Editorial Note
The President’s news conference of February 10, 1954, included the following exchanges with regard to Indochina:
“Q. William Flythe, Hearst Newspapers: Mr. President, may I ask you about Indochina, sir, if you would care to say anything?
“The President. As I told you last week—I believe I told you last week, didn’t that subject come up? I said we had increased the technical side of the training units you send out there. I forget the technical name for them—the training and administrative units that turn over the equipment, and so on—MAAGs, we call them. We have increased that. Now, recently, some of our equipment shipped to Indochina has involved airplanes, and they just didn’t have the people to take care of them. So we increased that particular body by some airplane mechanics, who are to be returned from there no later than June 15th.
“Q. Mr. Flythe: Mr. President, I wanted to ask you, if I might, if these people could be considered in any way combatant troops?
[Page 1035]“The President. No, they are not only maintenance troops, but I see no opportunity of them even getting touched by combat.
. . . . . . .
“Q. Marvin Arrowsmith, Associated Press: Mr. President, to go back for a moment to the question on Indochina, there seems to be some uneasiness in Congress, as voiced by Senator Stennis for one, that sending these technicians to Indochina will lead eventually to our involvement in a hot war there. Would you comment on that?
“The President. I would just say this: no one could be more bitterly opposed to ever getting the United States involved in a hot war in that region than I am; consequently, every move that I authorize is calculated, as far as humans can do it, to make certain that that does not happen.
. . . . . . .
“Q. Daniel Schorr, CBS Radio: Mr. President, should your remarks on Indochina be construed as meaning that you are determined not to become involved or, perhaps, more deeply involved in the war in Indochina, regardless of how that war may go?
“The President. Well, I am not going to try to predict the drift of world events now and the course of world events over the next months. I say that I cannot conceive of a greater tragedy for America than to get heavily involved now in an all-out war in any of those regions, particularly with large units.
“So what we are doing is supporting the Vietnamese and the French in their conduct of that war; because, as we see it, it is a case of independent and free nations operating against the encroachment of communism.”
The President also stated that efforts were being made to keep the appropriate members of the legislative branch informed regarding the situation in Indochina. For the record of the news conference of February 10, see Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1954 (Washington, Government Printing Office, 1960), pages 245–255.