Evening star., 1951-05-11
Gen. Vondenberq's S
Views Quoted

Views Quoted
Senator Hickenlooper- ]
would like to read to you a quota
Ition from Gen. Vandenberg re-
ferring generally to the Korean
situation. He is quoted in the
magazine called the Air Force !.
The article says. among other
things. and I am quoting from the
article now:
Tactical air power is likewise
under wraps, for, as Gen. Vanden-
berg has explained"-and then
quoting Gen. Vandenberg-" 'Iso-
llating the battlefield from rein
lforcements is the prime function
of tactical air. Airpower was rem
Idered practically imperative when
the United Nations in an effort
to avoid a diplomatic rupture with
the Chinese Communists halted
offensive action at the Yalu
River"
That closes the quote from Gen,
Vandenberg. Then the article
continues the paragraph and
said:
This means simply that the
Air Force in Korea has been un-
able. due to diplomatic restric-
tionS, to interdict the enemy at
vulnerable points. especially dur
ing periods when the battle line
was close to the Manchurian
boundary, that the Air Force mas
not been able to conduct full
scale counter air operations, since
our planes have not been allowed
to cross the diplomatic boundary
line even in the air.. and finally
that the Air Force has not been
able to eliminate enemy air fields
over the boundary, air fields
which have posed a constant
threat of hostile air action"
I quote that and refer to it
largely for the purpose of sup
porting the contention that from
the military point of view such
actions are necessary, that there
fore the failure to do this must be
Of political decision. That is, it
must come from a political deci-
sion.
Secretary Marshall - Referrine
to that particular quotation and
that particular article, should
suppose that 1t is written as OF
the period Of the first entrance
of the Chinese Communist forces
into Korea when we were forced
into withdrawal clear into South
Korea.
At that period we suffered very
directly and very seriously from
the fact that we could not carry
our air beyond the Yalu River. anc
at that time the Chiefs of Stat
brought forth a proposal that We
should introduce as a first ster
hot pursuit. of which I was very
lemphatically in favor.
Senator Hickenlooper-General
do you believe it is the duty OF
the Congress, which passes the
laws Of authorization, to inform
itself. and the members of the
Congress to inform themselves, OF
must the Congress. just supinely
take decisions that are built ur
in other departments of the Gov
ernment. and follow them, without
in the long run being justified, OF
not?
In other words, do not the
members Of the Congress have
the obligation to inform them
selves as much as they can?
Army a Special Entity.
Secretary Marshall-Under thu
Constitution, the Congress does
not command armies, and ar
army is a very special entity.
feel that our greatest long.
term security, in our procedure
our Government, and our mill.
tary force. lies in the fact thai
our representatives in Congress.
are in the middle, as it were, ol
the general plot, and the people
OF this country are kept as fully
Informed as it seems safe to do SO
Now. it is a very difficult lint
to draw; but it is very important
one.
| What would you say, Senator
to this: Congress was not kep1
advised of our atomic develop.
ments. We couldn't. It woule
just defeat us entirely if we die
that. We went a long time with.
out any contact with Congress.
and finally we did contact tn,
top leadership. but even then WI
didn't explain just what we were
doing.
There are considerations o.
strategy. You could carry,
think, your argument into In.
field that the American people
had a right to determine tht
strategy Of battle, or something
Of that kind. You couldn't pos.
sibly hope to win a battle. on {
basis tof something Of that kind
we all recognize that. just as
feel that the individual officer
when he accepts a special position
4 in relation to his Army, dom
mean in the general term that
am in the Army, but ne is az
entity in the Army and there arr
! great reservations as to his pro.
cedure and you cannot, I believe
escape them with any nope o.
/ success.
Certainly you would have pro.
j found confusion.
! Senator Hickeniooper-General
!, lin connection with the examina
| tion of Senator johnson from
Texas on yesterday. If you care Il
tlrefer to it and the documen
.Icalled the Compilation Of Certain
Published Information on the Mil