851.01/498
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Assistant Secretary of State (Berle)
M. Tixier came in to see me, at my request.
I told him my purpose in calling him was merely to inform him that General de Gaulle had accepted an invitation to broadcast to the United States on May 17th. I thought that he might have heard this from London but if this had not happened he might be interested to know the arrangements.
I answered his inquiry about the liability of Free Frenchmen to the American selective service. I pointed out that General Hershey50 had ruled on February 9th that Free Frenchmen, like other aliens, were obliged to register on or before May 16th, unless they had later come to the country, in which case the date was three months from the date of entry. I further told him that where they had enlisted in the Free French army they should so state to the Selective Service Board, in which case deferment might be based on that fact.
M. Tixier said that that involved the men having volunteered in the Free French armies. They had not recruited any Free Frenchmen here, based on our law against recruiting notified to them last year. He wondered whether now they might not accept volunteers.
I told him that the law against recruiting was still in effect. But if in fact Free Frenchmen agreed to take service in the Free French army I doubted if anyone would object. The President had directed that an alien who had not filed first papers and was called for military service here might have the option to enlist in his own army, [Page 521] instead of serving in the army of the United States; and this implied that such aliens might make arrangements to join their own armies if they so desired.
- Gen. Lewis B. Hershey, Director, Selective Service System.↩