751G.5/4–2454: Telegram
The Acting Secretary of State to the Secretary of State, at Paris
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Tedul 7. Eyes only for Secretary from President. Following is message which President requested be sent to you this morning:
“Dear Foster: If you believe that the following message could have any beneficial effect whatsoever, please deliver it through the usual channels. If you feel it would do no good, please destroy it. Moreover, if you find some value in the intent and purpose of the message, but doubt the aptness of its terminology, I suggest that you revise and correct it as you see fit. My present feelings in the Dien Bien Phu affair are accurately described in the draft of the message that appears below. The message is intended for Prime Minister Laniel, and of course if it is to be used there is no time to waste. If the Prime Minister should lack some logical opportunity for making a public statement of the kind I suggest, he might wish merely to reply to my message and then make his reply public. If he should make any such suggestion, please approve it on the spot.1
‘My dear friend: The entire free world has been inspired by the heroism and stamina displayed by the gallant garrison at Dien Bien Phu. Their devotion and the quality of their resistance have been so great that now, regardless of the outcome, that battle will stand as a symbol of the free world’s determination to resist dictatorial aggression and to sustain its right of self-determination and its dedication to the dignity of the human being. I hope that you may find it wise and proper to make a public statement to this effect so that France and all the world may know that, regardless of the possibility of the physical over-running of this gallant outpost, France will continue the war for the independence of Indochina, and that the spirit of the French Army and of France remains true to the honor and glory of her heroic past. France has in the past suffered temporary defeats, but always she has triumphed in the end to continue as one of the world’s leaders in all things that tend to bring greater richness to the lives of men. I hope also that the gallant garrison at Dien Bien Phu may know that no sacrifice of theirs has been in vain; that the free world will remain faithful to the causes for which they have so nobly fought. With expressions of my personal regard, Dwight D. Eisenhower.’
As ever,”