Kay Boyle papers relating to the Citizens' Mission to Cambodia

Kay Boyle's concern over the potential expansion of the Vietnam War prompted her to accept the invitation of the organization "Americans Want to Know" and embark on a two-week fact finding mission to the area bordering Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. Boyle and six others -- Floyd B. McKissick, National Director for the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE); Rabbi Israel Dresner; Donald Duncan, military editor of Ramparts magazine and ex-Green Beret; Russell Johnson of American Friends Service Committee; publicity director Marc Stone; and New York businessman Norman Eisner -- comprised the Citizens' Mission to Cambodia. The Mission departed for Phnom Penh on July 25, 1966 to investigate U.S. allegations that Cambodia was being used as a training area and staging ground for Viet Cong incursions into South Vietnam.

Americans Want to Know, the Mission's sponsoring organization, formed in 1965 "to gather facts and report them to the American people in any situation where our country seems likely to become embroiled in foreign adventures." They observed such a situation in Cambodia where accusations of misconduct were being made on both sides.

The United States government charged the Cambodian government with creating a "Viet Cong sanctuary," establishing the Sihanouk Trail to augment the Ho Chi Minh Trail by providing arms and food, and accepting arms and food shipments into the port at Sihanoukville. Meanwhile, in addition to denying these charges, Prince Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia claimed the U.S. was violating his nation's vowed territorial neutrality by conducting bombing raids on Cambodian villages. Prince Sihanouk asked for stricter border observations from the International Control Commission and broke off diplomatic relations with the U.S. over the incidents just prior to the delegation's arrival.

During the mission, the delegation visited several spots along the Cambodia/Vietnam border as well as the Cambodia/Laos border where they inspected the site of a recent U.S. attack on the village of Thloc Trach. The delegates personally examined the alleged Sihanouk Trail and the Ho Chi Minh Trail for signs of a Viet Cong presence. In addition, the Mission members boarded and examined ships docking at Sihanoukville looking for arms or food shipments. Finally, the delegation met with Sihanouk and discussed his views on the border violations. The Mission members could find no indications of wrongdoing on the part of the Cambodian government.

Upon their return to the United States, the delegates reported on the Mission's findings through a series of articles, interviews, and lectures around the country.

The collection indicates that Kay Boyle continued her political activism and her interest in the plight of Cambodia well into the decade of the 1970s and probably through to her death on December 27, 1992.

"Kay Boyle, 90, Writer of Novels and Stories, Dies." The New York Times. December 29, 1992.Much of the biographical data is derived from material contained in the collection.