309. Telegram From the Embassy in Vietnam to the Department of State

Source: Department of State, Central Files, POL 2 S VIET. Secret. Received at 7:25 a.m. and passed to the White House at 7:42 a.m.

310. Telegram From Michael V. Forrestal of the National Security Council Staff to the Deputy Director, Far Eastern Division, Directorate of Plans, Central Intelligence Agency (Colby), at Saigon

Source: Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Vietnam Country Series, Memos and Miscellaneous. Top Secret; Eyes Only. Sent via CIA channels. On November 2, at McCone’s suggestion, the President approved sending Colby to Saigon to assess the situation there. Colby, in Honorable Men, pp. 217-220, recalls his impressions and highlights of the mission, which began on November 3 and ended on November 19.

311. Memorandum From the Deputy Regional Planning Adviser of the Bureau of Far Eastern Affairs (Mendenhall) to the Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs (Hilsman)

Source: Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Vietnam Country Series, Memos and Miscellaneous. Confidential. Attached to the source text was a handwritten note from Forrestal to McGeorge Bundy which reads as follows: “Mac: I think the President should do this in light of N.Y. Times campaign which must be causing worries in Saigon. Mike”.

312. Memorandum for the Record of Discussion at the Daily White House Staff Meeting

Source: National Defense University, Taylor Papers, T-646-71. Secret; Eyes Only. Drafted by W. Y Smith.

313. Memorandum From Michael V. Forrestal of the National Security Council Staff to the President’s Special Assistant for National Security Affairs (Bundy)

Source: Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Vietnam Country Series, Memos and Miscellaneous. Confidential.

314. Memorandum for the Record of a Conversation Between the Assistant Director for Rural Affairs of the United States Operations Mission (Phillips) and Prime Minister Tho

Source: Department of State, Central Files, POL 26 S VIET. Secret. Transmitted to the Department of State under cover of airgram A-327 from Saigon, November 18.

315. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in Vietnam

Source: Department of State, Central Files, POL 1 S VIET-US. Confidential; Priority. Drafted by Mendenhall and cleared by Hilsman and Forrestal. Repeated to CINCPAC for POLAD, London, Paris, Bangkok, Ottawa, New Delhi, Vientiane, and Phnom Penh. See Document 311 for the suggestion that this cable be sent.

316. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in Vietnam

Source: Department of State, Central Files, POL 26 S VIET. Secret; Priority. Drafted by Mendenhall; cleared with Forrestal, Rice, and Manning; and approved by Rusk.

317. Memorandum From Michael V. Forrestal of the National Security Council Staff to the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Bundy)

Source: Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Vietnam Country Series, Memos and Miscellaneous. Secret.

318. Telegram From the Central Intelligence Agency Station in Saigon to the Agency

Source: Declassified Documents, 1977, 94B. Secret; Priority; Eyes Only. The number of this cable was deleted when the document was declassified in 1976.

319. Memorandum for the Record of Conversation Between the Assistant Director for Rural Affairs of the United States Operations Mission (Phillips) and President Minh

Source: Department of State, Central Files, POL 15 S VIET. Secret. Transmitted to the Department of State under cover of airgram A-350 from Saigon, December 2.

320. Telegram From the Central Intelligence Agency Station in Saigon to the Agency

Source: Department of State, Central Files, POL 27 S VIET. Secret; Priority; Eyes Only. The source text is the copy sent by the CIA to the Department of State eyes only for Rusk, Harriman, Ball, Hilsman, and Hughes; also sent to the Office of the Secretary of Defense eyes only for McNamara, Gilpatric, Taylor, Krulak, and William Bundy; and to the White House eyes only for McGeorge Bundy.

321. Memorandum of Discussion at the Special Meeting on Vietnam

Source: Washington National Records Center, RG 334, MAC/VM Files: FRC 69 A 702, 204-58 Policy and Precedent Files (1963). Secret. No drafting information appears on the source text. An attached copy of the press release describing the work of the conference is not printed.

Felt sent this summary of the discussion at Honolulu to McNamara under cover of a memorandum of November 22. The agenda for the meeting is not printed. Items E and G. of the agenda, “CIA-MACV Relations” and “Review of Special Funding”, did not have memoranda of discussion. On November 19, Rusk and McNamara agreed to address certain items on the agenda in subcommittees which met on the morning of November 20 and then reported to the principal participants in the afternoon. Another copy of this memorandum is ibid., RG 84, Saigon Embassy Files: FRC 67 A 677, 350. Honolulu Conference.

In a November 13 memorandum, Forrestal briefed McGeorge Bundy on this meeting. The memorandum reads in part as follows:

“From what I can gather the Honolulu Meeting is shaping up into a replica of its predecessors, i.e., an eight-hour briefing conducted in the usual military manner. In the past this has meant about 100 people in the CINCPAC Conference Room, who are treated to a dazzling display of maps and charts, punctuated with some impressive intellectual fireworks from Bob McNamara.” (Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Vietnam Country Series, Honolulu Meeting, Briefing Book, 11/20/63 A)

322. Memorandum for the Record of Discussion at the Daily White House Staff Meeting

Source: National Defense University, Taylor Papers, T-646-71. Secret; Eyes Only. Drafted by W. Y. Smith.