ho Chi Minh Remembered by Americans who Lived and Fought with Him, Major Allison K. Thomas and Sergeant Henry Prunier, the OSS in World War II, interview transcript undated |
1 | 36 | ||
| Box | Drawer | |||
|
Interview with Allison Thomas by Tony Pitch, US News and World Report 1981 |
1 | 37 | ||
| Box | Folder | |||
|
Correspondence 1945, 1973, 1995, 2001 |
1 | 38 | ||
| Box | Drawer | |||
|
Description of Thomas' Visit with General Giap 1990 |
1 | 39 | ||
| Box | Folder | |||
|
Causes and Lessons of the Vietnam War - Hearings Before the Committee on Foreign Relations, US Senate May 1972 |
1 | 40 | ||
|
Photograph - Thomas with David and Ai Marr [author of Vietnam 1945 see volume 7] |
1 | 41 | ||
|
Look magazine August 9, 1966 |
3 | 1 | ||
|
Life magazine March 22, 1968 |
3 | 2 | ||
|
The New York Times magazine April 7, 1968 |
3 | 3 | ||
|
Books |
||||
| Box | Volume | |||
|
Ho Chi Minh: a biographical introduction by Charles Fenn 1973 |
2 | 1 | ||
|
Ho Chi Minh: a portrait by Lady Borton and C. David Thomas, p. 76 2003 |
2 | 2 | ||
|
Ho Chi Minh; a political biography by Jean Lacouture, p. 98 1968 |
2 | 3 | ||
|
The Lost Revolution; the story of twenty years of neglected opportunities in Vietnam and America's failure to foster democracy there by Robert Shaplen, p. 41 1965 |
2 | 4 | ||
|
Strange Ground: Americans in Vietnam 1945-1975 an oral history by Harry Maurer, p.28-37 1989 |
2 | 5 | ||
|
Victory at Any Cost: the genius of Viet Nam's Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap by Cecil Currey, p. 88-97 1997 |
2 | 6 | ||
|
Vietnam 1945: the quest for power by David G. Marr, p. 287-291, p. 284, p. 534 1995 |
2 | 7 | ||
|
Why Vietnam? : prelude to America's albatross by Archimedes L. A. Patti, p. 107, 126-130, 134, 136-137, 171-172, 198, 225, 244 1980 |
2 | 8 | ||
|
Wild Bill Donovan: the spymaster who created the OSS and modern American espionage by Waller Waller, p. 370 2011 |
2 | 9 | ||
| Box | ||||
|
Silk Maps of Vietnam undated |
4 | |||