Foreign Relations of the United States, 1952–1954, Indochina, Volume XIII, Part 2

Editorial Note

On May 9, 1954, Brigadier General Charles H. Bonesteel III, Defense Member on the Planning Board of the National Security Council, addressed a memorandum to Charles E. Wilson, the Secretary of Defense, titled “Future U.S. Action Regarding Indo-China.” For text, see United States–Vietnam Relations, 1945–1967, Book 9, page 442. The General prepared a second memorandum, titled “A Concept for Action with Regard to Indochina,” which was submitted to the Planning Board on May 13. For text, see United States–Vietnam Relations, 1945–1967, Book 9, pages 460–461. A copy in the Eisenhower Library bears the handwritten notation “Bonesteel May 11, 1954.” (Eisenhower Library, White House Office, “Project ‘Clean Up’”)