821.248/305: Telegram
The Ambassador in Colombia (Lane) to the Secretary of State
[Received April 21—6:28 a.m.]
752. See my 745, April 19, 8 p.m.19 On taking leave of Minister of War today I referred to President Echandía’s endorsement of proposal to send Colombian aviators to the front for combat duty.
General Espinel said that in the event it were impracticable for technical reasons for us to accept aviators for combat duty he would be prepared to recommend that men be enlisted for duty from whatever branch of the Colombian Army which might best serve our needs.
Regardless of the merits of the Colombian offer from the point of view of effective military assistance I trust that the Department will agree with me that the implied psychological and political effects of the acceptance of the Colombian offer would be so far-reaching as to render highly desirable the Department’s endorsement of the proposition.
- Not printed.↩