Memorandum from Lieutenant General J. E. Hull to President Harry S. Truman

DECLASSIFIED E.O. 11652, Sec. 3(E) and '5(D) or (E). OSD letter, May 3, .1972 By NLT-NC NARS Date 6.24.75 3 September 1945 YOR THE PRESIDENT: SUBJECT: United States Coumitment for Equipment of the Chinese Army. In accordence with a request from Cormodore Verdaman to Colonel Pasco concerning the alleged U.S. commitnent to furnish equipnent for 120 Chinese divisions, the following information is submitted. The Wer Department accepted a plan for equipping and training thirty Chinese divisions in early 1942 and included the equipment in the Army Supply Progrem. This plan Was by General Stilwell in accordance with his directive to strengthen the Ghinese Arny thru the media of Lend-Lesse end training aid. Troining of a second sroup of thirty divisions Vas approved by the War Depertment in January 1943. Commitment was not made as to the provision of equipnent for these second thirty divisions with the exception that ten per cent thereof was approved for training purposes. At a Joint Chiefs of Staff Neoting at the Cairo Conference (November 1943), General Stilwell reported that Generalissino Chiang Kai-shek had a plan which called for the equipping of three groups of thirty divisions each or a total of ninety divisions. The following extract fron the minutes of the 130th JCS Meeting at the above conference 1a the only indication the War Department has of a commitment, if any, President Roosevelt made to Generolissino Chiang Kai-shek: GENERAL MARSHALL aaid the President had already been spoken to about the arming of the third group of Chinese divisions. The President had postponed any definite commitment in this connection although he had made it cleor that the United States intends eventually to provide the equipment for this group. Therefore thore was no question that in the end the United States will am the Chinese group but the question Was as to when this could be done. He thought that this provided a possible basis for a statement by the Denerolissimo. If the Generolissimo could say that he had been assured by the President that the United States would arm and equip the entire Chinese Army and omit any mention of the specific time at which this would be Please return to originating office of GORDS a War bepar tment to showing action taken SENVICE* ETI 2491 time 729