Lot 534D444: Secretary’s Memoranda1
Memorandum by the Under Secretary of State (Webb) to the President 2
Memorandum for the President
Subject: Visit by General de Lattre
You have agreed to receive General de Lattre at 12 noon on Friday, September 14th. He will be accompanied by Mr. Donald R. Heath, American Minister to Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, and by Ambassador Bonnet of France. General de Lattre is Commander in Chief of the French Armies in the Far East and concurrently High Commissioner of Indochina. He is visiting America at the invitation of [Page 497] the Joint Chiefs of Staff and will spend a few days in Washington and the balance of his ten day visit touring Army, Navy and Air installations. He returns to Indochina via France, on September 25th. His wife is accompanying him. He speaks and understands English very well.
During his visit he will confer with officials of the Armed forces and the State Department.
During World War I he fought as a Cavalry and then an Infantry Captain in France. He has had a distinguished career and has held the highest posts in the French Army. Aided by timely deliveries of American arms, de Lattre on his arrival in Indochina at the end of 1950, transformed an army beset with defeatism into a force which has since won every major engagement against communist forces. His present assignment is of the greatest importance, since he is responsible for the defense of Indochina against the communist forces. These forces include local Indoehinese who have been subverted to follow communist leaders but the more serious threat comes from the ability of communist China to invade Indochina and Southeast Asia. Such an invasion could take the form of Chinese communist “volunteers” as in Korea, or could be an outright aggression. The United States has recognized the threat posed by these possibilities and has extended military aid to Indochina on a priority second only to Korea. It is an agreed military estimate that if Indochina falls, very likely all of Southeast Asia may come under communist domination. The Philippines are less than 800 miles from Indochina, and Malaya and Indonesia furnish the majority of the Free World’s rubber and tin. While the loss of these materials would seriously handicap our own defense effort, they would, if available to the communist armies of the world, enormously increase their capabilities. We are therefore most anxious that General de Lattre’s continuing campaign to hold Indochina be successful.
He can be expected, during his visit, to request further United States military aid, either in the form of monetary grants or more arms. If he brings up this subject during his visit with you, it is recommended that you reply along the following lines:
The United States has already undertaken an enormous program of direct military aid to Indochina, and through aid to France, has contributed indirectly as well. Within the limits of our ability, we will continue our aid to Indochina. Specific details must necessarily be based on plans which the United States Department of Defense will presumably receive from General de Lattre.
- Collections of the Secretary of State’s memoranda, memoranda of conversation, memoranda for the President, and memoranda of conversation with the President, 1947–1953, retired by the Executive Secretariat of the Department of State.↩
- A handwritten notation on the source text indicates that this memorandum was taken to the White House by Under Secretary Webb on September 13.↩