795.00/7–650
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs (Rusk)
Subject: Air Force Reconnaissance Flights
| Participants: | Brig. Gen. P. M. Hamilton—U.S. Air Force1 |
| Dean Rusk—Assistant Secretary of State |
General Hamilton came in this afternoon at his request and showed me a telegram2 from the Commanding General of Far East Air [Page 317] Forces3 to Headquarters Air Forces, Washington, asking for permission to conduct high level (30,000 feet) reconnaissance flights over Dairen, Port Arthur, Vladivostok, Karafute, and the Kuril Islands. General Hamilton said that there had been some difference in the Air Force as to how this telegram should be handled. He said there were certain officers who felt that the Far East Air Force should simply go ahead and conduct such reconnaissance flights without raising any questions, particularly since they considered it most unlikely that such flights would be discovered. General Hamilton said others considered that very important political questions were involved and that political clearance would be required.
I told General Hamilton that such an operation at this time would raise political questions of the gravest importance, that such flights would be clearly contrary to the President’s specific directives on the subject of Manchuria and Siberia, and that I could not under any circumstances give consent or clearance to such an operation. I told him that I felt certain that the President would have to consider this question after careful advice from the Secretaries of State and Defense and that I had no doubt but that the Secretary of State would strongly oppose such an operation under existing circumstances.
I suggested to General Hamilton that the matter was one which should be taken up with Secretary of Air Finletter, who had been present in all of the top-side meetings at which our recent basic decisions were made.
General Hamilton confirmed that he understood clearly that the Department of State was not giving any clearance to any such operation and that he would recommend to his own superiors that the question be taken up with Secretary Finletter.
Subsequently, I informed the top policy group of this item and suggested that Mr. Matthews (G) mention the matter to Secretary Finletter in order that the latter might get his own hand on the situation as soon as possible. Mr. Matthews has informed me that he spoke to Secretary Finletter and that Finletter took a serious view of the matter and would move in on it at once.4
- Brig. Gen. Pierpont Hamilton, Chief of the Policy Division, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, Department of the Air Force.↩
- Not printed.↩
- Lt. Gen. George E. Stratemeyer.↩
- The proposal for the reconnaissance flights was disapproved by President Truman; see Truman, Years of Trial and Hope, pp. 346–347.↩