865.24/3–148
President Truman to the Secretary of Defense (Forrestal)
My Dear Mr. Secretary: Conditions in various localities in Europe have become such as to constitute a real menace to our troops and a threat to the primary security interests of the United States. Accordingly, I have determined that the immediate acquisition by Italy of the munitions and matériel covered in the memorandum from the National Security Council which I approved on February 13, 1948,2 is in our national interest.
Consequently, I direct that immediate steps be taken to expedite the assistance to Italy covered in that memorandum, even though some portion or all of the proceeds of reimbursement which may be received for the munitions and matériel may not be made available under existing law to the armed forces for replacement of certain portions of the equipment and to defray the cost of packing, crating, and shipping, but which reimbursement must be deposited in the Treasury.
I hereby validate the steps already taken to comply with these instructions.
Sincerely yours,
-
The text here printed is from the draft copy in the files of the Department of State and bears no signature, no date.
An attached “Note for File,” by W. B. Sale, states: “The attached letter was (according to S/S Mr. Humelsine) signed by the President on March 10, 1948.”
The draft was forwarded to the President under cover of a memorandum by Secretary Marshall, not printed, dated March 10, 1948 (865.24/3–148).
↩ - See p. 770, footnote 3.↩