DEAR WALT,

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80R01720R000600100012-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 26, 2004
• Sequence Number: 12
• Publication Date: March 15, 1971
• Content Type: LETTER

Approved Release 2004/12/02 : CIA-RDP80ROI R000600100012-8
'SECRET
15 March 1971
Mr. Walt W. Ro stow
Federal Office Building
Austin, Texas
Dear Walt,
From time to time in our various telephone conversations
we have discussed the perennial problem of documents. There have
been some developments in this area which you may find of interest.
One of my able and industrious colleagues has gone through nearly
the whole inventory of Vietnamese Communist documents acquired by
the allies through capture or other means and winnowed out those that
are particularly illuminating or of intrinsic historical importance.
Appended to this note is a list of some of the most important ones plus
as a sort of care package for an old friend -- an English translation of
each one on the list. You will immediately recognize some old familiars
(e. g., the Crimp) and you may have several of these already; but I
thought you might find It useful or helpful to have a complete set.
I have taken some quiet soundings in academic circles on these
documents with a view to discovering how much interest there might
be in them. My own belief is that it would be in everyone's benefit if
they could be brought or put Into the public domain in a form accessible
to and easily used by scholars, serious journalists, students and
concerned citizens. Opinions on Vietnam are probably so locked in
concrete that few would be changed, but I am nonetheless enough of a
congenital optimist to believe that at least the level -- if not the
content -- of public discourse and knowledge about Vietnam might be
improved if there were greater access to such primary source material.
It goes without saying that any such project would have to be executed
without a hint of government sponsorkhip and (for different but equally
cogent reasons) without government funds. My soundings to date have
indicated that there is considerable interest and we may yet be able to
A -e c EGl4Z:~
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percolate along these lines. The optimum result, to my thinking, would
be publication by a respectable body in a uniform-format monograph
series with each major document constituting a separate monograph
therein, carrying a number and pagination that would make reference
to it easy and unambiguous. If you have any thoughts or suggestions,
please lot me know.
I hope all goes well in Texas and would welcome the chance to
see you over a drink or a meal the next time you are in town. In the
interim, my warmest regards, as always.
Sincerely yours
George A. Carver, Jr.
Special Assistant for Vietnamese Affairs
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Approved For Release 2004/12/02 : CIA-RDP80RO172OR000600100012-8