Evening star., 1949-11-13
ForrestoI diary May Reveal
How He Fought for Unificotion
Bv Martin s. Hoyden

By Mortin S. Hayden
North American Newspaper Alliance
What would be the testimony
Of the late James v Forrestal If
the onetime Navy and Defense
Secretary were alive and on the
witness stand in the current uni
fication battle between the armed
services?
With all sides in the present row
claiming the blessing Of the For
restal spirit, the answer lies in a
White House safe in the locked
diary" of the man who, gave nine
exhausting years to public service
and then, with his nerves shat
tered, leaped to his death from the
tall tower of the Bethesda Naval
Hospital.
In apparent rebuttal of the
Navy contention that its troubles
only really began when Louis
johnson became Defense Secre-
tary. a White House intimate yes
terday sketched Mr.. Forrestal's s
gradually changing philosophy on
unif1cation.
He said uniflcation began to
move toward actuality In the fall
of 1945, when the President Or
dered his present legal counsel.
but then naval aide, Clark Cliff
ford, to start preliminary work on
what became the uniflcation mes
sage to Congress few months
later.
Favored Co. ordination.
M. Forrestal at that time told
Mr.. Clifford he was willing to go
for a form of. not uniflcation, but
coordination. He initially IA
vored a setup In which the De-
fense Secretary would serve as q
"persuader" and mediator" be-
tween the several services, but noS
as an umpire with final decision.
AS against this. the President
wanted a top Defense Secretary
with. as he described it, Super
vision, authority and control"
/ Mr.. Forrestal made certain con-
cessions in a series OF closed con-
ferences with Mr.. Clifford and
Stuart Symington, then Assistant
Secretary of War. A series Of
general principles was agreed
on and the actual drafting of
a proposed law was turned over
to representative military techni-
clans. principally Admiral Forrest
Sherman, now Chief of Naval Op-
erations. and Air Force Gen.
Lauris Norstadt, then chief Of
plans and operations for the
Army Air Forces.
The result was the Unification
Act of 1947 which Mr.. Forrestal
approved by accepting the first
appointment as Defense Secre-
tary.
History Is Recalled.
Then comes the part Of the
White House history which Navy
partisans will not like.
six months after Forrestal
took Office" says the White House
informant. ''he admitted that the
Unif1cation Act would have to be
amended to increase the powers
of the Defense Secretary.
Again there were closed confer
ences. Ultimately there emerged a
written but still unpublished
memorandum, signed, according to
the White House, by MIR. Clifford,
Mr.. Forrestal1 and Frank Pace. jr.,
Director of the Budget. 1t recon-
mended the additional power
which. approved by Congress last
August and used by Secretary
Johnson. touched off the current
rebellion by the Navy.
Presumably the voluminous For
restal diary would contain 4
copy OF that memorandum. It
might also contain yerification, 1t
1t is true, Of the recent claim Of
angry Navy Secretary Francis P.
Matthews that Mr.. Forrestal, In
order to keep abreast Of Navy De-
partment happenings, had to go
personally to the Navy commune
cations room to read the incoming
messages which his subordinates
tried to keep away from him.
The answers will come II and
when the diary" is published.
Truman Retains File.
AS the White House intimate
made his prediction as to how Mr..
Forrestal would speak. 1t was
learned the word diary is mis-
nomer.
President Truman is the For
restal-designated keeper Of whole
| file case filled with confidential
papers outlining the thinking and
the many still unrevealed activities
of man who was one of the most