FE files, lot 55 D 128: Telegram

The President to the Commander in Chief, Far East (Clark)1

top secret
operational immediate

262005Z. You have received from the Joint Chiefs of Staff my approval of a course of action to be followed at Panmunjom.2 I hope that the initial statement by our delegation can be made in meeting on 28 Sept, that it be presented with the utmost firmness and without subsequent debate, and with insistence that the Communists reply be given at a meeting to be held on or about 8 Oct.

If this latter meeting does not produce the results we seek it then must be made unmistakably clear to the Communists, first, that having made a firm proposal for a fair and just armistice, we declare an indefinite recess of the meetings; and second, that we are willing to reconvene when and if the Communists express a willingness to accept our proposal. It is essential of course that throughout this coming period the military pressure which you are so effectively applying against the enemy should not be lessened.

  1. This telegram, marked “personal for General Clark,” was sent to the JCS and the Secretary of Defense for their information.
  2. Reference is to JCS 919368, Sept. 25, p. 539.