<--PREV Doc #61  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  First Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #63 Document #62; February 26, 1953 To Willis Dale Crittenberger Series: EM, AWF, Administration Series, Cutler Corr. 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 1: Developing a spirit of teamwork   Dear Critt:1 Yesterday the National Security Council approved in principle a project in which I am much interested.2 It was agreed to establish an ad hoc committee to study the project's feasibility and report back to the Council. This project is one in which Cabot Lodge has also taken a keen interest, and he may have mentioned it to you.3 I want you to be Chairman of this ad hoc Council Committee. I have asked Bobby Cutler, who is my Administrative Assistant for NSC Affairs, to call you on the telephone and explain to you the details of the project and time element involved. I count on your help in this particular matter and look forward to seeing you again soon.4 With my personal regards, Sincerely yours 1 Eisenhower's old friend Lieutenant General Crittenberger recently had retired and moved to San Antonio, Texas. His extensive service experience in the Caribbean and Latin America had prompted rumors that Eisenhower might name him to a diplomatic post there (see Galambos, Chief of Staff; Galambos, NATO and the Campaign of 1952, no. 21; and New York Times, Jan. 1, 10, 1953). 2 At that afternoon session the NSC had discussed and approved in principle the President's proposal for a Volunteer Freedom Corps (VFC), to be composed of recruits "from stateless, single, anti-Communist young men, coming from countries behind the Iron Curtain" (State, Foreign Relations, 1952 - 1954, vol. VIII, Eastern Europe; the Soviet Union; Eastern Mediterranean [1988], pp. 180-82). Eisenhower had expressed his support for the concept at the NSC meeting the previous week, stating that such a corps would induce desertions from Iron Curtain countries and would provide the United States with good fighting men at low cost. Furthermore, the VFC soldiers would become desirable U.S. citizens after their terms of service had expired. The President had directed that his proposal be "thoroughly and sympathetically studied" (NSC meeting minutes, Feb. 19, 1953, AWF/NSC. For background on the Free Slavic Legion, precursor to the VFC, see Galambos, NATO and the Campaign of 1952, no. 301). 3 In 1947 then Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., had introduced legislation authorizing the enlistment of selected aliens into the U.S. Army. On June 30, 1950, President Truman had signed the Alien Enlistment Act, providing for the inclusion of twenty-five hundred such men. Lodge would present his views to the ad hoc committee on March 27, 1953 (State, Foreign Relations, 1952 - 1954, vol. VIII, Eastern Europe; the Soviet Union; Eastern Mediterranean, pp. 199-204). 4 General Crittenberger would serve as head of the five-man committee and would recommend the establishment of a Volunteer Freedom Corps in the committee's May 20 report to the NSC (ibid., pp. 193-221; NSC meeting minutes, May 23, 1953, AWF/NSC). A number of factors, including negative reaction from Western allies, forthcoming elections in West Germany, the desire for French ratification of the EDC, and planned high-level conferences, would delay action on the proposal. On November 20 Eisenhower would write Crittenberger again, requesting that he visit London, Paris, and Bonn to explain the importance of the VFC program to the chiefs of missions. Crittenberger would report to the President on May 4, 1954, supporting the opinions of the ambassadors and military representatives that implementation of the VFC be held "in abeyance until the fate of EDC is resolved" (State, Foreign Relations, 1952 - 1954, vol. VIII, Eastern Europe; the Soviet Union; Eastern Mediterranean, pp. 227, 229-32). Crittenberger would later advise that no interim plan be inaugurated at the expense of other worthwhile programs (memorandum to Lay, July 8, 1954, AWF/AWD, and Eisenhower to Crittenberger, July 8, 1953, AWF/D). In the spring of 1955 the Operations Coordinating Board, established in September 1953 to integrate national security policies, would review the program and recommend that a Volunteer Freedom Corps composed of military units under the control of U.S. forces in Germany be established as a pilot operation. An August 5 OCB memorandum to the NSC would ask that the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, determine timing for action on the recommendation. As late as February 1956, however, no recommendation had been made (memorandum, VFC Background, Feb. 1, 1956, WHCF/CF: Mutual Security and Assistance). Bibliographic reference to this document: Eisenhower, Dwight D. To Willis Dale Crittenberger, 26 February 1953. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. L. Galambos and D. van Ee, doc. 62. 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/62.cfm <--PREV Doc #61  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  First Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #63

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