Office of the Historian

126. Memorandum From the President’s Special Assistant for National Security Affairs (Bundy) to President Johnson1

Washington, July 21, 1965, 6:10 p.m.

SUBJECT

  • Your Meeting with Ambassador McGhee at 1:15 P.M. on Thursday—East German Helicopters
1.
Between March 23 and June 21 there was a series of identified East German helicopter flights over and/or along the borders of West Berlin. Our guidelines for responding to such flights have been and presently are relatively conservative—e.g., protest; attempt to chase the intruders away.
2.
When Ambassador McGhee meets with you on Thursday,2 he may indicate his interest in obtaining authorization for taking sterner military/diplomatic counter-actions in the event another East German helicopter flight occurs over or along the borders of West Berlin. He may also indicate his interest in obtaining authorization to resume U.S. helicopter flights over East Berlin.
3.
Both of these problems, which, as you know, are extremely complicated and sensitive, are presently being staffed out in detail in the Departments of State and Defense. While there is no need at this point to burden you with the details, you should know that State and Defense (and especially State) tend to be more conservative and cautious on this spectrum of problems than McGhee. McGhee, who is understandably more sensitive than Washington to West German heat, feels that we should be prepared to go to some fairly extreme lengths to halt future East German helicopter flights over and along the border of West Berlin; in certain circumstances, for example, he would probably be prepared to cause East German helicopters to crash.
4.
If McGhee does raise the issue with you, you may want to hear him out and tell him (a) that you understand that the Departments are now studying his recommendations, (b) that you don’t want to prejudge the issue until you hear from Rusk and McNamara, and (c) that, given Vietnam, you are interested, generally speaking, in keeping the Washington/Moscow temperature at a low level.
McG. B.
  1. Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Memos to the President, McGeorge Bundy, vol. 12. Secret.↩
  2. July 22. According to the President’s Daily Diary, McGhee participated in a short lunch with the President and other senior officials that began at 2:11 p.m. (Ibid.) No record of this meeting was found.↩