Office of the Historian

139. Telegram From the Commander in Chief, Atlantic (Dennison) to the Chief of Naval Operations (Burke)0

Norfolk, April 19, 1961, 2:11 a.m.

190711Z. Exclusive for Admiral Burke from Dennison.

A. Your 190217Z.1

It is impossible to give guarantee that I could land observer on the beach without danger of being killed or captured. On the contrary I could guarantee that any observer landed would be completely ineffective at best and probably would involve the United States. I have no information about contact sources on the beach, no info on communications ashore and no information on positions of CEF forces. The proposal is completely unrealistic and I will have no part of it.2

  1. Source: Naval Historical Center, Area Files, Bumpy Road Materials. Top Secret.↩
  2. Document 134.↩
  3. An unidentified handwritten note on the source text at this point reads: “He may have to.”↩