The Book of Honor by Ted Gup Page A

Mike, she barely had time to grieve. A few days later, on June 12, 1950, she made a humble request of the State Department: that her husband’s remains be cremated in Lhasa and then returned to the United States. At least then, she and the twins would have a place to stand in remembrance.
    But the U.S government did not convey her request. It concluded that it could not ask this of the Tibetan government, given that the grave was some four weeks’ travel from Lhasa and that the country was already absorbed in a struggle for its own survival against Communist China.
    Even after Mackiernan’s death, the CIA and State Department considered the incident extremely sensitive. A memo stamped “Top Secret,” dated July 13, 1950, notes that “survivors of the Mackiernan party as long as they are in Tibet are in danger of assassination by Communist agents if latter have opportunity.” But word of Mackiernan’s death reached the world in a July 29, 1950, front-page article in the
New York Times,
date-lined Calcutta. The story reported that Mackiernan, the vice-consul of Tihwa, had been shot at the border.
    That same day, the State Department issued a press release announcing Mackiernan’s death. Immediately after, the killing of Vice-Consul Mackiernan was carried in newspapers across the country. But there would be no reference to the Central Intelligence Agency, or to the true nature of his mission.
    Even as the CIA and State Department prepared to sort out the death benefits due Mackiernan’s widow and children, there was a growing concern that Tibet itself would soon be lost to the Communists. On August 7, 1950, the U.S. embassy in New Delhi cabled Washington, warning that Tibetan officials were extremely anxious about their fate and were unsure whether to negotiate with the Chinese Communists or to resist invasion. The cable noted that a Tibetan oracle had advised that they should resist, and Tibetan forces were experiencing some success in border clashes, emboldening them.
    New Delhi referred to “wild rumors” circulating that the Chinese were massing along the border ready to invade. Tibetan nobles had fled. Food and fuel in the capital were already scarce. The Tibetans were feeling abandoned and ignored by both India and the United States.
    It was this moment that news of Mackiernan’s murder swept through the capital of Lhasa. There the Mackiernan incident was interpreted not merely as a tragedy or border mishap but as a grim omen. “They seem to be extremely sad at the turn of events and are now attributing the incident to the destiny of Tibet,” the report from New Delhi observed.
    Tibetan officials seized upon the arrival of Bessac as an opportunity to send a message of desperation to Washington. No sooner had he arrived than Bessac became a kind of diplomatic courier carrying a plea for military support to hold off the impending Chinese invasion. On August 30, 1950, Bessac arrived in New Delhi. With him he carried a letter from the Tibetan government addressed to Secretary of State Acheson and stamped “Top Secret.” The letter was an urgent request for howitzers, cannons, machine guns, and bazookas. It implored Acheson to approach President Truman on Tibet’s behalf.
    And in a bid to mollify the United States, the Tibetan government dispatched a photographer to take a picture of Mackiernan’s grave. It was sent along with a letter of condolence to the State Department to be forwarded to his widow, Pegge. But the letter and photo were never forwarded. Instead, they ended up in a dusty box at the U.S. Archives.
    In late September Mackiernan’s personal possessions were removed from a government safe and returned to his widow. Among the few items were twenty-seven war savings bonds, a Mongolian dictionary, his divorce decree from Darrell, a bill of sale for a 1941 Mercury coupe, and a photo of the twins. There were still many loose ends. Mackiernan