LOWELL THOMAS

HAMMERSLEY HILL
PAWLING, NEW YORK 12564

December 16, 1969

Dear Dr. Kissinger,

I'm sure you won't have time to read
it but the President asked for a copy of the latest
edition and I am also sending one to you.

Although a small library has grown
up on Lawrence, I guess mine is still the only book
ever written about him by someone who was in
Arabia with him during World War One.

I much enjoyed chatting with you the
other afternoon and hope I have another opportunity
to do so before too long -- not just from epoch to
epoch, as Cordell Hull remarked to me on one
occasion when he chided me for the way I seemed
to avoid Washington.

Dr. Henry Kissinger
The White House
Washington, D.C.

EMBASSY
OF THE POLISH PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC

2640-16TH STREET, N. W.
WASHINGTON, D. C. 20009

Washington, D.C.

July 24, 1972

Dr. Henry A. Kissinger
National Security Adviser
to the President of the
United States
The White House
Washington, D.C.

My dear Dr. Kissinger,

May I convey to you a little book on the
visit of the President of the United States to Warsaw.

I hope it will be a reminder of this great
event in the history of our mutual relations and the
success of the visit to which you personally contributed
so much.

<table>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>DEPARTMENT OF STATE</td>
      <td>CLASSIFICATION</td>
      <td rowspan="2">UNCLASSIFIED</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>TRANSMITTAL SLIP</td>
      <td>DATE</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td></td>
      <td>July 19, 1973</td>
      <td>[c]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>TO</td>
      <td colspan="2">For the Attention of</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Department of State, EA/VN</td>
      <td colspan="2">Mr. Askew</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>FROM</td>
      <td colspan="2">American Embassy, Saigon</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td colspan="2">TO THE FOREIGN SERVICE</td>
      <td>TO THE DEPARTMENT</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>☐ For Transmittal to Addressee at the Discretion of Post</td>
      <td>☐ Dept. Information Only</td>
      <td></td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>☐ Post Information Only</td>
      <td>☐ CERP Publications</td>
      <td></td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>☐ Transmit to Foreign Office</td>
      <td>☐ Enclosure to Previous Airgram</td>
      <td></td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>☐ Submit Report</td>
      <td>☐ Reply to Department Request</td>
      <td></td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>☐ Reply to the Individual</td>
      <td></td>
      <td></td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td colspan="2">Transmit to: (U. S. Agency)</td>
      <td></td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td colspan="2">☐ Inform:</td>
      <td></td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td colspan="3">REFERENCE</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td colspan="3">ITEMS/REMARKS</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td colspan="3">Mr. Nguyen Van Trong, a Vietnamese artisan from Dalat, has requested that a woodcarving be presented to Dr. Kissinger.</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td colspan="3">IN REPLY REFER TO FILE NUMBER AND DRAFTING OFFICE</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>FILE NO.</td>
      <td>SIGNATURE</td>
      <td>H. Reid Bird</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>CLASSIFICATION</td>
      <td>OFFICE</td>
      <td></td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>UNCLASSIFIED</td>
      <td>EX</td>
      <td></td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

FORM 12-64

DS-4

(Translation)

Nguyen Van Trong
204E Phan dinh Phung
Dalat, Vietnam

July 15, 1973

Dr. Kissinger
Washington, D.C.

Dear Sir:

I am a Vietnamese artisan of the woodworking profession.

Within the spirit of respect for your role during the historical period through which we have passed, I present to you a work called

"Vinh Quy Bai To"

I wish to introduce this work to you principally as a most representative picture of traditional Vietnamese examinations of old and secondly I am happy to introduce you and your country to a new form of art of my country, Vietnam.

I hope that the work "Vinh Quy Bai To" will bring you some small bit of happiness.

VINH QUY BAI TO

"Last December I saw a picture of Dr. Kissinger as he was leaving the Majestic Hotel in Paris. He was happy and laughing. Then in January the Paris Agreement was signed. As a Vietnamese, there is nothing more precious to me than peace, and Dr. Kissinger is the man who has brought peace to my country. He is the man who I most respect in the world. Only because of the appreciation which I feel for him was I able to create this work."

With the above words, Dalat wood carver Nguyen Van Trong explained the origin of his gift carving to Dr. Kissinger entitled "Vinh Quy Bai To." In Vietnamese, a man who holds a PhD. is called Tieng Si which is the highest academic degree. The concurrence of high academic achievement and high appointment in government is deeply rooted in Vietnamese history and tradition. Following the Chinese, the Vietnamese Emperors ruled through a mandarinal system. Mandarins were chosen on the basis of their knowledge of Confucian learning. Once every three years an examination was held in the imperial capitol at Hue. Only a very few superior individuals passed the examination: they would be the future mandarins.

Vinh Quy Bai To was the ceremony to which each successful candidate was entitled. The emperor provided him with special garments, a horse, and a troop of imperial soldiers who carried banners, tamborines, a special box containing his certificate, and a litter on which his wife was to be carried behind him, as well as parasols to protect the couple (two for him and one for her). The procession left the imperial city taking the young mandarin to the village of his birth. The wife was so honored because it was traditional for her to have supported her husband while he was studying for the examinations. As the procession entered the village, the people would stand on both sides of the road greeting and praising the young man who had brought honor to his birthplace. Here he would pay homage to his parents and ancestors, paying visits to family tombs, before returning to the imperial city to be given his assignment in the capitol or the provinces.

The Chinese letters at the top of the carving spell out in the old Vietnamese chu who the words "Vinh Quy Bai To"

Vinh - to pass the examination

Quy - to return to one's village

Bay - to worship and pay homage

To - ancestors

NGUYEN VAN TRONG

Nguyen Van Trong was born on May 2, 1917 at Chinh Kinh village, Ha Dong province in North Vietnam, just five kilometers from Hanoi. His village was well-known as the birthplace of many mandarins including members of the family, some of whom were privileged to serve the Emperor in the imperial capital at Hue. His own father was a minor official who died when Trong was only eight years old; his mother passed away when he was seventeen. The artist had a limited education but a firm Buddhist background. In 1937 he left the hardships of North Vietnam for the South where land was plentiful and a living could be made more easily. He soon settled in Dalat, South Vietnam's principal mountain resort city and an important cultural and educational center. Here in Dalat, Trong married and has raised a family of seven children. Although the family works a few hectares of farmland in nearby Tuyen Duc province, the main family business has been selling souvenirs made of the plentiful local pine: wall plaques, name plates, miniature boats, and Montagnard style houses.

It was only about a year ago that Trong's natural talent and his obsession with precision and perfection combined with his self-taught knowledge of Vietnamese tradition and religion brought him to create a new art form. His wood carving is based on the crude, commercial handicraft common in the Dalat market, but he has succeeded in raising this to the level of art. Mr. Trong has said, "Many people here do what I do, but none do it so well." His subjects run from portraits of national heroes, scenes of historical events, and Confucian tradition, to the delicate petals of an orchid. Trong's work is rapidly becoming known in Dalat and in Vietnam. He has exhibited his carvings at the University of Dalat where his two oldest daughters attend school, and at the city's Linh Son Pagoda where he is an active lay leader. In these early exhibits, many of the artists original works were snapped up by local enthusiasts and now hang in the homes of such prominent individuals as Dalat's Mayor Col. Nguyen Hop Doan and Lower House Deputy Dinhe Wan De. Mr. Trong has had offers to exhibit his work at the Van Hanh University and at the upcoming national meeting of the Unified Buddhist Association in Danang. He says, however, that he must wait several months to develop enough new works for an exhibit. Trong's art is an end in itself. "Many people work hard and will do anything to make a lot of money so they can buy a big house and an automobile. My work is my automobile. It gives me great pleasure." Indeed, the artist lives in a modest home at the end of a small alleyway; yet inside it is spotless and filled with traditional objects, art, music, and religion.

DANIEL A. STRASSER
U.S. Consul (TDY), Dalat, RVN

KISSINGER, HENRY A.

MAR 28 1973

Dear Mr. Ambassador:

Thank you very much for the photographs taken
during my visit with Prime Minister Tanaka
and Foreign Minister Ohira. They are indeed
a good moment of my stay in Japan and I
appreciate your thoughtfulness very much.

With warm regards,

His Excellency,
Nobuhiko Ushiba
Ambassador of Japan
600 New Hampshire Avenue N. W.
Washington, D. C. 20037

RECEIVED
MAR 30 1973

CENTRAL FILES

March 30, 1973

Dear Dr. Kissinger,

Please accept this etching as a memento of an event which took place while you were away earlier this year. It was an event which as you know marked the beginning of a new era in this country, one of peace (with Honor), good will, prosperity, love, honesty and hope.

As one so actively a part of this event, I hope this etching will in the future, serve to remind you of this great day.

PS I have retouched out the photographer that was in the background in order to preserve the dignity of the event.