795b.5/12–550
The Secretary of State to the Secretary of Defense (Marshall)
Dear Mr. Secretary: In light of recent developments in Korea, the Department of State has reviewed once again the prospects for obtaining additional ground force contingents from other United Nations members for service in Korea.
[Page 1412]Apart from those countries which are already represented by units in the field, or for whom firm plans of which you are aware have been concluded, there appear to be very few further prospects. Discussions with several of the Latin American countries are, as you know, continuing and it is possible that a few additional units in the months to come may be available from that area. I doubt that at the present moment any pressures in Latin America beyond those already contemplated would accelerate desired results.
The Department is prepared, if you concur, to make another effort to obtain a Pakistani unit, although I am not hopeful as to the possibilities of success. The Department is also fully prepared to assist in any way, upon request of the Department of Defense, to secure the agreement of the Greek and Canadian governments to raise their contingents to the size originally contemplated.
There would remain then the possible desirability of requesting the governments of certain countries, such as Australia, Great Britain, Belgium, The Netherlands and Turkey, which have already placed small units in the field, to increase the size of their commitment. France has not been included in this list in view of the fact that French commitments in Indo-China make it undesirable in our view to ask France to divert forces for service in Korea at this time.
I realize that any effort in this direction requires a consideration of military resources and commitments on the broadest scale. It is also possible that the Filipinos and Thais could be persuaded to increase their units to the larger number which was originally offered.
As you know, reconsideration of the Chinese Nationalist offer is already under way.
If upon a review of this matter it is the judgment of the Department of Defense that an effort along these lines should be made, the Department of State will of course be ready to take any necessary action. Meanwhile, and unless I hear from you to the contrary, the Department will continue along existing lines. In general, it would appear to me that the most promising possibility for developing further units lies in the direction of the training and equipping of additional Republic of Korea forces.
Sincerely yours,