740.0011 Pacific War/663
Memorandum by the Chief of the Special Division (Green)
Unless there are overwhelming political considerations of which SD68 is not aware, SD is of the opinion that an unequivocal warning should be issued to American citizens residing in the Far East including, in addition to Japan and China, the Netherlands Indies, British Malaya, and Burma. Otherwise, in the event of a sudden emergency the Department might be criticized by Americans who had received no warning whatsoever or a warning couched in such guarded terms as that given in the Department’s 765, November 22, 1941, to Tokyo, as to be considered by some insufficient to apprise them of the danger of continued residence in the Far East.69
- Special Division.↩
- In a memorandum dated December 10, the Assistant Chief of the Division of Far Eastern Affairs (Adams) wrote that his Division assumed that “in view, of the outbreak of war since the date of the memorandum under reference, the question of issuance of a warning need not now be considered. Among other problems there remain of course the problems of repatriation, transportation and welfare of American citizens in exposed localities in the Far East.”↩