In 1969, as a new 26-year-old Foreign Service Officer serving as the senior American advisor in Duc Thanh District, Amb. Quinn unexpectedly was confronted by issues surrounding the planned use of torture by the South Vietnamese military on a female Viet Cong prisoner. Reflecting on the statement in the moment, “We’re Americans! We don’t torture people!,” he immediately intervened with the senior Vietnamese official to halt the possible torturing of this individual.
THE ARCHIVE OF AMBASSADOR KENNETH M. QUINN
FROM THE MISSISSIPPI TO THE MEKONG