Office of the Historian

148. National Security Action Memorandum No. 941

Washington, September 14, 1961.

TO

  • The Secretary of State
  • The Secretary of Defense

SUBJECT

  • Steinstuecken and Friedrichstrasse Crossing Point

The President decided that the following course of action shall be taken with respect to Steinstuecken.2

In case of an apparent blocking of access to Steinstuecken or other interference with U.S. rights there, USCOB is authorized to establish the Communists’ intention and other pertinent facts by sending to Steinstuecken a vehicular mounted or helicopter borne M.P. patrol. This patrol will not use force in discharging its mission.

If force is considered necessary to reestablish access or other rights, General Norstad will seek authority from Washington.

Helicopter supply of Steinstuecken is authorized, if necessary.

No special overt measures should be taken before the event, without referral to Washington.

With respect to the possible closing of the Friedrichstrasse Crossing Point, the President decided, subject to negotiation among the Four Western Foreign Ministers:

(1)
All Soviet personnel would be barred from West Berlin except the Soviet Air Control officer and the Spandau personnel;
(2)
Additional military forces may be moved to the sector boundary generally, as the crossing point is first closed, if the U.S. Commandant judges such action useful.

If the crossing point is kept closed for a period longer than 24 hours—or some similarly brief period—countermeasures outside Germany of the sort which clearly represent the early stages of more significant measures would be contemplated. Staff work on such possible measures should go forward urgently.

In addition, it is contemplated that the Czech and Polish missions would be expelled from West Berlin, if the Friedrichstrasse Crossing Point is closed for a protracted period.

WWR
  1. Source: Department of State, NSAMs: Lot 72 D 316. Top Secret.↩
  2. These decisions were taken at a meeting at the White House at 10 a.m. on September 14 attended by the President, Rusk, McNamara, Lemnitzer, Taylor, Nitze, Cabell, Rostow, and Attorney General Kennedy. Lemnitzer’s 3-page notes on the meeting are in the National Defense University, Lemnitzer Papers, Box 29.↩