795B.5/3–3151
The Acting Secretary of Defense (Lovett) to the Secretary of State
Dear Mr. Secretary: With reference to the letters which have been exchanged between our Departments on the question of obtaining additional ground force contingents for service in Korea, this Department has noted with some concern the limited prospects outlined in your letter of 23 February.
I appreciate the intricate and highly difficult problems involved. Nevertheless, in the light of the current situation in Korea, the Department of Defense considers that an opportune moment is at hand to renew the requests for fuller participation by members of the United Nations in the Korean action. The heavy commitments of United States ground troops, the casualties suffered, the long months of unrelieved combat duty and the desirability of redeploying battletested soldiers to form key cadres for our own mobilization, and for their further redeployment to strategic areas, make it all the more imperative that United States units be relieved for rotation. A long period will be required to strengthen the forces of the Republic of Korea to a point where they may relieve United States combat units.
The primary objective in making such a renewed approach should be to obtain real rather than token assistance. Within the general policy outlined in my letter of 30 January, I requested that our efforts be renewed in order to obtain additional assistance from those countries which seem able to provide contingents of worthwhile size and to furnish these contingents a reasonable share of the equipment and support required for service in Korea.
Specifically, we are hopeful that Australia, New Zealand and Canada might increase the size of their present forces and it would be desirable if it could be done without interference with the NATO schedules for Great Britain to bring her forces up to division strength. Mexico and Brazil appear to have the military manpower to enable contribution of effective size and we suggest other Latin American Republics might contribute contingents of acceptable strength.
Faithfully yours,