<--PREV Doc #123  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  First Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #125 Document #124; April 1, 1953 To Joseph Lawton Collins Series: EM, AWF, Administration Series ; Category: Memorandum for: Chief of Staff, United States Army The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, Volume XIV - The Presidency: The Middle Way Part I: Charting a New Course; January 1953 to April 1953 Chapter 2: "A number of misunderstandings": Party and International Struggles   Through: Secretary of Defense, Secretary of the Army During the overlord operation, one of the officers who bore heavy responsibilities was Colonel Joseph C. Odell.1 He was Deputy to the Chief Quartermaster of the Theater throughout the Operation. Later, he became the Chief Quartermaster of the European Theater of Operations (after the war). During the war period, I was well acquainted with his work, and I rated his performance as excellent throughout, and superior in some respects. I realize that promotions in the Army are made under a procedure prescribed by law;2 but I do take the liberty of asking that, before this officer is retired, his record be thoroughly examined and, if the facts in the case so warrant, that steps to be taken to bring his name to the attention of whatever Selection Board might have some responsibility in the matter.3 1 Joseph Conrad Odell, born in Utah in May 1896, had graduated from the U.S. Military Academy (USMA) in 1918. After serving twenty years in the infantry, Odell had transferred to the Quartermaster Corps in 1938. He graduated from Command and General Staff School in 1940. 2 On the 1947 Officer Personnel Act see Galambos, NATO and the Campaign of 1952, no. 321. 3 On April 8 Collins would respond with a memorandum (AWF/A) acknowledging Odell's "fine record of service" and pledging that the next selection board would give the colonel "every consideration for promotion before his retirement becomes mandatory by law." Collins noted that Odell could expect to retire at age sixty. The Army would promote Odell to brigadier general in 1953, and he would retire the following year. Bibliographic reference to this document: Eisenhower, Dwight D. Memorandum for: Chief of Staff, United States Army To Joseph Lawton Collins, 1 April 1953. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. L. Galambos and D. van Ee, doc. 124. World Wide Web facsimile by The Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission of the print edition; Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, http://www.eisenhowermemorial.org/presidential-papers/first-term/documents/124.cfm <--PREV Doc #123  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  First Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #125

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