REF ID:A70070 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

ARMED FORCES SECURITY AGENCY 

WASHINGTON 25, O'. C. 

Lt. Col. Uaulsby Forrest, 

Riverbank Laboratories. 

P •. O.- Box 189, , Geneva, Illinois. 

Dear Colonel Forrest: 

IN REPL.Y REFER TO 

19 March 1951 

Your letter of 8 February wandered around a bit and arrived 

during a period of absence from my desk. 

We certainly could make good use· of your son-in-law, in 

view of his special training and aptitude, but I hardly have to 

tell yqu that the Signal Corps, which also has need for specialists 

with his background, would probably be most. reluctant to let himgo elsewhere; However, it might be useful to t%'7 for a transfer. 

Please t·ell the young man to put in his application !or 

transfer to the Army Security Agency, addr~ssing his correspondence 

to The Adjutant General (Thru channels). His letter, of course, 

must pass through his company, battalion, regimental headquarters, 

et cetera, before it reaches The Adjutant General. Its ultimate 

approval or disapproval cannot be forecast, but certainly he has 

nothing to lose by trying and something to gain in case his application meets with favorable consideration. 

Your ~omment ae to your primary interest in the matter is, 

of course, urrlerstood and I, too, would only have the good of the 

service as a whole in mind,. This action on my- part is the least 

I can d9--and I am quite willing to do more should the occasion 

arise. · 

- Reciprocating your kind regards, and with apologies tor the 

delay in answering, although it was due to no fault on 1lfY' part, I am,, 

Sincerely yours, 

WILLIAM F. FR!EDM.AN, '. · Technical Consultant. 

- ·: _ l!\pproved for Release .bv _NSA on 03-24-~014 pursuant to. E.O. 13s2e 
• REF ID: A70£70 

~~r/F/ " P.O. BOX 188 ~JteVa) ~ TELEPHONE 

GENEVA 11015 

Col. William F. Friedman 

Office of'. .Adj.utant.. General.. __ 

Washin~on, D.c. 

Dear Colonel Friedman: 

.... 

~ 

February 8, 1951 

.IW'. ---· .. --- ... • ... .... - ----- -- - • 

I have a son-in-law of six months standing, Pvt. J:ames Perry Thurber, 

Jr., u.s. 56052020, who just completed his basic at Ford Ord and is 

presently posted to Camp Gordon, Georgia, and assigned to 1st. Sig. 

Trg. g.p. 

Pvt. Thurber, age 22, graduated from Stanford in 1950 where he was 

managing editor of the paper, as well as an above average student • . Prior to his induction in November, he was a reporter for the '\'fall 

Street Journal. 

.. -;:--: .. -- .,_ .,,. • ""•·..-.:-.1-- --

I understand that in his J,;rmy' I.Q. and classification tests, he received 

the highest grades ever recorded at Ford Ord. 

It occurs to me that with an A.B. rather than E.E./M:.E./B.S. background 

and with his other ostensible qualifications, he might be able to do a 

better job in' an 11 intelligence 11 role than as a winder of switchboards 

or .unroller of 1'dre. I also thought it possible that you might have 

continued your relationship with those elements of the s.c. Unfortunately, all my top level associates on both sides of the water have 

passed out of the picture -- one way or another. -..,_._:. _ .......... _ .... ·-: - ..-.:-- .... -- - - -....-...-..:" •-:-"""-- - .ir;-."'ll - .... -- - - ..... C""' • 

Two things I would like to make clear. First, I am not looking for a 

"privilege" for the young man; 1113" primar,v interest is the good of the 

service. Secondly;, under no circumstances, do I want you to go to any 

trouble on this account. 

With kindest regards, I am 

MF:et 

Very truly yours 

~~~1-~ Ma;.i~~;-F~;;;s7 

Lt. Col., G. s. C. (Ret.)