Office of the Historian

217. Notes by the Secretary of Defense (McNamara)1

Washington, November 6, 1961.

Prior to the meeting between McNamara and the Joint Chiefs, the following telephone conversation took place between McNamara and Rusk at 10:53 a.m.:

“M said he understands tomorrow at 5 they are to meet with the Pres on the Taylor report. The Sec said he is seeing T at 2:45 today. M wants a meeting between the two appoints with the Sec and Lemnitzer. They have doubts about the approach recommended and he hopes to thrash this out with the JCS today. The Sec said he would stop by there about 6.” (Department of State, Rusk Files: Lot 72 D 192, Telephone Calls)

Views of Chiefs-11/6/61

1.
8000 should be considered part of a larger increment to come later if that proves necessary.
2.
The 8000 men will probably not be sufficient to preserve independence of SVN.
3.
Action in SVN should be considered part of action SE Asia.
4.
Further milt aid to SVN should be accompanied by agreement with Diem of action he will take.
5.
Further US milt aid to SE Asia will not lead to use of nuclear weapons by USSR.
6.
Further US aid to SVN should be accompanied by notice to NVN that action will be taken against it unless stop support of Viet Cong.
7.
If further US aid is not provided to SVN it will fall & following it: SE Asia.
8.
It is not necessary now to call tact … additional res. or gd. force … .2
  1. Source: Washington National Records Center, RG 330, McNamara Files: FRC 71 A 3470, SE Asia 1961. Handwritten by McNamara. The source text does not indicate whether the views of the Joint Chiefs were communicated orally or in writing, but they may have been given to McNamara by Lemnitzer at a luncheon meeting which, according to Lemnitzer’s journal, took place in the Secretary of Defense’s dining room at 1 p.m. on November 6. (National Defense University, Lemnitzer Papers, L-419-71)↩
  2. The last sentence is illegible. The ellipses are the editor’s.↩