832.20/611
The Secretary of State to Admiral William D. Leahy, Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy
My Dear Admiral Leahy: About a year ago the Joint Chiefs of Staff approved in principle a plan for the collaboration in an overseas theater of a Brazilian Expeditionary Force.
The reasons for the War Department’s approval of a Brazilian Expeditionary Force are no doubt familiar to you.
The Department of State, on its part, favors this plan because of important political considerations, such as the strengthening of Brazil’s present position, and its voice in post-war settlements, equivalent to strengthening our own. Also the plans for active participation in the war by Brazilian troops have given a lift to Brazilian public morale.
Subsequent to the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s action last year, the Army General Staff worked out the details for the Brazilian Expeditionary Force, including settlement upon the Mediterranean, with General Eisenhower’s55 concurrence, as its theater of operation.
[Page 567]I feel the time is propitious for implementing the plan approved in principle last year. There are signs, for example, of a growing impatience in Brazil by the highest authorities to get started before the public becomes apathetic and the President’s critics make political capital of the delay.
I therefore urge favorable action forthwith to implement the program for a Brazilian Expeditionary Force in the Mediterranean theater and to fix embarkation dates for it. I am informed that prior approval is needed from the Combined Chiefs of Staff or the new British command in the Mediterranean.
Sincerely yours,
- Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, Commanding General, European Theater of Operations.↩