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}}Archimedes Leonidas Attilio Patti (July 21, 1913 â€“ April 23, 1998) was a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army and an Office of Strategic Services officer who headed operations in Kunming and Hanoi in 1945 when he was a Major.{{efn|name=Major-1|"This {{bracket|village near Jingxi city, Baise prefecture, Guangxi province, China, near Cao Bang province, Vietnam}} was where Ho had his first meeting with Major Archimedes Patti, Chief of the OSS in Indochina; the two men met again in autumn 1945{{emdash}}but this time in Hanoi."{{sfn|Brocheux|2007|p=89}} }}{{efn|name=Major-2|"The full group consisted of thirteen OSS officers and enlisted men under Maj. Archimedes L. A. Patti and five French officers, including Sainteny."{{sfn|Williams|2019|p=16}} }}{{efn|"The man in charge of the American Mission to Hanoi was Capt. Archimedes Patti, whose team was greeted with the same warmth and respect that had been accorded the Deer Team earlier."{{sfn|Bartholomew-Feis|2020}} So was Patti Captain or Major{{efn|name=Major-1}}{{efn|name=Major-2}} when he arrived in Hanoi in 1945? See Notes on Vietnam History{{sfn|Vu Quoc Loc|2023}} for more extensive references and analysis on this issue. }} Patti is known for having worked closely with Hồ Chí Minh and the Việt Minh,{{sfn|Review of "OSS and Ho"}} this before{{efn|On 1945 Aug 26, Ho Chi Minh arrived in Hanoi, invited Patti for lunch, and expressed his concerns about the French and the Chinese in Tonkin. "Patti listened intently. He had met with Ho Chi Minh once before, in April 1945, in southern China, on the subject of potential OSS–Viet Minh cooperation in the struggle against Japan."{{sfn|Logevall|2012|p=100}} }} and after{{efn|Ho Chi Minh became President of the Provisional Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) on 1945 Aug 28{{sfn|Tú Châu (2020)}} or 29,{{sfn|Devillers|1952|p=142}} whereas Patti left Hanoi on 1945 Oct 1 "after sharing one last dinner with Ho Chi Minh".{{sfn|Brocheux|2007|p=113}} }} Ho became President of the Provisional Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in 1945.{{sfn|Logevall|2012|pp=100-109}}

Early life

Patti was born in The Bronx, New York City, on July 21, 1913 to Sicilian immigrants. His father worked as a tailor, his mother as a dress maker.{{Citation needed|reason=Need formal sources|date=June 2023}}He was married to Margaret Telford. They had two daughters.{{Citation needed|reason=Need formal sources|date=June 2023}}

Career

The 1940 U.S. census lists Archimedes' profession as "Special Agent, U.S. War Department." In 1941, he joined the U.S. Army{{sfn|IMDb}}{{Citation needed|reason=Need more formal sources|date=June 2023}} and served in Europe, where he was in contact with various anti-Axis resistance organizations including groups in North Africa, Italy, and Yugoslavia.{{sfn|wgbh.org, Interview with Patti}}He was later transferred to the Office of Strategic Services in China after he had unknowingly volunteered for the mission in January 1944 on an assignment at Anzio with OSS Director William J. Donovan.{{Citation needed|reason=Need formal sources|date=June 2023}}

Indochina and Vietnam

File:Patti Giap US flag 1945 Aug 26.png|thumb|left|OSS Maj. Archimedes Patti and Vo Nguyen Giap saluted American flag, with a Viet MinhViet MinhDuring his career in China and Southeast Asia, Patti met Hồ Chí Minh, the then leader of the Việt Minh, who later became the leader and national hero of North Vietnam. In later interviews, Patti explained that his mission in Vietnam was to establish an intelligence network but not to assist the French in any way in their attempt to re-gain control over their former colony, a policy choice that he believed to be linked to U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt's belief in the self-determination of all peoples.{{sfn|wgbh.org, Interview with Patti}}File:1945 Aug Archimedes Patti, Vo Nguyen Giap.png|thumb|left|Vo Nguyen Giap gave a welcoming parade to US Maj. Archimedes Patti, head of the US Army intelligence team (OSS), 1945 Aug 26, Sunday.]]However, Patti, from a distance,{{Citation needed|reason=Need formal sources|date=June 2023}} helped to organize, train, and equip the fledgling Vietnamese forces that Ho Chi Minh was uniting and marshaling against the Japanese, which later became known as the People's Army of Vietnam. Patti worked closely with Ho Chi Minh and indeed commented on his early drafts of a Vietnamese constitution.{{Citation needed|reason=Need formal sources|date=June 2023}}}}Patti stated that when he arrived in Kunming in March 1945, the French colonials were either unwilling or unable to assist him in establishing an American intelligence network in Indochina and so he turned to "the only source [available]," the Viet Minh.{{Citation needed|reason=Need formal sources|date=June 2023}}Patti was introduced to Ho Chi Minh by Colonel Austin Glass, the OSS expert in Indochina.{{Verify source|date=June 2023}} Patti met Ho Chi Minh on the Indochinese-Chinese border in late April 1945. Patti agreed to provide intelligence to the allies if he could have "a line of communication with the allies."{{sfn|wgbh.org, Interview with Patti}}Patti later helped to co-ordinate some small attacks{{Verify source|date=June 2023}} against the Japanese Imperial Army by using a small group of operatives known as the OSS Deer Team under the command of Major Allison K. Thomas, who worked directly with Ho Chi Minh in August 1945.{{sfn|Berube|2011}}File:1945 Archimedes Patti Vo Nguyen Giap talk.png|thumb|right|OSS Maj. Archimedes Patti conferred with Vo Nguyen GiapVo Nguyen GiapPatti arrived in Hanoi on a mercy mission with{{Verify source|date=June 2023}} an OSS agent, Carleton B. Swift,{{efn|"Carleton Swift, a CIA employee, replaced Archimedes Patti as head of the O.S.S mission in Hanoi." In the interview,{{sfn|wgbh.org, Interview with Swift}} "Swift recounts why he got involved with Indochina and his experiences after he took the mission over from Patti. Swift recalls his impressions of Ho Chi Minh describing him as a slight man and Swift admits to not understand how Ho Chi Minh gained so much power. Swift discusses the way the Americans dealt with the North Vietnamese and the friendships that developed." }} and a French government official, Jean Sainteny.{{sfn|wgbh.org, Interview with Swift}} His primary mission was to assist in the repatriation of allied prisoners-of-war, as the U.S. government feared reprisals against them by the Japanese after the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. His secondary mission was to gather intelligence.{{sfn|wgbh.org, Interview with Patti}}Patti met with Ho Chi Minh on August 26, 1945 over lunch at his residence in Hanoi. Several days later, Ho Chi Minh read a draft of the Vietnamese Proclamation of Independence to him. Patti offered some corrections to the wording of the opening sentence, which Ho Chi Minh quoted from the U.S. Declaration of Independence. Ho also quoted the 1791 Declaration of the French Revolution and the motto “Liberty, equality, and fraternity,” which “first appeared during the French Revolution.”{{efn|name=US-Vietnam-DoI|See the detailed analysis of the US Declaration of Independence (DoI) and the Vietnam DoI in Notes of Vietnam History.{{sfn|Vu Quoc Loc|2023}} }} The (:File:Bản Tuyên ngôn độc lập của nước Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa. - Trung tâm Lưu trữ quốc gia III. Phông Phủ Thủ tướng, hồ sơ 586, tờ số 1 – 3.jpg|Vietnam Declaration of Independence) has a similar structure as, but different in content from, the US Declaration of Independence since the histories and circumstances of the two countries were clearly different.{{efn|name=US-Vietnam-DoI}}Indeed, Ho Chi Minh had requested an actual copy of the U.S. Declaration of Independence from Colonel Austin Glass.{{Verify source|date=June 2023}} On September 2, Ho Chi Minh declared independence, and some hours later, Patti had dinner with him. On the same day, Patti dispatched his Operational Priority communication:Operational Priority{{Cquote|(File:1945.09.02 Archimedes Patti Operational Priority.pdf|thumb|180px|right|1945.09.02 Archimedes Patti Operational Priority communication on the same day Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam's independence.){{resize|200%|{{font color|blue|❝}}}} Have had long conference with Prime Minister, Ho Chi Min and he impresses me as sensible, well balanced, politically minded individual. His demands are few and simple namely limited independence, liberation from French rule, right to live as free people in family of nations and lastly right to deal directly with outside world.He stated that for many years missionary work of propaganda within party, training of youth and preparation for this day has made them ready not necessarily for complete independence but at least the privilege of dying for their ideals. From that I have seen these people mean business and am afraid that French will have to deal with them. For that matter we will all have to deal with them. French are beginning to recognize this fact and are going to be big about it by offering Viet Minh terms for their independence. On other hand Viet Minh is smart enough to see through Machiavellian attitude French here especially Sainteny and have absolutely refused to deal with him.Annamese are in unique advantage our position in as much as Japs have given them independence so they consider themselves free of any sovereign power and this includes French who have been hiding behind Jap skirts, vichy tactics and passing themselves off as friends of Americans. On whole Viet Minh has full control of situation not only in Hanoi [unreadable due to punching holes, and could be guessed as "but also the"] whole of 3 provinces. Their organization is well knit, program clear and their demands on outside world few. They ask they be permitted travel particularly to America particularly for education purposes and that America send technical experts to help them establish those few industries Indochina is capable of exploiting. Prime Minister particularly asked me that American exercise some control over Chinese occupation forces and that Chinese purchase materials and food rather than requisitioning it during occupation period. Furthermore he pointed out and this I have confirmed from other sources Jap and French that due to flood this year famine is imminent and should Chinese depended on Indochinese for their subsistence during occupation period they will all starve plus creating situation where Annamese will be forced to wage war upon Chinese to protect his livelihood and family.Annamese celebrating Annamese independence day tomorrow with high solemn mass by Catholics and special ritual by Buddhists. {{resize|200%|{{font color|blue|❞}}}}| author = Archimedes Patti| source = 1945.09.02 Archimedes Patti Operational Priority communication.}}In the fall of 1945, French colonial forces had returned to Indochina on U.S.-manned Liberty ships.{{sfn|wgbh.org, Interview with Patti}}Patti left Hanoi in late September 1945 after French allegations that the Americans had been fomenting a revolution.{{sfn|wgbh.org, Interview with Patti}}

Later life and death

Patti retired from the military in 1957. For 13 years, he was a crisis management specialist in the Office of Emergency Planning in Washington, DC.In 1981, Patti stated that Julia Child, who had worked at the OSS in 1945, had allegedly submitted his position papers on Vietnam to appropriate authorities, but the way in which he had found them upon his retirement was exactly as she had sent them, and they had never been opened or read:{{sfn|wgbh.org, Interview with Patti}}}}In retirement, he wrote several articles{{Citation needed|reason=Need formal sources and a list of all articles if possible|date=August 2023}} and completed his book on Vietnam. In 1980, he finally published his book Why Vietnam? Prelude to America's Albatross,{{sfn|Patti|1980}} which described his OSS-assigned activities with Ho Chi Minh, the communist and nationalist Viet Minh leader in 1946. His book grew out of his much-shorter 1946 memoir, which was completed in the 1950s, but on which the Department of the Army had put an injunction to prevent its publication due to the anticommunist fervor of the McCarthy era, and out of concern for perceived adverse criticism of US foreign policy by military members.{{efn|Patti wrote in his book: "Our nation was embroiled in the era of McCarthyism. Sensitive to adverse criticism of American foreign policy by members of the military establishment, the Department of the Army decreed that any public disclosure of information or opinion by me on the question of American involvement in Viet Nam would be regarded with official displeasure and I would be subject to disciplinary action. Under protest I acceded to the Department's injunction."{{sfn|Patti|1980|p=xviii}} }}He died on April 23, 1998, at the age of 84, and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.{{sfn|Burial detail}}

Publications

• BOOK, Patti, Archimedes, 1980, Why Viet Nam? Prelude to America's Albatross,weblink University of California Press, Berkeley, 978-0520047839, .

Notes

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Citations

{{reflist}}

References

• WEB, Book Review: Temporary Allies: The OSS and Ho Chi Minh, Diplomatic History, E. Bruce Reynolds,weblink dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20120510065822weblink">weblink 2012-05-10, 2013-01-01, {{harvid, Review of "OSS and Ho", }}

• WEB,weblink Archimedes Patti, IMDb, {{harvid, IMDb, }}

• WEB,weblink Vietnam: A Television History; Roots of a War; Interview with Archimedes L. A. Patti, 1981, openvault.wgbh.org, {{harvid, wgbh.org, Interview with Patti, }}

• WEB,weblink Vietnam: A Television History; Interview with Carleton Swift, 1981, openvault.wgbh.org, {{harvid, wgbh.org, Interview with Swift, }}

• WEB,weblink Burial Detail: Patti, Archimedes L, {{harvid, Burial detail, }} - ANC Explorer.

• {{citation |last=Bartholomew-Feis |first=Dixee |year=2006 |title=The OSS and Ho Chi Minh: Unexpected Allies in the War against Japan |publisher=University Press of Arkansas, Lawrence, Kansas}}.

• {{citation |last=Bartholomew-Feis |first=Dixee |year=2020 |title=The OSS in Vietnam, 1945: A War of Missed Opportunities |url=https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/oss-vietnam-1945-dixee-bartholomew-feis |access-date=1 Mar 2023 |publisher=The National WWII Museum, New Orleans, Jul 15 |archive-date=15 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230315115133weblink |url-status=bot: unknown }}..

• {{citation |last=Berube |first=Claude G. |date=2011 |title=Ho, Giap and OSS Agent Henry Prunier |url=http://www.historynet.com/ho-giap-and-oss-agent-henry-prunier.htm |website=Historynet.com |access-date=2012-12-24 |archive-date=2012-10-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121010194347weblink |url-status=bot: unknown }}, May 24..

• {{citation |last=Brocheux | first=Pierre |year=2007 |title=Ho Chi Minh: A Biography |publisher=translated by Claire Duiker, Cambridge University Press, New York}}.

• {{citation |last=Devillers |first=Philippe |year=1952 |title=Histoire du Viêt-Nam de 1940 à 1952 |publisher=Seuil, Paris.}} See also Philippe Devillers (1920–2016), un secret nommé Viêt-Nam, Mémoires d'Indochine, weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20220629093316weblink">Internet archived 2022.06.29.

• {{citation |last=Logevall | first=Fredrik |year=2012 |title=Embers of War: The Fall of an Empire and the Making of America's Vietnam |publisher=Random House, New York}}, 864 pp.

• WEB, Tú Châu, 17 August 2020, Cách mạng tháng Tám và sá»± ra đời của Chính phủ Lâm thời qua má»™t số tÆ° liệu, tài liệu lÆ°u trữ (tiếp theo) - 08:47 AM 17/08/2020 - Lượt xem: 603 - Bài viết trình bày đôi nét về cuá»™c Tổng khởi nghÄ©a giành chính quyền mùa thu Tháng Tám năm 1945, sá»± ra đời của Chính phủ Lâm thời nÆ°á»›c Việt Nam Dân chủ Cá»™ng Hoà.,weblink 8 May 2021, Trung tâm LÆ°u trữ quốc gia I (National Archives Nr. 1, Hanoi) - Cục Văn thÆ° và LÆ°u trữ nhà nÆ°á»›c (State Records And Archives Management Department Of Việt Nam)., vi, {{harvid, Tú Châu (2020), }}

• {{citation |last=Vu Quoc Loc |year=2023 |title=Notes on Vietnam History |url=https://archive.org/details/notes-on-vietnam-history |access-date=27 Jun 2023 |publisher=Internet Archive}}, CC BY-SA 4.0.

• {{citation |last=Williams |first=Kenneth |year=2019 |title=The US Air Force in Southeast Asia and the Vietnam War A Narrative Chronology Volume I: The Early Years through 1959 |publisher=Air Force History and Museums Program, Washington, D.C. |url=https://media.defense.gov/2019/Feb/22/2002092352/-1/-1/1/USAF%20Vietnam%20Chronology%20v1.pdf}}

See also

• First Indochina War
• Vietnam during World War II

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