Major Allison K. Thomas collection

Collection

Identifier: 00222

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

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.

Dates

Creation: 1945-1997, 2001-2011, undated

Creator

Võ, Nguyên Giáp, 1911-2013 (Correspondent, Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Permission to publish material from this collection must be obtained from University Archives & Historical Collections, Michigan State University.

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.