Letter to John Gunther Dean
| Letter to John Gunther Dean by |
| Written April 12, 1975 by Prince Sirik Matak of the Cambodian royal family to John Gunther Dean, US Ambassador to Cambodia, in response to Dean's offer of political asylum in the United States to high officials of the Khmer Republic. Prince Sirik Matak was executed by Khmer Rouge communists on April 21, 1975. |
Dear Excellency and friend,
I thank you very sincerely for your letter and for your offer to transport me towards freedom. I cannot, alas, leave in such a cowardly fashion.
As for you and in particular for your great country, I never believed for a moment that you would have this sentiment of abandoning a people which has chosen liberty. You have refused us your protection and we can do nothing about it. You leave us and it is my wish that you and your country will find happiness under the sky.
But mark it well that, if I shall die here on the spot and in my country that I love, it is too bad because we are all born and must die one day. I have only committed the mistake of believing in you, the Americans.
Please accept, Excellency, my dear friend, my faithful and friendly sentiments.
Sirik Matak.
