Evening star., 1941-07-25
BY HAROLD l.. ICKES,
Eanrat

BY HAROLD l.. ICKES,
Secretary of the Interior.
Mr.. Lindbergh has written an
other letter to the President. To be
more accurate. he wrote a letter II
the newspapers and addressed it to
the President, as Is his habit
Whether this has reached the Pres
ident. I do not know. I do know
that it was in the hands of the press
before 1t got to the White House
One trouble with this particular
letter was that it didn't state the
facts. Mr. Lindbergh's memory was
evidently at fault, although 1t Is
certainly strange that ones memory
should be faulty with reference to
such an unusual event as having
pinned upon his breast Nazi deco
ration by Herr Goering. In his haste
to explain to the American people
why he is knight of the German
Eagle, Mr. Lindbergh did not STOP
to verify his recollection A man
with a bad memory should always be
cautious on such a score.
In his letter, Mr.. Lindbergh COM
plainingly says:
Mr.. President. is 1t too much to
ask that you inform your Secretary
of the Interior that I was decorated
by the German government while
! was carrying out the request of
your Ambassador to that govern
ment? Is it unfair of me to ask that
YOU inform your Secretary that
received this decoration in the
American Embassy, in the presence
Of your Ambassador. and that I was
there at his request in order to assist
In creating better relationship be-
tween the American Embassy and
the German government, which
your Ambassador desired at that
time?"
Cites Wilson's Report.
Apparently the intention was to
give the impression that Mr. Lind
hergh was sacrificing himself for
his Government at the request of
the American Ambassador to Ger
many. Unfortunately for Mr.. Lind
bergh. the official records do not
sustain this suggestion of patriotic
martydom.
When our Ambassador to Berlin,
Mr.. Hugh R. Wilson, reported to the
State Department that Goering
gave medal to Mr.. Lindbergh. he
stated that the decoration came as
a complete surprise. In other words,
Lindbergh was not carrying out the
request of the American Govern
ment and he did not receive the
medal at the request" of the
American Ambassador.
Here are the exact words of AM
bassador Wilson taken from his re-
port to the Secretary of State. 1t
is dated Berlin. October 81, 1898:
Col. Lindbergh was in the city.
He was especially interested in
meeting those persons responsible
for the development of the air
forces. Gen. Field Marshal Goer-
ing is chief of the air force. Hence
he was present at my dinner, as
well as other leading members of
this arm of the service.
The fact Of the presentation Of
the medal was surprise to me and
to all Of my guests. Gen. Goering
gave us no warning thereof and pre-
sented the medal before we went into
dinner"
Present at Dinner.
I have also been informed by a
high official in the Department of
State that Mr.. James w. Riddle
berger was attached to the Amer
lean Embassy in Berlin at the time
of this dinner. This gentleman was
present on the occasion of the din
ner, and he says that 80 far as
know, there was no previous ar
rangement with regard to the pres
entation Of the decoration" He
SAYS further that: so far as
know. there was no request made
by the Ambassador to Col. Lind
bergh to undertake any activities
In the interest of the American Gov
ernment."
Here we have unimpeachable con-
tenporaneous evidence from our
own American Ambassador and a
member of his staff that Mr.. Lind
bergh is completely in error when
he excuses his acceptance of con-
taminating Naz decoration by the
fearful plea that he was trying to
improve relations between this Gov
ernment and that of Hitler at the
request of our Ambassador.
Whether Mr.. Lindbergh did or did
not know that he was to be made
q night of the German Eagle. it is
fact that neither Ambassador Will.
son nor any member of his staff
knew anything about it.
But even If Mr.. Lindbergh had
stated the facts fairly and truly
which he did not-When he COM
planned to the President because the
Secretary of the Interior had re-
ferred to him as knight of the
German Eagle, it would be beside
the point. When Mr.. Lindbergh
submitted to the communicating
touch OF Marshal Goering, the Nazis,
under Hitler and Goering, had not
started out on their international
career of rapine and murder-al-
though they had done plenty of kill
ing and torturing in Germany
proper. One might have criticized
Mr.. Lindbergh even then for accept
ing this bauble from the avowed
and bitter enemies of democracy, as
! did In a speech in Cleveland in
the early winter of 1898. but one
could not have condemned him un-
duly.
Now, however, the situation is en-
tirely different. What Mr.. Lind
bergh did in 1888 when only a ques-
tion Of taste was involved, cannot be
endured in 194l, when a. matter
of moral principle is at stake.
Would Mr.. Lindbergh accept deco
ration at the hands of the Nazis
today? If not, why should he con-
tinue to hold on to a decoration
that has become a badge Of dishonor
and shame?
If Mr.. Lindbergh feels like cring-
ing when he is correctly referred to
as knight Of the German Eagle,
why doesn't he send back the dis