The DVD-ROMs work with Windows or MAC.

The 38  research sets on the 4 DVD-ROMs include:

(Click set title below for more information about the set and sample pages)

Areas covered in these Central Intelligence Agency Vietnam War documents include:

Covert Actions in Vietnam. U.S. relations with the Republic of Vietnam. Major political and military decisions regarding U.S. involvement in Vietnam and strategies to be followed. Military assistance to the Republic of Vietnam. Situations in the surrounding region including Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand. The relationship among the United States Government, the Diem Government, and dissident elements in South Vietnam. U.S. intelligence assessments of the viability of the Diem Government and the prospects of potential coup plotters. The implications of the Buddhist crisis. November 1, 1963 coup against South Vietnamese president Ngo Dinh Diem. Lessons learned by the Communists from fighting the French. U.S. intelligence assessments of developing situations during the Vietnam War. Soviet and Chinese aid to North Vietnam. Rolling Thunder bombing campaign against North Vietnam. The effect of the international political climate on Vietnamese Communist plans and capabilities. Tet Offensive intelligence. CIA's Air America airlines post reports.

Materials Include:

Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) Stony Beach Files

Material dating from 1972 to 1978. The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), maintains a team based at Hickham Air Force Base in Hawaii, known as Stony Beach, dedicated solely to support the collection of POW/MIA intelligence, through human intelligence collection operations. Most of this information is gained via interviews throughout Southeast Asia. Stony Beach also performs live sighting investigations in Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia. Files include: DIA reports from the early 1970's giving analysis, descriptions, locations, diagrams, maps, and handmade drawings concerning various POW camps. Includes DIA data sheets on individuals in Southeast Asia who have provided "live sighting" reports and information on human remains. DIA memorandums covering information obtained from sources. Communications from the Joint Casualty resolution Center.

Among the many camps in which these files include intelligence on are: Son Tay, Bat Bat Prison, Xom Ap Lo PW Camp, Pho Lu Prison, Reeducation Camp 1 Hoang Lien Son Province, Ha Tay Reeducation Camp, Tra Noc Reeducation Camp, Ha Son Binh, Lai Xa Prison, Dan Hoi Barracks, Yen Bai Camp, Tan Lap Reeducation Camp, Thanh Phong Prison and Quyet Tien Prison.

Report Titles Include:

Laos Prisoner of War Camp Study

Prisoners of War in Indochina RM 5729-1-ARPA

Operation Kingpin: Son Tay Prisoner of War Rescue Operation - A a report written before the rescue attempt giving details of the plans of Operation Kingpin and Two after action reports concerning the events of the operation.

U.S. Prisoners of War DIA Memos - 478 pages of Department of Defense Intelligence information report memos from 1972 to 1978, concerning American POWs. Approximately 240 pages are discernable. Contains various information such as reports of sightings, aircraft shoot downs, and collaboration.

U.S. Prisoners of War Camps DIA Memos - 236 pages of Department of Defense Intelligence information report memos from 1967 to 1968, concerning the possible location of Prisoner of War Camps in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. Approximately 170 pages are discernable. Contains intelligence information such as location, camp configuration, prisoner description, and security forces.

The 213 Field Manuals date from 1960 to 1975. Highlights among the collection of 213 manuals include:

FM 31-15 Operations Against Irregular Forces

FM 31-16 Counterguerrilla Operations

FM 57-35 Airmobile Operations

FM 30-16 Technical Intelligence

FM 31-8 Medical Service in Joint Operations

FM 31-10 Denial Operations and Barriers

FM 45-25 Field Press Censorship

FM 57-1 U.S. Army-U.S. Air Force Doctrine for Airborne Operations

FM 100-10 Field Service Regulations Administration

FM 100-5 Operations of Army Forces in the Field

FM 23-9 Rifle, 5.56-MM, X M16 E1

FM 23-5 U.S. Rifle Caliber .30, M1

FM 23-8 U.S. Rifle 7.62mm, M14 and M14E2

FM 23-12 Technique of Fire of the Rifle Squad and Tactical Application

FM 31-15 Operations Against Irregular Forces

FM 31-16 Counterguerrilla Operations

FM 100-5 Operations of Army Forces in the Field

FM 6-70 105mm Howitzer Light, M102, Towed

FM 6-78 75-mm Pack Howitzer M1A1

FM 6-20-1 Field Artillery Tactics

...and many more.

689 pages of Department of Defense, CIA, State Department, and White House files, and twelve and a half hours of secretly recorded President Lyndon Johnson White House telephone conversations, related to the Gulf of Tonkin incident and the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.

Files include documents relating to the fall of Vietnam and subsequent events. Included among the documents are memorandums, letters, cables, and minutes of meetings relating to foreign aid for South Vietnam; American prisoners of war and individuals missing in action; resettlement of refugees from Indochina; and diplomatic relations with the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Also included are documents relating to the evacuation of American nationals, television network employees, third country nationals, and South Vietnamese, material from Intelligence reports, cables from Henry Kissinger, Ambassadors Bunker and Dean, transmissions during the April 29, 1975 Saigon evacuation.

Among the many topics covered are: Tay Ninh incident, Diem coup, Strategic Hamlet Program, Taylor-Rostow Mission, Battle of Ap Bac, OPLAN 34A, psychological operations, Gulf of Tonkin, naval blockade of North Vietnam, use of napalm, ROLLING THUNDER, problem of domestic dissent, Tet Offensive, use of herbicides in Southeast Asia, the NSC Meeting of 28 March 1969, Nixon Administration taking over command, post-Tet enemy offensive, ARC LIGHT sortie reductions, effect of casualty rates on military policy, NSSM 36 planning, Cambodia's role in the war, invasion of Cambodia and its aftermath, MENU bombing, MARKET TIME operations, pacification efforts 1969-1970, peace negotiations, prisoner of war issue, Phoenix Program, LAMSON 719, COMUSMACV Plan 208, Operation POCKET MONEY, Operation LINEBACKER, and much more.

Once closed testimony to the United States Congress from 1962 to 1968. Seven appearances by Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara before the Senate Subcommittee on Department of Defense Appropriations, Senate Armed Services Committee, and the House Armed Services Committee. Testimony covers Department of Defense appropriations for the fiscal years 1963 to 1972, defense budgets 1963 to 1969, and the defense program from 1963 to 1969.

2,780 pages of reports and manuals by, and created for the Department of Defense, dating from 1961 to 1980 and one 1966 US Army training film on the M16 Rifle and other rifle groups

Concurrent mention is made in these reports of other rifles such as the Armalite AR-15, AR-18, M14E2, M-60 grenade launcher, M-79 grenade launcher, and M203 grenade launcher, Soviet/satellite AK-47, Stoner 63 guns (5.56-MM), S-C and C-SMG.

Material on the disc consists of:

Report of the Department of the Army Review of the Preliminary Investigations into the My Lai Incident Volume 1 Report of the Investigation.

Judge Advocates in Vietnam: Army Lawyers in Southeast Asia 1959-1975 by Colonel Frederic L. Borch III

The My Lai Massacre: A Case Study. By Major Tony Raimondo, School of the Americas, Fort Benning, Georgia.

U.S. Army Chaplaincy Oral History Program Transcripts

Files date from 1948 to 1975. These reports on the Vietnam War were not available to the public until May 2005.

The National Intelligence Council is a center of strategic thinking within the United States Government, providing coordinated analyses of foreign policy issues for the President and senior policymakers. Its work ranges from brief analyses of current issues to over-the-horizon Estimates of broader trends.

The reports show how the US intelligence Community viewed critical Vietnam War developments over a 27-year period, ranging from analysis of the implications of the post-World War II breakup of colonial empires, to United States intervention, to the United States exiting the Vietnam War, to the Communist takeover of Saigon in 1975.

The documents are estimative intelligence products, that is, reports that projected the impact of current trends into the future to give policymakers and military commanders a heads-up about where events were likely to lead and their probable impact on US security interests. Because they reflected the careful scrutiny and final agreement on conclusions by various Intelligence Community analysts and agencies, they were considered the most authoritative assessments of the Intelligence Community.

Key reports among the 174 are:

The Breakup of the Colonial Empires and Its Implications for US Security, 3 September 1948

Prospects for the Defense of Indochina Against a Chinese Communist Invasion, 7 September 1950

Consequences to the US of Communist Domination of Mainland Southeast Asia, 13 October 1950

The Possibility of an Early Major Viet Minh Attack in Indochina, 14 March 1951

Critical Developments in French Policy Toward Indochina, 10 January 1952

Probable Communist Strategy and Tactics at Geneva, 19 April 1954

Consequences Within Indochina of the Fall of Dien Bien Phu, 30 April 1954

Would the Loss of South Vietnam and Laos Precipitate a "Domino Effect" in the Far East? 9 June 1964

Reactions to Continuation or Termination of the Pause in Air Attacks on the DRV, 19 January 1966

Use of Nuclear Weapons in the Vietnam War, 18 Mar 1966

North Vietnamese Military Potential for Fighting in South Vietnam, 7 July 1966

The Vietnamese Communists' Will to Persist, 26 August 1966

Significance of Cambodia to the Vietnamese Communist War Effort, 26 Jan 1967

Evaluation of Alternative Programs for Bombing North Vietnam, 1 June 1967

Problems of Viet Cong Recruitment and Morale, 3 August 1967

The September Presidential Election in South Vietnam, 8 August 1967

Implications of an Unfavorable Outcome in Vietnam, 11 September 1967

Capabilities of the Vietnamese Communists for Fighting in South Vietnam, 13 November 1967

Alternative Interpretations of Hanoi's Intentions, 18 Jan 1968

Communist Intentions in Laos, 21 Mar 1968

Speculation on Hanoi's Motives, 8 April 1968

Hanoi's Negotiating Position and Concept of Negotiations, 6 May 1968

The Pacification Effort in Vietnam, 16 Jan 1969

The Outlook from Hanoi: Factors Affecting North Vietnam's Policy on the War in Vietnam, 5 February 1970

The Short-Term Prospect for Cambodia Through the Current Dry Season - May 1974, 5 December 1973

The Likelihood of a Major North Vietnamese Offensive Against South Vietnam Before June 30, 1975, 23 May 1974

TACTICAL NUCLEAR WEAPONS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

A 60 page report commissioned by the Department of Defense and completed in March 1967.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the military consequences of a U.S. decision to use tactical nuclear weapons (TNW) in Southeast Asia, under the assumption that the war remains theater-limited and that no strategic exchange occurs. The study is divided into two main parts. (1) possible targets for U.S. TNW, and effects of nuclear bombardment on the ground war if the use of TNW remains unilateral; and (2) possibility and effectiveness of enemy retaliation with nuclear weapons supplied by the Soviet Union or China. The report provides its conclusions regarding unilateral use of tactical nuclear weapons, the vulnerability of U.S. forces to enemy tactical nuclear weapons, the use of tactical nuclear weapons by insurgents elsewhere and political consequences.

MCNAMARA PAPERS. STRATEGIC RETALIATORY FORCES. SUBJECT: THEATER NUCLEAR FORCES

WHITE HOUSE - DUCK HOOK FILES

91 pages of files related to "Duck Hook" plans. National Security Council Files dating from September 29, to October 2, 1974.

When President Richard Nixon took office in January of 1969, a high priority was seeking an end to the Vietnam War in a way that was favorable to the United States. National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger produced a strategy, combining diplomacy and the threat of greater strategic bombing. Henry Kissinger set-up a special NSC staff planning committee referred to as the "September Group," also known as the "contingency group," to evaluate the secret plans prepared by members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Washington and military planners in Saigon. The military planners expanded Kissinger's strategy into "Duck Hook".

Duck Hook (code-named "Pruning Knife" by the military) was the White House code-name of an operation President Richard Nixon was given to consider unleashing against North Vietnam during the Vietnam War, if North Vietnam did not yield to Washington's terms at the Paris peace negotiations. Some historians believe Duck Hook called for the possible nuclear bombing of military and economic targets in and around Hanoi, the mining of Haiphong and other ports, air strikes against North Vietnam's northeast line of communications as well as passes and bridges at the Chinese border, and air and ground attacks on other targets throughout Vietnam.

JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF READINESS TEST - DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE & WHITE HOUSE FILES

60 pages of Department of Defense and White House files covering the Joint Chiefs of Staff Readiness Test.

On October 10, 1969, General Earle Wheeler, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, sent a top secret message to American commanders around the world; the order said it had come down from a higher authority to raise their posture to prepare to respond to possible confrontation with the Soviet Union.

Summary reports of information obtained from retuning POWs from Southeast Asia on non-returning POWs.

Compiled by the Air Force Headquarters, Air Force Data Services Center, Air Force Data Automation Agency.

Each volume, dated May 1978, is divided by military service designation, Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, Navy. The reports contain a name listing of the respective American service members, prisoners of war or missing in action, who did not return from the Vietnam War. Information supplied for each name was provided by a returnee; this is raw data and unsubstantiated. Information provided includes name, rank, service, last known status and date of last information, source of information; last know POW camp, POW camp nicknames, physical condition, general comments, and the returnee's name that provided the information.

Reports are titled:

Summary of All Non-Returnees Reported Vol 1 Air Force Personnel Not Returned from Southeast Asia

Summary of All Non-Returnees Reported Vol 2 Army Personnel Not Returned from Southeast Asia

Summary of All Non-Returnees Reported Vol 3 Navy Personnel Not Returned from Southeast Asia

Summary of All Non-Returnees Reported Vol 4 Marine Personnel Not Returned from Southeast Asia

Documents on the disc include:

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE FILES

After Action Report, The Battle of Hue, 2-26 February 1968

A 13-page after action report kept by the Command Historian of the United States Army, Vietnam of the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam.

Command History. United States Military Assistance Command, Vietnam 1968

1,236 pages in two volumes of the formally top-secret United States Military Assistance Command, Vietnam annual command history. Coverage include: Policy objectives, strategy, NVN Infiltration, NVN Political Infrastructure, Navy Operations, Pacification, Psychological Operations, GVN leadership, and outlook for 1969.

Saigon Embassy Infiltration Documents

36 pages of files from the U.S. Military Assistance Command Vietnam, Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence, Combat Intelligence Directorate. A Combined Military Interrogation Center interrogation report of Viet Cong who infiltrated the United States Embassy during the Tet Offensive 1968, compiled on February 28, 1968. This report contains information concerning sapper training and the attack on the US Embassy in Saigon by members of the C-10 Bn. In the PAVN and Viet Cong, the sappers were special operations soldiers who used infiltration, sabotage, and ambush to attack enemy forces. The information was provided by a captured member of the C-10 bn.

Material included in the report covers information on induction by the Viet Cong, basic training, political training, sapper training, training and planning for the January 31, 1968 infiltration of the US Embassy in Saigon, details of the attack and photos of the captured VC informant.

Lessons Learned, Headquarters, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile)

A 74 page, June 13, 1968, lessons learned report. The report follows the completion of a major deployment of the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), from Binh Dinh Province and Southern I Corps Tactical Zone in late January 1968. This reporting period covers the initiation of high intensity combat operations in Quang Tri and Thua Thien Provinces. It encompasses three highly successful and tactically significant operations: (1) The Tet Offensive, which saw the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), prevent the seizure of Quang Tri and assisting in the expulsion of the NVA from their foothold in Hue City (Operation Jeb Stuart 1); (2) Operation PEGASUS/LAM SON 207A which relieved the NVA pressure on the 26th Marine Regiment at Khe Sanh; and (3) the entirely air-supported Operation DELAWARE/LAM SON 216, which disrupted NVA activities by means of a reconnaissance in force in the A Shau valley.

CIA FILES

432 pages of CIA files related to the Tet Offensive. Files date from September 20, 1967 to July 17, 1969.

The U.S. intelligence community provided some forewarning of the coming general offensive in South Vietnam, although not comprehensive details. A working group of officers from the Central Intelligence Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency, Bureau of Intelligence and Research, National Security Agency, and Joint Staff prepared an interim report, entitled "Intelligence Warning of the Tet Offensive in South Vietnam," April 8, 1968. Representatives of the group visited Vietnam March 16-23 to collect documents, receive briefings, and conduct interviews.

Other highlights include: September 1967 memos on North Vietnamese Army (NVA) General Vo Nguyen Giap's statements concerning his analysis of the progress and future of the war. A January 18, 1968 CIA Office of National Estimates report to CIA director Richard M. Helms titled "Alternative Interpretations of Hanoi's Intentions." Various situation reports on the status of the Tet Offensive during its first few days. A February 14, 1968 memo for Walt Rostow, Special Assistant for National Security Affairs to President Johnson, concerning the captured "Danang Document", giving the Viet Cong's assessment of the failure of the Tet Offensive.

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE STUDIES

672 pages of military academic studies related to the Tet Offensive of the Vietnam War.

U.S. ARMY PHOTOS

17 U.S. Army photos of Tet Offensive related events.

7770 pages of text transcription of United States Government documents dating from 1961 to 1969, concerning the Vietnam War.

Compiled from volumes of the United States Department of State's "Foreign Relations of the United." The Foreign Relations of the United States series presents the official documentary historical record of major United States foreign policy decisions and significant diplomatic activity of the United States Government, including the reports and intelligence that contributed to the formulation of policies and the documentation of supporting and alternative views to the policy positions ultimately adopted.

The documents date from 1967 to 1976. They are composed of memos, reports, investigation summaries, confidential informant accounts, newspaper and wire service articles, and Vietnam Veterans Against the War bulletins and flyers. The files give broad coverage to activities of VVAW members such as Scott Camil, Al Hubbard, Joseph Urgo, Michael Oliver, Edward Damato, Larry Rottman, George Roberts, Craig Scott Moore and the person who has become its most well known member, John Kerry.

The files document FBI accusations of a conspiracy to riot during the 1972 Republican National Convention, the passing of classified information to a Japanese communist leader. A member of the Connecticut chapter of the VVAW was arrested with an explosive device en route to a speech given by Vice President Spiro Agnew.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE ELECTRONIC TELEGRAMS 1973-1975

1,560,000 pages of electronic telegram information, including 991,600 pages of State Department telegrams, with 568,400 pages of description/attribution sheets.

Includes approximately 40,000 pages of Vietnam War related Department of State Electronic Telegrams: 1973 - 1975

State Department Cables from the Department of State Central Foreign Policy File, dating from April 1973, to December 31, 1975.

These records are popularly known as the "State Department Cables" or the "State Department Telegrams." This collection contains the fully releasable telegrams determined to have permanent historical value that could be exported from the contemporary Department of State Archiving System [SAS].

The materials relate to all aspects of American bilateral and multilateral foreign relations and routine administrative and operational activities of the Department of State and its Foreign Service posts. The telegrams convey official information about policy proposals and implementation, program activities, or personnel and post operations between the Department of State and posts abroad. After telegrams were transmitted, they were preserved in a central database that contained the text of the telegrams.

Each text file record potentially contains the following types of information: concepts; date; drafter; who the telegram is from; office; subject; Traffic Analysis by Geography and Subject (TAGS); who the telegram is to; message number; and message. The series also includes records such as airgrams, memoranda, correspondence, reports, diplomatic notes, and related material that documented Department of State policies in the Central Foreign Policy Files.

Text searches can be done across all telegram files on the disc.

Vietnam War

Telegrams include approximately 6,492 telegrams to and from the U.S. embassy in Saigon, covering the diplomatic end game of American military involvement in Southeast Asia. Other telegrams relate State Department foreign relation activity dealing with the wind-down of American involvement in the Vietnam War.

Topics include: Embassy reports concerning the current situation with the ceasefire. Plans for economic assistance to the government of Vietnam. Progress of Operation Homecoming and the return of prisoners of war. Military assistance to the Republic of Vietnam. Reports of skirmishes between North and South Vietnam forces. The escalation of Viet Cong violence. Security for American personnel in Vietnam. Preparations incase of the necessity to evacuate the embassy.

Vietnam War events occurring during the period of time covered by the telegrams include:

June 19, 1973 - The U.S. Congress passes the Case-Church Amendment which forbids any further U.S. military involvement in Southeast Asia, effective August 15, 1973

August 14, 1973 - The U.S. bombing of Cambodia ends, marking the official halt to 12 years of combat activity in Southeast Asia.

August 22, 1973 - Henry Kissinger is appointed by President Nixon as the new Secretary of State, replacing William Rogers.

October 16, 1973 - Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho of North Vietnam win Noble Peace Prize. Kissinger accepts, Tho declines the award.

January 1974 - Though they are still too weak to launch a full-scale offensive, the North Vietnamese have rebuilt their divisions in the South, and have captured key areas.

December 13, 1974 - In violation of the Paris peace treaty, North Vietnam attacks Phuoc Long Province in South Vietnam.

December 26, 1974 - The 7th North Vietnamese Army division captures Dong Xoai.

January 6, 1975 - In a disastrous loss for the South Vietnamese, the NVA take Phuoc Long city and the surrounding province.

March 1, 1975 - The NVA launches an offensive in the Central Highlands of South Vietnam.

March 10, 1975 - North Vietnamese troops attack Ban Me Thuot, South Vietnam, on their way to Saigon.

March 13, 1975 - South Vietnam President Nguyen van Thieu evacuates the Central Highlands.

March 25, 1975 - The city of Hue, South Vietnam's third largest city, falls to the North Vietnamese.

April 4, 1975 - The first group of boat people fleeing Vietnam began arriving in Malaysia.

April 4, 1975 - The U.S. military begins Operation Babylift. The first flight of the operation ends when a C5A 80218 crashes after takeoff, killing 138, with 176 survivors.

April 10, 1975 - North Vietnamese Army Divisions march toward Saigon. President Ford addresses a joint session of Congress, unsuccessfully requesting aid for South Vietnam and American allies in Cambodia.

April 12, 1975 - Khmer Rouge advance on the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh. President Ford orders the evacuation of the U.S. mission in Cambodia.

April 17, 1975 - The Khmer Rouge captures Phnom Penh. Pol Pot declares the existence of the Democratic Republic of Kampuchea in Cambodia and makes himself its leader.

April 21, 1975 - South Vietnam leader Nguyen Van Thieu resigns.

April 23, 1975 - In a speech at Tulane University, President Ford declares that the Vietnam War "is finished as far as America is concerned."

April 25, 1975 - North Vietnamese soldiers close in on the South Vietnamese capital of Saigon.

April 28, 1975 - President Ford orders the emergency evacuation of American personnel and high-risk South Vietnamese nationals.

April 29, 1975 - U.S. Marines and Air Force helicopters, flying from aircraft carriers off Vietnam begin an airlift. In 18 hours, evacuating over 1,000 American civilians and 7,000 South Vietnamese refugees out of Saigon.

April 30, 1975 - North Vietnam forces take control of Saigon. South Vietnam forces surrender unconditionally.

April 30, 1975 - At 4:03 a.m., two United States Marines are killed during a rocket attack on Saigon's Tan Son Nhut airport. They are the last Americans to die in combat during the Vietnam War.

April 30, 1975 - At daylight, the last Marines guarding the U.S. embassy in Saigon are lifted off.

May 7, 1975 - President Ford formally declares an end to the "Vietnam era."

May 12, 1975 - Khmer Rouge forces in Cambodia seize the United States merchant ship SS Mayaguez.

OTHER TOPICS INCLUDE:

Soviet Union

Telegrams include 20,377 telegrams to and from the U.S. embassy in Moscow.

Topics include: The Strategic Arms Limitation Talks II. SALT II was a second round of talks from 1972 to 1979 between the U.S. and Soviet Union, which sought to curtail the manufacture of strategic nuclear weapons. It was a continuation of progress made during the SALT I talks. The Nixon-Brezhnev summit meetings. Space cooperation and the planning for the Apollo-Soyuz joint space mission. Developments concerning Jewish emigration.

Henry Kissinger

Telegrams include 98,571 telegrams to, from, and mentioning Henry Kissinger. The telegrams cover a period of time in which Henry Kissinger served concurrently as both Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, commonly referred to as the National Security Advisor, and as United States Secretary of State. During this time, Kissinger was pioneering the policy of détente that led to a significant relaxation in U.S.–Soviet tensions. In 1973, Kissinger negotiated the end to the Yom Kippur War, which had begun with a surprise attack against Israel by Egyptian and Syrian forces.

The many international and domestic events occurring during the period of time covered by the telegrams include:

July 16, 1973 - Watergate Scandal: Former White House aide Alexander Butterfield informs the United States Senate Watergate Committee, that President Richard Nixon had secretly recorded potentially incriminating conversations.

September 11, 1973 - Chile's democratically-elected government is overthrown in a military coup after serious instability. President Salvador Allende dies, and General Augusto Pinochet heads a U.S.-backed military junta that will govern Chile for the next 16 years.

October 6, 1973 - Yom Kippur War: The fourth and largest Arab-Israeli conflict begins, as Egyptian and Syrian forces attack Israel on Yom Kippur.

October 22, 1973 - Egypt defects to the American camp by accepting a U.S. cease-fire proposal during the October 1973 war.

October 17, 1973 - The Arab Oil Embargo against several countries which supported Israel triggers the 1973 energy crisis.

November 25, 1973 - Greek Dictator George Papadopoulos is ousted in a military coup led by Lieutenant General Phaidon Gizikis.

April 1974 - The Angolan Civil War. This conflict devastated newly-independent Angola following the end of Portuguese colonial rule in April 1974. It became Africa's longest running conflict. Formally brought to an end in 2002, an estimated 500,000 people were killed and tens of thousands more were displaced during the 27-year civil war.

May 18, 1974 - Nuclear test: Under project Smiling Buddha, India successfully detonates its first nuclear weapon, becoming the sixth nation to do so.

July 1974 - After an attempted coup against the Makarios government by extreme right-wing factions aided by the Greek junta, Turkey invaded Cyprus.

August 9, 1974 - President of the United States, Richard Nixon, resigns from office.

August 9, 1974 - Gerald Ford becomes President of the United States upon the resignation of Nixon.

August 14, 1974 - Turkey invades Cyprus for the second time, occupying 37% of the island's territory.

September 12, 1974 - The pro-Western monarch of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie, is ousted by a Marxist military junta.

January 1, 1975 - In the Watergate scandal, John N. Mitchell, H. R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman are found guilty.

January 7, 1975 - OPEC mets and agrees to raise crude oil prices by 10 percent.

March 1, 1975 - The NVA launches an offensive in the Central Highlands of South Vietnam.

August 27, 1975 - Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie dies, bringing an end to the 3000 year-old monarchy.

September 1, 1975 - Israel and Egypt initialed the Sinai II agreement on disengagement.

November 11, 1975 - Angola gains its independence from Portugal, soon followed by civil war.

November 25, 1975 - The Irish Republican Army is outlawed in the United Kingdom.

November 28, 1975 - Portuguese Timor declares its independence from Portugal.

December 2, 1975 - Communist lead Pathet Lao takes control of Laos.

December 7, 1975 - Indonesia invades East Timor.

200 pages of key documents from the McGeorge Bundy Papers. Papers from President Kennedy National Security files, January 20, 1961 to November 22, 1963. The working files of McGeorge Bundy, the Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs during the Kennedy administration.

Documents include: A report of the McNamara-Taylor Mission to South Vietnam. This memorandum sums up the situation that Secretary McNamara and General Taylor found in South Vietnam. It also discusses their recommendations for the future. A continued operation of Tran Kim Tuyen's coup d'etat group report. A sanitized CIA information report/telegram dated 17 September 1963. It concerns the continued operation of Tran Kim Tuyen. American Opinion Summary Department of State, Vietnam, dated 10 September. This State Department opinion summary details the varying currents of American opinion vis-a-vis the United States's continued involvement in Vietnam. Incoming telegram from Saigon to the Secretary of State dated September 11, 1963. In this telegram Henry Cabot Lodge gives his estimate on the current situation in Vietnam. He talks about how the situation is worsening rapidly, as well as, the attitudes of the Vietnamese people. Memorandum from McGeorge Bundy on President Kennedy's consideration of a recommendation to withdraw troops from South Vietnam.

1,410 pages text transcriptions from the Department of States' "Foreign Relations of the United States, 1961-1963," Volume I and Volume II, covering 1961 and 1962.

4,900 pages of files copied from FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C., and archived on CD-ROM covering American POWs/MIAs in Southeast Asia. Files document various FBI state side investigations into reported sightings of the remains of and living U.S. servicemen in Vietnam and Laos. Files chronicle a 1970-1973 FBI investigation of the Committee of Liaison with Families of Servicemen Detained in North Vietnam (COLIFAM), a U.S. antiwar group acting as "liaison" between POWs and their families. The group was alleged by the FBI to be a vehicle of North Vietnamese propaganda whose activities the FBI believed to be detrimental to the health and welfare of the prisoners held in North Vietnam. The FBI was investigating COLIFAM for possible prosecution for solicitation under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. Files show the efforts of the FBI in 1982 to compile information concerning American prisoners of war or American citizens in Vietnam. In 1992, the FBI provided assistance to the Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs by furnishing information and/or performing investigations on behalf of the Committee on all facets of POW issues.

2,200 pages of CIA operational files, finished intelligence reports, memoranda, background studies, and open source files dealing with American POWs/MIAs in Southeast Asia from 1962 to 1992, mostly from the late 60's and early 70's. These records concerning Vietnam-era prisoners of war and missing in action were located, reviewed and released as a result of requests from next of kin and other interested parties concerning specific individuals in this category. Most of the records, however, were released as a result of Executive Order 12812 dated July 1992. This order required all executive branch agencies of the government to review declassify and release all relevant documents pertaining to American POWs and MIAs missing in Southeast Asia.

570 pages of Department of State American POWs/MIAs in Southeast Asia files. Files contain memoranda dealing with diplomatic issues from the late 1980's and early 1990's.

On 12 May 1975, Khmer Rouge gunboats seized the United States merchant ship SS Mayaguez in international waters, in the Gulf of Thailand. The ship, its captain, and its crew of 39, were captured some 60 nautical miles southwest of Cambodia near the Poulo Wai Islands. The ship was on its way to Thailand carrying commercial cargo and supplies for American servicemen and the U.S. embassy. The initial US military response was limited to surveillance of the ship. In the early morning hours of 13 May, US Navy P-3 reconnaissance aircraft spotted the vessel near Poulo Wai. Later in the morning the Mayaguez steamed to Koh Tang Island under the control of her captors. After efforts to secure the release of the ship and its crew failed, U.S. military forces were ordered to undertake a rescue mission. Three days after the Mayaguez seizure, six Air Force helicopters were dispatched to the island. One of the helicopters came under heavy enemy fire as it approached the eastern beach of the island. The aircraft crashed into the surf with 26 men on board. Half were rescued at sea, leaving 13 unaccounted-for.

JOHN MCCAIN VIETNAM WAR POW CIA & DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE FILES

John McCain Vietnam War POW CIA & Department of Defense Files

270 pages of CIA and Department of Defense documents and transcriptions, of foreign broadcasts, from 1967 to 1981, relating to John McCain's captivity in North Vietnam.

The 35 pages of original documents in this set are intercept reports from the CIA'S Foreign Broadcast Information Service and the Message Center of the U.S. Department of Defense National Military Command Center. The Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) is an open source intelligence component of the CIA's Directorate of Science and Technology that monitors, translates, and disseminates within the US Government openly available news and information from non-US media sources. The FBIS became known as the Open Source Center OSC)in 2005. The files date from October 11, 1967 to February 20, 1973. The CIA files in this set were released by the CIA in poor condition. A transcript of each page has been added to the set.

THE CODE OF CONDUCT AND THE VIETNAM WAR BY JOHN S. MCCAIN

The report, "The Code of Conduct and the Vietnam War," by John S McCain, Commander United States Navy, a 44 page, April 8, 1974, individual research project conducted by Commander John S. McCain, at the National War College.

The purpose of this paper was to review the Code of Conduct in the perspective of the Vietnam prisoner of war experience and to make recommendations for changes to the code itself and to the training and indoctrination of the members of the Armed Forces in the Code of Conduct. Additionally, recommendations are presented for the education of the members of the Armed Forces and the U.S. public in order to minimize the use of POWS in the future as political hostages and propaganda vehicles.

The Vietnam War was the first test of the Code of Conduct. The majority of the American POWS were held captive longer than in any other war engaged in by Americans. The paper discusses the Code of Conduct, article by article, and assesses its value and viability as they related to the Vietnam War experience. The report compares conditions and treatment American POWs experienced in Vietnam, and how it effected their ability to live up to the code.

In the report Commander McCain writes that, "The American people have been inoculated with too many John Wayne movies and other examples of unbreakable will and super human strength. It has been amply proved that every man has a breaking point."

JOHN S. MCCAIN, III AUDIO INTERVIEW

A 28 minute audio recording of a January 23, 2003, interview of John McCain, conducted by the Library of Congress Veterans History Project.

McCain speaks about: The effect of attending on the Naval Academy on his life. His disagreement over how the air campaign against North Vietnam was carried out. The fire aboard the USS Forrestal. While McCain was inside his plane on the deck of the Forrestal, a huge fire began among the aircraft on the flight deck. The fire spread into her hangar and took more than 130 lives of Forrestal crew members. Details about his shoot down and capture in Hanoi. His treatment while in captivity. Staying mentally alert while a prisoner. Being offered early release from being a POW. Refusing early release according to the Code of Conduct. The history and use of the Code of Conduct. The transition to post-POW life.

CIA POW/MIA SELECT FILES

126 pages of selected CIA files dating from 1966 to 1971. The files concern the treatment of American POWs. The files cover: The exploitation of U.S. POWs for propaganda purposes. Experiences of American pilots captured in Vietnam. Intelligence on Hoa Lo Prison, also known as Hanoi Hilton. Lessons used in the indoctrination of American POWs. North Vietnamese policy toward American POWs. The Viet Cong practices involving the taking of POWs. The air raids that took place in and around Hanoi during the period of time of McCain's last sortie. The use of POWs for propaganda broadcasts. The Viet Cong prison system for Vietnamese under their detention.

NAVY CITATIONS RECORDS

19 pages of Navy citations documenting the awards and medals presented to John S. McCain III.

PHOTOGRAPHS