REF ID:A414Bif.9 ~ 

Marcil 21, 1922. 

~ dear lila.,jor Churchill: 

/vfj 

I ; I / 

With reference to 'lour note, received here the 

13th instant, regarding the question of a distinguished service 

I 

I 

meda.!C for Colonel ~orge Fa1!J!:,(1, I am unable to locate anyth.ing 

fran you. 

The on.l,.y information found in OUl" files regarding 

the matter is that contained in the letter fr an tllis office, 

~ 7, 1920, to Colonel Fabyan, copy enclosed. 

l Incl. 

Very truly yours, 

George o. Squier, 

Major General, 

Chief Signal Officer of the Arnw. 

Major Marlborough Churchill, 

Military Intelligence Division, 

General Staff. 

@'pp roved for Release by NSA on 11-18 2014 pursuantto E .0. 1352a 
IN.REPLY 

REFER TO 

REF ID:A4148~9 

WAR DEPARTMENT, • 

OFFICE OF THE CHIEF SIGNAL OFFICER, 

WASHINGTON. sm\·.--gr 

Subject: :o is t ingui shed ::::erv ice ~ .. eci · 1. 

To: ;,iajor Joseph 0 .... ~uborgne, :-Ids_rs. 6th CorL1s .re:1, 121.:J 

Chicago, Illinois. 

1. '.L'he fi)~ing of .. pri:!. 7th, l':l23, ss tne tin~:: lini t 

_on the ::.warding of decorc.tions for service !_)erforved. iiuring 

the recent war, h~:s broug·ht to the · ttention of the Chief 

Signal Officer, the desir:'bili ty of consj.cie:dn.:::: the < uestion 

as to whether or not t!:tere CJ.l'e merrb ers of the Si ~n:.:.l 0or~~s 

who h~ve not received ::-n L.\'i3rd. of the Jis,ting'Uishecl ~ e1·vice 

Med::i.l to v:hich they ore justl;y en ti tle::J.. He h: s t.!1sn fo1·e 

directed me to request you to submit ~s soon 2s ~ossible 

the names with [.ny ~ttend=:i.nt details yfnich rn~;; be :.t ;·;our 

disposal of ::iny Sign:<l Corps officers 1;:hom ~-ou consiJ er 1·.1ere 

overlooked in the matter of decorations. It v:ill be ErE,atly 

appreciated if you will consicl.er thi:.:; r,!:.tter . t once :.nl 

forward to this office ~'-ny views v:hicD. yoi.;. m--~l h<~ve in the 

matter. 

By order of the 8hief Si:;n:..l Cfficc·. 

-~ ·-I, 

St epneE 1.:. ..2lr::s 1 e~.r ,-

:.2.j or, ::Ji.?n 1 Cor0s. 

1st Ind. JOH LN 

I tit/ 

/ { Hq. 6th C:.A., O.Sig.O., 1819 w. Pershing Jld., ~hi-.;'\2;u, Ill., March 2li, 

1923. - ·To the c.s.o. of the Army, Washington, D.C. / 

1. I can submit no names of Signal Corps offh:ers whom l / 

uonsider eligible for the Distinguished Serviue Medal. ' 

! 

I 

2. ·In uonneution with the award of the Distinguished Serrvice 

Medal, however, it is believ~d that aution should be taken witho~t delay 

- by the Chief Signal Officer in the uase of '.~olonel George Faby_J of 

Geneva, Illinois, whose patriotic expenditure of money and the time of 

his esta.blishlrent at Geneva, Illinois, during the war, in my estims.tion, 

- 1 -
. ' 

REF ID:A4148859 

• 

( 1st Ind. , Jon t 'cl ) 

merits the fJ.'.V~•rd Of the Distinguished Servh:e i.;ed<:"?.1. 

3. Durin1) r.:y in;:;umbenc;1 in the Offi0e of the Chief Signal 

Officer, I at one time started a :i·eco!Ilmendati0n for securlng the 

Distingci.ished Ser•rice l.1edal for Colonel George Fabyan. The papers should 

be some1:1hero in the fiies of the Engineering & Rese1rch Division, if not 

in the main files.. 1Ie5,,tiations for the recornn:endation had proceeded to 

t11e following point: ~everal letters were exi]hanged between myself, representing t:ne Chief Sign:i.l Officer of the Army, and the then Chief of the 

Military Intellit~ence Se:..:tion of the General Staff, Colonel Van Deman, 

wl10 had been naterially assisted by the wor~ of ·.:!olonel r':::l.byan's cipher 

bureau. The out<.:'.)r.Je was th,1t the Chief of Llilitary Intellit~ence said th:1t 

if the Chief Sig·naJ. Officer of the Army ·.vould initiate the recomrnenclation 

to The A<ljutcu1t ~eneral, he would more thtill gladly indorse suc:h .recommend:>.tion for the aw~rti Of the Distinguish1:,>d Service i.ledal to Colonel 

Faby.:i.n. 1r11e matter hung fire in the Office of t.11.e Shief Signal Officer 

for some time, although General Sc1uier seemed to be satisfied. to mah--e 

the recomme!'ldation. About that timE:J, however, the tirre limit for filing 

claims, t!ien in 01'Cration. w;~-1.t> c.;losed., and the recommendation failed to 

reach the General Staff. 

4. I unders.tand that son:e tlme recently a search was made in 

the Of'i'ice oft.he Chief Sir';!l<'l Officer for rapers heari.ng on this subject, 

but u-iat t'he search was unsuccessful. This I ..:an:r.ot understand, because 

to the best of' m,y knowled8'e 8!ld belief, all the T-lapers i.n the case were 

in the office s::i.i'e 'Jf tbe Cliief Of the i~n~ineering :;; H.esearch Division. 

i::ven the form or citation had. teen wor.ked up cmd was J.,'.,?"r"ee:lole to the 

Chief •)f the 1.~ilita.ry Intel ligen;;e. 

5. Tb3 re is on file in the Office of the Chief Signal Officer 

s. letter of comi:e-nda.ti on writ ten O;'/ ~}ene rcJ. ~quier sor:ietime in 1920 er 

1921, v/hi-:h he l:iersonally ~ave to Colonel Pabyan as a token oi' apprecia.tian 

of the Ofi'i-:e of the 8hief Signal Offh:er for the services rendered to his 

;)ff'ice during the wn.r. 'rhe essenGe ·Jf this letter might be used in the 

recOmiYJe.ndation for the Distinguished ~ervfoe :JedaJ., if approved by the 

Chief Signal Officer. Inasmuch as the services rendered 'o,y Colonel Fabyan's 

cipbe.r laboratories were rendered to no re than one part of the Government, 

namely, both t1le Si~~al Corps and the Militar.f Intelligence of the ·:1a.r 

Dep.'U'tment, the mwa.l Gornmunications Ser·.rL;e Of the !'Javy Department, n.nd 

ttJ the Jtate Department, ri.s well o:i.s to the D8J)'-trtment of J11r: tice, it is 

felt th:i.t no r:-:istal<e will be 1r:ade in ~iving the re01Jrnme!lda.tion the broadest 

lY)c;si-:Jle form, so '.:LS to indicate the national character of the distinguished 

services rendered by Colonel Fa.:,,ya:n. 

- 2 -
REF ID:A4148~9 

•• 

(1st Ind.., Cont'd.) 

6. The f3.ats on wh.lch the rec:omrnendation shonld be based a.re 

as follows: Colonel Fabya.n, at the outbreak of the w·a.r~ h[~d a ~ipher 

laboratory established. ·(whii..:h be rapidly expanded), 3nd took over for 

the United States Governr.-1ent and the various Departments just rr:entioried, 

tb.e "breaking" of codes and. ciphers concerned not only with the operation 

of Gezman spies in this country but also .the Mexican operations. His 

Cipher Bureau "broke" many messages of grer.1t mportal!ce to the various 

Departments in Wa.shirigton at a. ~ost of absolutely zero to the Government, 

t!'1e whole burden of the expense of ma.int:Uning a. cipher laboratory, the 

.pay of the employees, their housing, and all other expense being borne 

by Colonel. Fabyan: • In addition, Colonel Fa.bya.n proposed to the War 

Departrnent, and had ac·;;epted by the Chief_Sig~al Officer, the proposition 

of sending to Geneva, Illinois, to Colonel F:1.byan's laboratory, a munber 

of selected Signal Corps offic:ers and men for training in cipher work. 

A very successful course was given "by Colonel Fabyan's operatives to the 

~elected Sit;nal Corps personnel, ~lt a considerable expense to Colonel 

Fabyroi.. The volume of work done by his cipher laboratory was tremendous, 

and hls only recompense has been a letter of comMendation from the 

Cbief' Signal Officer 'Jf the Army. 

7. I recommend that the recommendation fo1· the Distinguished 

Service Medal be put in shape and be submitted without delay to Uajor 

Ralph Van Deman, former Chief of the Military Intelligence, as well as 

to the present Depart!Tient of' Military Intelligence, for indorsement aJ:Jd 

concurren.:;e. 

8. It may be ar~ued that Colonel Fabyan does not deserve this 

medal on acc.:ount of the fact that it WCJJ3 his employees who did the work, 

but this view does not rec.:ognize the part pleyed by Colonel F8.byan in the 

expenditure of money and time in the Jrgrmization of hjs bureau, and in 

a th0usand other w·a.ys, which places the credit for his success on his own 

shoulders. 

9. If any further data is required from me >vi th reference to 

this recomr.-.endation. I shall be glad to forward it without delay. 

., - v -

jf~~~~ .. ~ a.~~ liA{f~P.G~, .:·. 

,,JHgnal Off.~c.:er. 

. ' . ,•' -. 

-~.\ 

. ,..., 

.... .-. '" ; , 
.......... 

• MolLl'l"ARY INTELLIGENCE DIVISION e 

lo replying refer to 

4131-526 

REF ID:A4148~9 

• 

WAR DEPARTMENT 

OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF STAFF 

WASHINGTON A'tcL· . U·V[1 - '' 

il'1ajor General G. O. ~:quier, 

Chief ~ignal Officer, 

'.'iashinston, ~. C. 

My dear General S ~~uier: 

i· .• arch s!92eat(q . 

13 Ml 9 

I 81:1 under the im_pression that so!I'.e time in 1919 

or 19:~o you had under consideration the question of 1)roI:Josing Colonel George !!'abyan, of Riverbank, Geneva, Illinois, 

for a D.:' ·--· and that I concurred in writ ins. 

I can find no record of this correspondence in our 

files. 

Do your files thro<:1 any lit;ht .. 1._.on it, or <io you 

personally recollect anythin; about it? 

ba~> 

I . v 

Very sincerely yours, 

~ ..• Ch'..lrchi 11, 

::ajor, J.ener::::J.l ("'taff. 
' c ,1 o IN REPL.Y REFER TO CJ CkF ID:A4148859 

________ 2cn._.Fab~.ll.ll~--Ge.o, Co 1. 

_______ Ehgin.e.er~IVISION 

ing and Research 

From: 

To: 

Sub,ject: 

WAR DEPARTMENT, 

OFFICE OF THE CHIEF SIGNAL OFFICER, 

WASHINGTON. 

7 May, 1920 

The Chief Signal Officer of the Army 

' 

Colonel George Fabyan, Riverbank Laboratories, 

Geneva, I 11 ino ls 

Work of Riverbank Laboratories for the Signal 

Corps during the World War 

1. The tiroo has come when the Chief Si@lal Officer of the 

Army feels that he should express to Colonel Fabyan and his personnel 

at the Riverbank Laboratories, the profound admiration and thanks of 

the Signal Corps for the distinguished services rendered to the 

United States during the World War by Colonel Fabyan and his Cipher 

Laboratories, not only in connection with the work accomplished on the 

cipher problems submitted to these Laborat·ories by the Signal Corps, 

but also in connection with the training facilities and instruction in 

code and cipher provided by Colonel Fabyan for Signal Corps officers 

without expense to the Government. 

2. The greatest achievements of the Riverbank Laboratories, 

in the opinion of the Signal Corps were, first, the successful attack 

on the printing telegraph cipher as at first employed by the Signal 

Corps, and, second, the unassailable and highly scientific analysis and 

preparation of a rrethod demonstrating the possibility o'f successfully 

attacking the same cipher if the cipher indicators of the two key tapes 

were encoded by a method prepared by the !Jilitary Intelligence Department 

of the Army, 

3. That all of this work ond work on numerous other problems which was of inestimable value to the Government of the United 

States, was carried on at a great expense to Colonel Fabyan, and without 

expense to the United States, is a noteworthy fact which brings us to 

the ackno-"l edgment that not only has Colonel Fabyan proved to be a great 

public benefactor, 'rut he has demonstrated again, that the civilian who 

does not don the· uniform in t irne of public peril may accomplish as 

great things for the benefit of the Gove~mron as many who fight 

in the front line trenches against the enemy. j 

George ~LO.J~uo p. Squier, \ · 

1ftjor General, u. S. A., ' , I hief Signal Officer,