232. Memorandum of a Conference With the President, Washington, July 23, 1957, 11 a.m.1

OTHERS PRESENT

  • General Lemnitzer
  • General Goodpaster
  • Major Eisenhower
[Page 470]

General Lemnitzer came in to report to the President on the termination of the Far East Command. He said that a turnover ceremony had been held in Tokyo, in which Admiral Stump assumed the United States responsibilities, and another had been held in Korea in which General Decker assumed the functions of the UN Commander-in-Chief. General Lemnitzer said he had also visited with the Generalissimo on Formosa, and had found him somewhat low in spirits and quite worried over the effect that the passage of time is having on the military and political situation of the Chinese Nationalists. General Lemnitzer had also addressed the Ryukyuan legislature in Okinawa, reviewing the progress that had been made since 1945 when they were destitute to the present time.

He then went on to comment on two recent actions which he said were tremendously helpful in the western Pacific. The first was the suspension of Paragraph 13d of the Armistice; this is a great help to maintaining a proper military posture in the area. The second was the issuance of an Executive Order placing the administration of the Ryukyu Islands on a sound basis. He said it was very good to have designated as High Commissioner the same man who was in military command in the Ryukyus. The President interjected that the principle of linking military and civilian responsibility in a single individual is fundamental to his concept of the functioning of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff. General Lemnitzer also reported that the land program is well under way in Okinawa—this is the program by which all land not strongly needed by the military forces is returned to the civilian economy.

General Lemnitzer said that in Korea there is a constant effort from the north to subvert the government in the south, and to push infiltrators across the boundary into South Korea. These carry narcotics and money, in an effort to bribe and buy South Koreans. ROK forces are alert to these attempts and capture a considerable number of these agents. The line of contact is heavily wired and mined, with definite check points for entry into the demilitarized zone, and with limited cleared paths through the zone. He said that the idea of pulling back from the armistice line so as to create a “no man’s land” has proved most valuable. He said that the morale of U.S. troops along the front is very high. The young Americans there are doing a fine job and have a fine attitude. They take their responsibilities very seriously. Over the last year or two, much better housing and training facilities have been made available, with little or no loss in combat readiness. He added that President Rhee had sent his warm personal [Page 471] regards to the President. Reverting later to Korea, he indicated that the presence of our two divisions there is very important—essential in fact to our retaining the command which has tremendous value to our whole position in the area. The President indicated he was not thinking of pulling out either of these divisions. He did, however, insist that with the coming of modern weapons the units can be streamlined, and that divisions should be modernized and reorganized. General Lemnitzer said that the new organization is being placed in effect in Korea, and is proving to be a “shot in the arm.” The President said what he is working for is a hard core stable program, with the excess trimmed out, that can be maintained over the years. He wants to cut down on manpower by exploiting weapons possibilities to the full.

General Lemnitzer said there is need for permission to bring the Honest John and 280 mm. guns into Korea. The President asked how this matter stood, and I recalled that it was left to be considered further after the initial suspension of Paragraph 13d had been announced. The President said he felt that on such actions, they should simply be taken without making a great public announcement about them. General Lemnitzer said he strongly supported exactly the same procedure—if people saw new weapons around and asked about them they would be told that specific details as to timing, numbers, etc. were and would remain classified. The President strongly endorsed this procedure.

[Here follows discussion of an unrelated subject.]

G
Brigadier General USA
  1. Source: Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, Eisenhower Diaries, Memoranda of Conversation with the President, January–July 1957. Secret. Drafted by Goodpaster on July 25.