Dear Lucius: At the bottom of this letter you will see a list of names of individuals to whom I am addressing communications, all of them identical with this one.1
Undoubtedly each of us has from time to time had a feeling of bewilderment, to say nothing of resentment, at some of the things he has read during the past thirteen years about the European phase of World War II. Many of the books and articles published on the subject have been hopelessly prejudiced, largely undocumented and, in many cases, contain distortions or mis-statements of fact.2
For some time I have been wondering whether it would not be a most interesting exercise if the group of people that I have named below could meet together for a period of something like a week and develop an agreed document concerning incidents which are a part of their individual or collective experiences.
I would personally like very much to have such a group as my guests for the time we might need. I have a place in mind, located not too far from Washington, where we could be completely free to do as we please. There would be some opportunity for recreation. Our cover story would be that we are merely a group of veterans from the Mediterranean and European Theatres who have planned their own personal reunion at this particular moment.3
Of course each of us would realize that a great deal of individual preparation would be necessary before such a project could be undertaken with the slightest prospect of success. This would require time. For myself a date something like mid-October of this year would appear to be convenient and would afford an opportunity for the necessary preparation.
I think that none would have to bring along any great number of documents, but of course diaries, a few official orders, and possibly copies of wartime correspondence might be useful.
The thought I am expressing is, at this moment, nothing more than a hazy idea. But on the personal side I would think such a meeting would promise a considerable enjoyment because of the opportunity to renew old associations and friendships, and we might even produce something of value.
I pose a number of questions:4
1. Do you like the idea?
2. Could and would you plan to be present?
3. Do you think of any individual who should clearly be included, other than those named below?
(I had thought of asking a number of others, but for one reason or another have not included them, and I would not like to enlarge the group markedly unless there was general agreement that some individual’s presence would be helpful.
For example, I had thought of: Kirk of the American Navy, so as to have naval representation.5 However, rarely is the Navy history brought into question. I thought also of Andrew Cunningham, but I understand he is not well.6 Others might be: Boy Browning, because of his experience with the airborne troops; Simpson, who commanded the 9th U.S. Army, which unit served intermittently with both the British and American Army groups; General Koenig of the French Army (while most of us would be interested principally in British-American operations, Koenig’s information of the French situation, particularly at the time of D-Day, should be valuable.)7 Of course I would have included Alexander, but he, too, is not well. Should I ask General Crerar of Canada?)8
4. Would the time seem suitable to you?
5. Do you have any other suggestions?
Of course we would have to have a small staff to prepare something on the order of an agenda, to research the documents, and for dictation; I believe I could produce an adequate group of staff people. In addition, we could have recording machinery available that would be helpful.
One other point intrigues me. I think there has never been a time in history when a group of veterans, representing different nationalities and types of activity and branches of service, has attempted out of the memories and records to produce a group report on the basic planning and events of an important campaign.
Incidentally, I must regretfully say that the place I have in mind would not be large enough to include wives. During the period of this particular exercise (I’d think of seven to ten days) we would have to be on a stag basis. Nevertheless if the meeting should come off, I would want to plan for a dinner in Washington where all wives would be welcome, and of course I would hope that during the period of the men’s "retreat" the ladies could find some way of amusing themselves.
In any event, and even though the majority may think I have gone a bit off the beam in dreaming up such an idea, this letter at least gives me a chance again to say "Happy New Year" and warm regard. As ever
P.S. It would be a great help to me if each individual named would give me an early reply. It is possible that the idea might be generally approved but that a particular individual might not find it too convenient to make the trip. In this case, we might want to secure an alternate.9
