740.5–MAP/2–651

The Secretary of State to the Director of the Bureau of the Budget (Lawton)1

top secret

My Dear Mr. Lawton: Under Public Law 843, 81st Congress, Second Session,2 the amount of $303,000,000 was appropriated for the purposes of Title III, including Section 303(a), of the Mutual Defense Assistance Act, as amended. To date requests for allocations of funds under Section 303(a) have amounted to $174,463,400.

The Department of Defense has completed a study based on requests for military matériel assistance, including the “Tonkin List” of urgently needed requirements, submitted by the French military authorities [Page 375] in Saigon, Indochina.3 This study has been made in light of the military factors involved in programming military assistance in the form of equipment, supplies, and training to accomplish United States objectives, within the limit of available funds, in the General Area of China.

As a result of this study the Department of Defense has submitted to the Department of State a program for the armies of Indochina in the amount of $54,718,910. The first category of priority requirements amounts to $50,387,032 and the second category of items amounts to $4,331,878. In view of the limited funds available, the Department of Defense recommends that these listed requirements be met to the extent of $51,000,000.

The Department of State has reviewed, in light of United States political objectives in Indochina, and has approved the first priority part of the program submitted plus such amounts of the second priority items of the program as will bring the entire program up to a total of $51,000,000. The Departments of State and of Defense recommend that the President approve this program in principle.

If the President approves this program of military assistance in principle, it is requested that the President allocate to the Secretary of Defense the amount of $51,000,000 in order that supply action can be initiated at the earliest practicable date. In view of the urgency for action arising from the critical political and military situation in Indochina, and in line with the President’s public statement regarding the recent Pleven talks,4 I would appreciate your efforts in bringing this matter promptly to the President’s attention.

As agreed previously, the allocation letter should specify (1) that the funds may be expended only to implement programs or projects approved by the Director, International Security Affairs, and (2) that the fiscal and supply reports prepared in accordance with the procedures approved by the Foreign Military Assistance Coordinating Committee to be supplied to the Department of State.5

Sincerely yours,

Dean Acheson
  1. In a letter of February 15, President Truman notified Secretary of State Acheson that he had allocated the funds requested in this communication (756D.5 MAP/2–1551).
  2. Reference is to the Supplemental Appropriations Act for Fiscal 1951, approved September 27, 1950 (64 Stat. 1044).
  3. The “Tonkin List” of French military assistance requirements in light of the recent heavy fighting in northern Viet-Nam was brought to Washington by Minister Heath and General Brink for consideration at the Truman–Pleven discussions. The list itself has not been found in the Department of State files.
  4. For the pertinent part of the Truman–Pleven communiqué, see editorial note, p. 366.
  5. For documentation on military assistance to Southeast Asia, see pp. 1 ff. Documentation on overall aspects of the military assistance program is scheduled for publication in volume i.