When Vint Lawrence returned to the United States in early 1966 after two tours in Laos, he became an assistant to CIA Director William Colby. Among other things he was given the task of assembling film footage he and John Willheim had shot in Laos to create a film suitable for showing to the Senate Arms Committee. The result was “Journey from Pha Dong: A Decision in the Hills.” The point was to show “people coming in from various places to meet with Vang Pao, and how the genius of Vang Pao was that he would arm them and then he would give them a reason for fighting and also a reason for protecting their neighbors and their zone or their. . .larger community.” The collection includes a shooting script for this film. Lawrence later decided to pursue graduate studies at Princeton. He was about to transfer to the University of Chicago to study with Clifford Geertz and other faculty in the anthropology department when then-Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Nitze hired him as his special assistant. It was while working for Nitze that Lawrence decided to part company with the CIA and start a career as an artist. These papers were written either for classes at Princeton or at the request of a superior at the CIA or Defense Department.