INTELLIGENCE REMARKS OF MAJOR GENERAL WILLIAM J. DONOVAN

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80B01676R002500060009-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 26
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 8, 2002
• Sequence Number: 9
• Publication Date: September 3, 1946
• Content Type: MEMO

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?~ Office Memoandum ? UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT
TO
FROM
SUBJECT:
Executive Director
Chief, Legislative Liaison Branch
DATE: 3 September 1916
Intelligence Remarks of Major General William J. Donovan
1. Attached herewith are the texts of the talks presented over
the Columbia Broadcasting system on Thursday, 29 August 1946, by Major General
William J. Donovan, former Director of the Office of Strategic Services, and
Major General John J. Mangan, former head of the New York Guard in charge of
the military defense of Manhattan. The subject of their broadcast was, "What
Kind of Intelligence Service Does America Need."
2. Attention is called to the remarks of General Mangan on page
3 of the attached texts.
3. Attention is further called in particular to the'remarks of
General Donovan on page 5 in which he states that he advised the OSS be
dissolved as a war-time agency, "but that its assets should be conserved
during peace under the guidance of another agency.... There is no real
Central Intelligence Agency in which they can serve." General Donovan further
recommends on page 6 that experts be gathered together into an independent
STAT
intelligence agency.
ALTER L. PFURZHERCRA'
Chief, Legislative Liaison Br ch
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COLUMBIA BROADCASTING SYSTEM
Thursday, August 29, 1946
6:15 - 6:30 PM
ANNC'R: Columbia presents In MY Opinion, heard every Monday and
Thursday evening, introducing a variety of viewpoints from people in many fields
of interest. This is not news -- it's an expression of personal opinion.
Tonight's question for discussion is "What Kind of Intelligence Service Does
America Need?" And here to express their opinions are Major General William
J. Donovan, former Director of the Office of Strategic Services, and Major
General John J. Mangan, former head of the New York Guard in charge of military
defense for Manhattan. Our first speaker is Major General John J. Mangan.
MANGAN: Our national need for a sound and efficient foreign intelli-
gence service is a most timely subject for discussion. The presence here
tonight of my old friend, college mate and war comrade of World War I. is sure
evidence of this need. General Donovan, as Director of the Office of Strategic
Services, laid the ground work during World War II for a peace-time fact gather-
ing organization. An organization that would bring about a correct understanding
of other nations' programs and their aspirations. Only by such an understanding
can we arrive at world unity and world peace.
Tonight, we are speaking of intelligence. in peace-time, as
contrasted to war-time espionage. We speak of the type of intelligence that
will help build a workable foreign policy to continue the peace. Intelligence
work is fact-finding and fact evaluation. If we are to have an effective for-
eign intelligence service, it should comprise personnel representing a cross-
section of the American people, as OSS did in war-time. It should draw on the
nation's intellectual resources. It should be accessible to such volunteers as
students, missionaries, tourists, labor and business representatives who
frequently go abroad.* And this heterogeneous group should help evaluate, as
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IN MY OPINION - 8/29/146
well as collect data on foreign peoples, their culture, politics, economics,
religion, folklore, and costumes. It should have a close relationship, though,
to the man on the street in foreign country. Even in our. national political
parties they make a careful study of the views and the will of our citizens
when forming national party platforms.
You may ask, "what of our diplomatic service? Isn't it the
job of carefully trained personnel in American foreign service?" Unfortunately,
the answer is "no." Diplomats deal with governmental heads and agencies, which
may or may not reflect the will of the people. It is the will of the people
which alone can sustain a government through the trying and continuous negotia-
tions which constitute world peace.
Foreign Powers have long followed our local (?) and state
expressions. They are familiar with our sectional needs and our prejudices.
And this is the work of an organization operating independently of their
diplomatic intercourses. Consider our handicap in the war with Japan. When
the enemy struck at Pearl Harbor, America had only a handful of trusted citizens
with the fluent command of the Japanese language. We were unable to determine
until late in the war how long the Japanese moral would stand up. We had
little information about Japan's capacity to keep on fighting under the impact
of our Naval and aerial blockade. And when Japan finally collapsed, we were
literally caught by surprise. We were unprepared to proceed immediately with
the complicated details of surrender negotiations.
Now it is easy for Monday morning quarterbacks to review
yesterday's gains play by play, and to point out mistakes, but certainly in
this instance we must take stock of the lessons we have learned. All America
is justly proud of the remarkable work which General Donovan and his OSS
organization did in the last war. They rendered invaluable service to our
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IN MY OPINION - 8/29/46
armed forces all over this earth. And they likewise rendered invaluable service
to the President and his cabinet in collecting information and appraising
situations all of which helped to correctly form our foreign policy with
governments established, or to be established. Unfortunately, the twenty
thousand men and women of all races and creeds, who comprise the OSS, have gone
back to their way of life. Our representatives, now dealing with the peoples
of the earth in negotiating a world peace we fought for, stand alone in their
apprehension without the aid of an organization such as General Donovan's OSS.
Such an organization should now be working with them in Europe. They sorely
need it.
ANNC' R: That was Major General John J. Mangan. Now we shall hear
from Major General William J. Donovan.
DONOVAN: General Mangan has described how our war-time intelli-
gence agency was dissolved so that now we do not have an adequate intelligence,
organization. Before World War II we in America assumed we didn't need
intelligence about other nations. As a result, when war came, we found that
we were ignorant of what was going on in the world. We had to depend on
allied and friendly governments for our information. Even then we were unable
to make use of the information we obtained, because the various documents and
reports on the enemy were scattered through various agencies of the government
and had not been brought together and analyzed to give us the information we
needed. Only later, during the investigation of Pearl Harbor, did we find out
that in December 1941 we had information, which if properly mobilized and
interpreted might well have disclosed to us what Japan intended to do in
December 1941.
Just preceding Pearl Harbor, the President had asked me to
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IN MY OPINION - 8/29/46
make suggestions at setting up an American Intelligence system. I submitted
certain recommendations. The President then established the organization later
known as the Office of Strategic Services to carry out these recommendations.
This is what we did in that agency: -- We collected information on enemy countries;
their'armed strength; their internal economy; their supply channels; their morale;
and their relations with their neighbors. We brought together trained research
specialists from the universities, from American business, and from labor
organizations. Using the information and material at hand, these men soon
made reliable and comprehensive reports for the President and his strategic
advisers. We thus began to unmask the intention and the power of the enemy.
Here are two examples of the things we did:- Our economists
were able to discover German.Army and industrial strength by means of a careful
analysis of German officer deaths, reported in German newspapers. We learned
what the German production of tanks and combat planes was by examining hundreds
of factory plates taken from captured German tanks and planes.
In the OSS we quickly learned that you can't collect all
of the information needed in war by sitting in Washington. And you can't deliver
your information to the man who needs it from a Washington desk. So OSS
headquarters were established in every theatre, in England, North Africa,
Switzerland, and Sweden, from which we sent agents and guerilla fighters in
occupied France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Austria, Yugoslavia and Italy -- and
on the other side of the globe we operated in Siam, China, Burma, and Indo-China.
That was an effective war-time intelligence system. Information gatherers and
fighters behind enemy lines, and scholars placed all the way from Washington
to the Front Lines. Men who could interpret the information received and give
it to the official or commander who needed it.
Let me say a word about these men. They were all Americans.
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IN MY OPINION - 8/29/116
Many of them are French, Italian, German, Siamese, Chinese origin. But now all
Americans. We had often been told by our Allies that this mixture of national-
ities in America was a weakness and could be penetrated and exploited by our
enemies. But we said and we did convert that so-called liability into a great
asset. Only American melting pot could mobilize such a body of experts in the
knowledge of other countries, and we did it to the great advantage of our war
effort. Now that the war is over, this Intelligence Organization has been dis-
banded. I advise that it be dissolved as a war time agency, but that its assets
should be conserved during peace uder the guidance of another agency, in
order to service the country in its present serious problems. But very little
was done. Almost all of the Intelligence personnel, with their skills in the
languages, economics, and politics of other nations, have been allowed to drift
away from the government, as General Mangan has told you. There is no real
central intelligence agency in which they can serve.
What kind of a peace-time intelligence service do we need?
Our experience in war shows that our American Democratic system has no use
for a gestapo, or sinister spies, or for sultry blondes. Neither do we want
what General Marshall has called "teacup intelligence" -- news picked up by
diplomats at dinner parties. We mobilized our information experts in war, and
we should do so again in peace-time in order to prevent war. We need an
?
independent, unbiased agency, made up of the best experts we can get together.
We need it as an instrument of peace. The soundness of our foreign policy is
our hope of peace, and our foreign policy can be no better than the information
upon which it is based. Our policy makers, especially in the United Nations and
in the Peace Conference, should have the best intelligence we can give them.
They must never again be in the position they were in 19111 -- uncertain of the
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IN (Y OPINION - 8/29/46
exact intention of our potential enemies, and ignorant of the power of our
allies.
The only sure way we can do this is to set up tie kind of
intelligence organization which our experience since '41 has taught us is really
effective. We must gather together our experts into an independent agency.
Such an agency can co-ordinate all our information so that we can act independently
without bias to serve our policy makers. We must do this, and then we will
know what is going on in the world. With this knowledge we can be strong and
resolute in safeguarding our nation with a self respecting peace. If we do
not do this, we will destroy the first line of defense to our security and
to our liberty.
ANNC'R: You've been listening to In My Opinion, a regular CBS
series presenting a variety of personal opinions, from people in many fields
of current interest. Tonight's guests were Major General William J. Donovan,
former Director of the Office of Strategic Services, and Major General Mangan,
former head of the New York Guard in charge of military defense for Manhattan.
They gave their opinions on the question --- "WhatKind of Intelligence Service
Does America Need?"
This is CBS... THE COLUMBIA BR)ADCASTING SYSTEM.
ED.TRANS:/A. Gronholdt
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It 1rnwriam
GENERAL WILLIAM J. DONOVAN
1883 -1959
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GENERAL WILLIAM J. DONOVAN
1883 - 1959
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To Alumni of Donlard-
It surprised none of us who knew Bill Donovan
that his passing evoked such extensive public com-
ment. He achieved eminence as a soldier, statesman,
diplomat and humanitarian. But he was first and
foremost a lawyer, the leading counsel in such land-
mark cases as Trenton Potteries, Humphry's Executor,
Appalachian Coals, and Madison Oil. For those who
had the privilege of being associated with him in the
practice of law, we have reprinted here a few of the
tributes to him that appeared in the New York press.
GEORGE S. LEISURE
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William J. Donovan
There are hundreds of things that could be said about Gen.
William J. Donovan. He was a tradition as "Wild Bill." He
commanded the "Fighting Sixty-ninth." He organized 0. S. S.
He was our Ambassador to Thailand at a time when Southeast
Asia was an exceptionally "sensitive" area. He was a recog.
nized public servant of the highest caliber. All that he was
asked to do he did well.
All this, however, is not the secret of his unusual appeal
to the American spirit and to the American imagination. We
believe that General Donovan made his place in the hearts of
his countrymen through his lifelong representation of a virtue
that we deeply admire and to which we try to aspire. He was
a living symbol of what we think of as plain, simple, unadul-
terated courage. No one will remember if he was right or
wrong, wise or mistaken. No one can forget that he was always
brave.
We need that legacy. It is only too easy to become timor-
ous. There is always the temptation to accept the easy course.
It may be hurtful to try to be valiant. Courage is not usually
cheap. But strong men can remind us that it is possible to
overcome weakness. They can show us that the human spirit
can triumph over pain, disability and even disaster. Medals
such as General Donovan's are won not on physical battlefields
but in the minds and hearts of men. His was such a victorious
mind and heart. That is his gift to us.
NEW YORK TIMES
Editorial Page-February 10, 1959
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Gen. Donovan's Distinguished Career
"Wild Bill" Donovan gained his nickname by reason of his
courage as a major with "The Fighting 69th" in World War I.
It stuck with him all through his life, even when he was a dis-
tinguished lawyer, arguing cases before the Supreme Court of
the United States; Republican candidate for Governor of New
York; commander of the Office of Strategic Services during
World War II; Ambassador to Thailand at a critical time in
Southeast Asia, or performing any of his other almost countless
public services under five Presidents. His death in Washington
at seventy-six ends a career whose variety was surpassed only
by its usefulness.
Gen. William J. Donovan's contribution to his country can
be measured in the fact that he was the only man to have held
the Medal of Honor, the Distinguished Service Cross, the Dis-
tinguished Service Medal and the National Security Medal-
which may be accounted as the nation's four highest decora-
tions. Yet deep though his patriotism ran, it never ran narrow.
He was one of the first Americans of national stature to sense
the growing menace of Fascism, and he went to Ethiopia in 1932
and to Spain in 1937 to observe its march at first hand. In
the same way he became a stalwart in the battle against the
advances of international communism; in 1956 he organized
one of the most successful campaigns for financial aid to the
Hungarians who had rebelled against the Soviets.
Probably it was as head of the 0. S. S. that most of his
countrymen knew General Donovan. Yet this was only the sum-
mit of a career that had already seen important services as an
assistant Attorney General, a candidate for high office, a diplo-
matic observer and a famous lawyer. In the 0. S. S. he organ-
ized a secret army which performed vital intelligence, analytical
and espionage functions that contributed mightily to the Allied
victory. Much of the 0. S. S. story is still untold, but it is not
too much to say that General Donovan created America's first
world-wide secret intelligence force.
A warm friend as well as a devoted citizen, General Dono-
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van could look back as few men can upon years of aspiration
matched by achievement. Winston Churchill, commenting upon
a fact-finding trip by General Donovan in the Balkans and the
Middle East in 1940, summed up the man when he said: "He
has carried with him throughout an animating, heartwarming
flame." It was a flame that burned brightly throughout his life.
NEW YORK HERALD TRIBUNE
Editorial Page - February 9, 1959
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Wild Bill Donovan
Wild Bill Donovan, who was anything but wild, is dead.
One thing he couldn't lick was arterio-sclerosis.
Few men have had more colorful careers than Maj. Gen.
William J. Donovan. He was, in fact, an adventurer-but not
for adventure's sake. It was his zeal for usefulness, his intense
hatred of injustice and his rare capacity for doing a job (almost
any kind of a job), which caused it to be said of him that he
naturally gravitated to trouble spots.
In mannerism, he was modest and temperate. In action,
he was bold and imaginative. Some of his finest contributions
to the public good were quietly made in peacetime, yet he held
about as many decorations for military combat as a man could
earn.
His principal fame grew out of his creation and leadership
of this country's first real undercover agency, the wartime OSS,
which he described as a "heterogeneous outfit of intellectuals,
dilettantes and footpads." Starting from nothing, because we
had no intelligence service worth the name, Gen. Donovan made
the OSS almost indispensable to the war effort.
The secret of this man probably was epitomized by the
chaplain of his World War I regiment-the famed "Fighting
69th"-who said of him: "His men would have cheerfully gone
to hell with him. And as a priest, I mean what I say."
NEW YORK TELEGRAM & SUN
Editorial Page - February 9, 1959
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Gen. Donovan: Received
Nation's Top 4 Honors
Soldier, Diplomat and Lawyer,
A Close Friend of Presidents
William Joseph Donovan, seventy-six, who died yesterday
at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, in Washington, was
the only man to hold the nation's four highest decorations.
He was too ill to accept in person the National Security
Medal when it was awarded to him by President Eisenhower on
April 4, 1957. But he was his usual, energetic self earlier when
he received the Medal of Honor, the Distinguished Service Cross
and the Distinguished Service Medal.
He spent the greater part of his life serving his country
and, in so doing, carved out a career as full of achievement as
it was with adventure. As a lawyer of international stature or
a major general in World War II, heading the Office of Strategic
Services; as a football player at Columbia University or a spe-
. cial agent for Franklin D. Roosevelt between wars, he demon-
strated a rare talent for handling men and acting decisively.
How He Got Nickname
He acquired his nickname in France during World War I
when, as a major with the famous "Fighting 69th," he was
chiding his men for looking tired after a rigorous day's training.
A plaintive voice from the ranks replied, "We ain't as wild as
you, Bill." Yet he always appeared cool and unruffled, what-
ever his job.
General Donovan is best remembered for his service in the
two wars-in World War I when he won five decorations, in-
cluding the Medal of Honor, as commander of the 165th Infan-
try Regiment; and in World War II when he created, developed
and directed America's first world-wide secret intelligence force,
the Office of Strategic Services.
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A . Republican Leader
Between the wars he was a hard-hitting Assistant Attorney-
General, a leader and candidate of the Republican Party and a
globe-trotting diplomat who helped awaken this country to the
menace of Hitlerism.
Gen. Donovan was successful at everything he tried-ex-
cept politics. He ran for Lieutenant-Governor of New York
in 1922 and for Governor in 1932 on the Republican ticket but
was defeated both times. And in 1946 he lost the Republican
senatorial nomination to Irving M. Ives, who went on to win
the election.
In recent years, he had devoted his spare time to the cause
of European federalism and to warning his fellow-citizens about
the peril of Soviet imperialism. After visiting Europe in 1948
and observing the operation of the Berlin airlift, he became an
advocate of a firm policy, backed by power, to check possible
Russian aggression. On his return, he said: "We must have
peace by compulsion. We must counter the Soviet subversive
war by being strong enough."
He was born Jan. 1, 1883, in Buffalo, attended Niagara
University and transferred to Columbia, where he played on the
football team and earned his tuition by tutoring. He was gradu-
ated with the Class of 1905 and passed the next three years at
Columbia Law School, where he was a classmate of Franklin
D. Roosevelt.
In 1908 he returned to Buffalo, where he practiced law,
took part in civic affairs and organized Troop I of the 1st New
York Cavalry. In 1914 he married Ruth Rumsey.
He served with his outfit on the Mexican border in 1916
and as war with Germany drew near he joined the 27th Division
as assistant chief of staff.
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Within a few months he was in France as a battalion com-
mander in the 165th Infantry Regiment of the 77th Division
(New York City's old "Fighting 69th" Regiment). His first
recorded comment after his arrival overseas was: "The good
old Irish method of licking hell out of the Germans is the only
way to win this war." In a year, the blue-eyed, square-faced
Irishman won the Distinguished Service Cross, the Distinguished
Service Medal and the Medal of Honor. He was wounded three
times.
Named U. S. Attorney
He returned to Buffalo after the war. Soon after the
campaign of 1922, when he was defeated for Lieutenant-
Governor, he was appointed United States Attorney for the
Western District of New York. In this post he enforced the
prohibition law vigorously, although he disapproved of it. He
even ordered a raid on the Saturn Club, of which he and his
law partner were members-a circumstance which led to the
dissolution of their partnership.
Named Assistant Attorney-General by President Coolidge
in 1924, Gen. Donovan shifted his activities to Washington and
for the next five years gained prominence for prosecuting viola-
tions of the anti-trust statutes.
"Noble Experiment" Speech
A close friend of former President Hoover, Gen. Donovan
campaigned actively for him in 1928 and was in fact credited
with writing the carefully-worded speech in which prohibition
was referred to as "a noble experiment." After the election, it
was generally assumed that Gen. Donovan would be offered
the Attorney-Generalship, a post he had desired for some time.
However, his appointment was blocked by "dry" elements in
the Republican party.
Sensing the growing menace of fascism, Gen. Donovan
kept in close touch with European developments during the
thirties. After his unsuccessful bid for the Governorship in
New York in 1932, he went to watch the Fascist war machine
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in operation in Ethiopia in 1935 and in Spain in 1937. Then,
in 1940, he was asked by President Roosevelt to make an ex-
tended tour of the Balkans and Great Britain as an unofficial
observer for the Navy Department.
Appointed 0. S. S. Chief
During this trip, Gen. Donovan concluded that American
information-gathering services were inadequate, and he so re-
ported to the President. His appointment as Co-ordinator of
Information followed soon afterward, and in 1942 he was
named director of the 0. S. S.
For the next three years, he was the boss of a shadow army
whose thousands of members included distinguished scholars
skilled in the techniques of research and analysis as well as reck-
less young operatives trained in individual combat who relayed
valuable information from enemy territory. The 0. S. S. also
fostered resistance movements.
As director of this unprecedented organization, Gen. Dono-
van was authorized to spend vast sums of money for which he
was not held accountable. In 1944 alone, the 0. S. S. budget
included $37,000,000 for unspecified purposes. Proof that it
was well spent came from President Truman, who awarded
Gen. Donovan the oak leaf cluster to the Distinguished Service
Medal in 1946 for "his successful achievements" which "con-
tributed to a high degree to the success of military operations."
He returned to the private practice of law as head of the
firm of Donovan, Leisure, Newton and Irvine, with offices at 2
Wall St., but he was never left long to pursue his private
business.
Investigated Slaying
The general undertook to head a committee formed by
newspaper men to investigate the slaying in 1948 in Greece
of George Polk, a C. B. S. correspondent. A Greek Communist
was sentenced to life imprisonment in the case and two others
were sentenced to death in absentia, the government charging
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that the plot had been hatched to embarrass it. Gen. Donovan
declared himself satisfied with the result after a full investi-
gation.
President Eisenhower named him Ambassador to Thailand
in 1953, when Communists were threatening that country.
Sponsored Hungarian Aid
He had long advocated a strong United States policy in the
Far East to stem the Red threat in that area and this undoubt-
edly had a great deal to do with his selection for the Bangkok
post. He favored also a union of the countries of Western
Europe as a deterrent to any further Communist advances. He
was chairman of the American Committee on United Europe
and a member of the Committee on the Present Danger, which
advocated wresting the initiative from Russia in the cold war.
In November, 1956, when he was approaching his seventy-
fourth birthday, he took time out from his personal affairs to
organize a campaign to raise $1,000,000 for aid to the Hun-
garian people who had rebelled against Soviet domination of
their country. He had no trouble getting a total of $1,500,000.
Letter From Gen. Taylor
In a letter to Gen. Donovan dated March 7, 1958, Gen.
Maxwell D. Taylor, Army Chief of Staff, summed up "Wild
Bill's" contribution during World War II, but his words might
well have been applied to an entire brilliant career. Wrote
Gen. Taylor:
"Your efforts contributed in a high degree to the success
of military operations essential to final victory. In your per-
formance of this duty, and throughout your career, you have
consistently advanced the ability of the Army to promote the
security of our country."
NEW YORK HERALD TRIBUNE
February 9, 1959
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Tribute to Wm. Donovan
General's Qualities of Leadership,
Vivid Personality Recalled
The writer of the following letter is United States Ambas-
sador to West Germany.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE NEW YORK TIMES:
The news of Bill Donovan's death is a profound shock to
all of his associates, friends and acquaintances: It hardly seems
possible that this ageless man, this almost elemental force of
nature, has been removed from our immediate contact.
Wherever there was a stir, and especially whenever-all
too frequently-trouble brewed, Donovan was there. He was
an adventurer, in the best sense of the word, in the modern
world.
Imagination and the quality of great leadership were his
dominant characteristics. The word "impossible" was not in
his lexicon. What man had done was only a springboard from
which to vault into the unknown.
Career of 0. S. S.
I was most closely familiar with him during more than
four years' service in his Office of Strategic Services organiza-
tion. There he was the inspirer of more than thirty thousand
people. All were fish in his net, tumbled together in what,
organizationally, appeared to be chaos.
His mandate was almost unlimited in the field of clandes-
tine activities. Nor did any chief ever as readily.respond to
such a challenge. Something had to knit together beings so
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disparate, recruited for tasks so indefinite. The polarization
came from one individual-Donovan.
In the midst of the gravest preoccupations, with a task so
comprehensive as, at times, to appall his subordinates, the Gen-
eral remained unruffled, calm to deal with the exigencies of
world-wide covert operations, but able to turn what seemed an
equal concentration on the marital, or extramarital, problems,
the health or illness, the financial tribulations or any other
concerns of those who worked for him.
He contracted enmities, but never as readily as he made
friends. Giving complete loyalty himself, he commanded it
from others.
He taxed his brain and body without mercy. In his sixties,
he was still a threatening opponent on a squash court. Sleep he
scarcely considered a necessity but an imposition by nature on
man's obligation for self-improvement. For him no moment
was an occasion for idleness. On uncomfortable and danger-
ous airplane flights he was usually discovered amusing himself
with a German, French, Spanish, Italian or other grammar,
unless he was concocting a complicated scheme to harass the
enemy.
Excitement Over Ideas
His personal charm was disarming. His sympathies were
almost universal. He could not abide cowardice, being so con-
stituted that this weakness was incomprehensible to him.
His imagination was unlimited. Ideas were his plaything.
Excitement made him snort like a race horse. Woe to the
officer who turned down a project because, on its face, it seemed
ridiculous, or at least unusual. For painful weeks under his
command I tested the possibility of using bats-taken from
concentrations in Western caves-to destroy Tokyo. The Gen-
eral, backed by the intrigued President Roosevelt, was only
dissuaded from further experiments in this field when it ap-
peared probable that the cave bats would not survive a trans-
Pacific flight at high altitudes.
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He was a torchbearer of much that was most luminous
during American participation in wars. In civil life he was
adamant in the protection of our liberties and traditions.
I feel I can speak for thousands of others who served him
during his great period in saying that I wish we had adequately
conveyed to him during his lifetime the deep affection and ad-
miration we always entertained for him.
Berlin, Feb. 9, 1959.
NEW YORK TIMES
February 15, 1959
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Donovan Incidents Recalled
TO THE EDITOR OF THE NEW YORK TIMES:
Your recent editorial about Gen. Bill Donovan and Am-
bassador David Bruce's letter paying tribute to him published
in your issue of Feb. 15 were earned by his life of devotion to
our country and of almost unparalleled bravery.
They brought back to me two incidents about him which
seemed to illustrate the remarkable quality of this great man
which your editorial and David Bruce's letter so well described:
In the spring of 1953 Bill and I were in Germany together
on some Government task. One evening the talk turned to the
subject of what is wrong with America. Bill remained silent
while several others expressed their views. Then he said, "The
trouble with America is that- it has too many people in it who
are afraid to die." I realized that this one short sentence
revealed the philosophy by which he lived.
In December, 1956, he and I were at Camp Kilmer on
work together for the Hungarian refugees. I mentioned to Bill
that I had been a boyhood neighbor and schoolmate of Joyce
Kilmer, the poet, for whom Camp Kilmer was named; that it
was an interesting coincidence that now very many years later
I was working at the camp bearing his name which was furnish-
ing a haven for so many Hungarian freedom fighters. Then
Bill said-although he had never before mentioned to me any
of the military exploits for which he received all of the highest
awards for bravery which our country has to bestow:
"You know, I was associated with Joyce too. He was
fighting immediately next to me on my left side in France in
the fall of 1918 and the same shell which killed Joyce almost
took off my left hand. I went on fighting; someone replaced
Joyce; he also was killed; yet, for some reason I am still alive."
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Bill's comment that, with his left hand almost torn off, he
"went on fighting" was merely a simple statement of what to
him seemed the obvious thing for him to have done.
Surely he was one of those who was "mot afraid to die."
TRACY S. VOORHEES
New York, Feb. 24, 1959.
NEW YORK TIMES
Friday, March 6, 1959
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