48.01.26(505w)
TO DWIGHT P. GRISWOLDJanuary 26, 1948
Radio. Top SecretWashington, DC
Eyes only—most confidential.Personal for Griswold from Marshall.My estimate of American military assistance in Greece is that we need a more impressive personality at the head of the military contingent and I think this need is urgent.1 Also I believe the appointment of such a man would have a good psychological effect on the Balkan countries because inevitably it would arouse considerable comment back here in the United States.
It would be my view that Livesay would continue on the supply end but that the supply side and the military advice side should be under the type of officer I now suggest.2
I am proposing that Major General James A. Van Fleet, one of the outstanding aggressive fighting corps commanders of the campaign in Europe be nominated as a Lieutenant General and sent to you as soon as possible.3 Eisenhower and his deputies concur with me in the desirability of this action. Incidentally Livesay’s recent discussions with them were responsible for their feeling that the action I am now proposing should be taken. The President is also in favor of such action and will submit the nomination to Congress. Please let me have your reaction as quickly as possible.
FR 1948, 4:36–37[NA/RG 59 (868.20 Mission/1–2648)]
1. Sometime in early January, Marshall talked with US Army Chief of Staff Dwight D. Eisenhower about this issue. On January 7, 1948, Eisenhower replied with a list of five officers, including Major General James A. Van Fleet, who had just been named deputy chief of staff, Headquarters, European Command, United States Army. Eisenhower noted that Van Fleet was “the only officer we had in the war who fought his way all the way from regimental to corps commanding. He is definitely not the intellectual type, but is direct and forceful and has a fighting record that would make anyone respect him.” (Alfred D. Chandler Jr., et al., eds., The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. 21 vols. [Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1970–2001], 9: 2184–85. Hereinafter cited as Papers of DDE. ) For further information regarding Van Fleet’s assignment to Greece, see Marshall to Queen Frederika, February 10, 1948, pp. pp. 253–54.
2. Major General William G. Livesay had served as an instructor under Marshall at the InfantrySchool (1927–30) and later commanded the Ninety-first Infantry Division (1943–45). He had been commanding general of the army contingent of the American Mission for Aid to Greece since June 1947. In early February 1948 he requested reassignment and in mid-June was named commanding general of the army’s ArmoredCenter and School.
3. Marshall met with Van Fleet on February 5, and the Department of the Army announced his assignment the following day. Two days later, the president nominated him for promotion to lieutenant general. Van Fleet arrived in Athens on February 24 to head the Joint US Military Advisory and Planning Group in Greece, which had been formally established on December 31, 1947. JUSMAPG included army, navy, and air personnel and was authorized to have direct communication with the Joint Chiefs of Staff. (Papers of DDE, 9: 2185n.)