Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-02-14
Iron Mike O'DonieI-
He's q Valiant, Fighting General,
But Isn't He Too Blunt for Saigon?
Bv John A. Giles


with, the French are said to be
sensitive to any indications of OUT
side direction of their 8-year-old
war, although they have obtained
and continue to plead for additional
American aid.
The generals figured Gen. O'Daniel
probably would become general
manager" if he were on the scene.
To complicate matters from mill
tary point of view was the matter
of rank. Gen. O'Daniel is a three
star general-the same as Gen. Henri
Navarro, the French commander in
Indo-China.
Causing top-level worry here is
the attitude Of the French govern
ment itself. The mood in Paris is
such that the government will aban-
don the struggle in do-China If
French forces there merely suffer a
serious-though appropriateness.
A pull-out would open the gateway
of South Asia to the onward march
of the Reds.
While Pacific Ocean area COM
mander before becoming Joint
Chiefs chairman, Admiral Arthur w.
Radford had sent Gen. O'Daniel to
Indo-C China for several inspections.
And it was strongly indicated the
admiral was behind the move to
assign the general there now, either
as head of military mission or as
the Presidents personal envoy.
Gen. O'Daniel gave a glowing re-
port on Gen. Navarro here last week.
But he was critical of French at
tempts to train native Wet NameSe
troops to aid in the fight against the
Reds. He has observed the training
of the South Korean forces by this
country. That training now has
progressed from division to corps,
and now to an army level. The
French were said not to be training
the native forces above the battalion
level. There were some reports they
feared the Wet NameSe-Who have
long clamored for Independence
might turn on them once the Conns
muniStS were whipped.
In 1912, Gen. O'Daniel became
commander of the American Inva-
sion Training School in the British
Isles But within a few months he
had managed to become commander
of a fighting unit-the 168th Infan-
try-and led that outfit in the cap
ture of Algiers in the North African
campaign.
Landed at SoIerno
After that he organized the 5th
Army Invasion Training Center in
Africa. which prepared the forces
for the landings in Sicily and Saler-
no. Although he was not required
to accompany them, the general
made the landing at Salerno.
The following year he became
commander of the Sd Division
in Italy. He commanded that out
fit from it's darkest days on the
AnZio beachhead in February. 1914,
until May, l945, when he personally
received the surrender emissaries
from German Field Marshal
Kesselring.
No stickler for diplomatic terms,
he was once asked at staff meet
ing by British Field Marshal Sir
Harold Alexander, commander of the
allied armies in Italy: II believe
that your division did not give an
inch. Is that true?"
mot a - - inch" was the
reply.
. The general became Pacific com-
mander with headquarters in Homo
lulu on September /, 1852. He was
scheduled to retire February %. But
his retirement now has been de-
layed indefinitely" presumably
while the administration makes up
its mind whether to send him to
Saigon. The general, OF course, does
not want to retire.