Ask the Scholar
Page 2 of 15
I can add historical knowledge about this page.
Page image
OCR
In Korea, Com Zone:
Business-like 400 performance of supply functions
Troublesome problems of Korean inflation
Difficulties involving relationships with UNCURK and
UNKRA
3. General Clark impressed me strongly as a great fighting
commander as well as a wise and experienced military statesman. The
stamp of his leadership is to be seen at every hand. There was evidence
everywhere of excellent discipline and high morale, and evidence also of
the effectiveness of leadership in indoctrinating American personnel
with their changed position in Japan under the Japanese Peace Treaty and
Security Agreements. I was impressed with the evidence everywhere of
the friendly attitude of the Japanese toward Americans; and the experts
at FECOM informed me that, on the basis of their surveys, they believed
that between 80 and 90 percent of the Japanese people were pro-American
in their orientation. As a minor indication, I was informed that FECOM
had proposed to the Jepanese that the American street desigrations be
removed, but that the Japanese had replied that the Japanese people had
become accustomed to them and had found them helpful and, consequently,
that they would prefer that they remain in place, supplementing the
Japanese street names. (The Americen designations are on a systematic
basis, lettered avenues and numbered streets, covering, of course, the
principal streets. Almost everyone I talked to expreased high admira-
tion for the Japanese people and a very friendly feeling toward them,
in many cases, in extravagant terms e.g., "the second greatest people
in the world", "fantastically pro-American in their sentiments"
4. The disquieting note pertained to Japanese university
faculties and student bodies. I was informed by numerous people,
FECOM experts, Japanese civilians and ex-military personnel, and
American personnel generally, that the Communist influence was con-
fined to a tiny minority of the Japanese people - with the significant
exception of university faculties and student bodies. And it was
pointed out that an alarmingly high percentage of faculty members and
Jepanese students had become infected with the virus of Communism, based
on their feeling that Japan could have no secure economic future except
in association with the Communts powers on the Asien mainland, that
is, USSR and Communt China. In my judgment it is highly important
that specialized teams be sent to Japan to try to influence thinking
among their university faculties and student bodies. For example, I
believe that it would be useful to send on such teams some top-flight
labor leaders who have proven themselver to be effective spokesmen
for democracy. Included also should be a number of effective and
S.
TRUMAN
DECLASSIFIED
E. O. 11652, Sec. 3(E) and 5(D) or "
OSD letter, April 5.3.77 1974
s ARCHIVES "NATIONAL SERVICE" RECORDS AND
By MLT- He NARS Date 24.27 2
Page data
- Page
- 2
- Source index
- 0
- Type
- photo
- Media ID
- 5aec1b88de8626c2
- Size
- unknown
Document data
- ID
- 229036512
- Core
- doc
- Type
- document
DTO data
{
"id": "229036512",
"sourceUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/229036512",
"contentType": "document",
"title": "Memorandum from Ralph J. Watkins to Karl Bendetsen",
"citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/229036512",
"collections": [
"President's Secretary's Files (Truman Administration)",
"Korean War Files"
],
"iiifBase": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/presidential-libraries/truman/hst-psf/602194/976111/976111-44-001.jpg",
"thumbnailUrl": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/presidential-libraries/truman/hst-psf/602194/976111/976111-44-001.jpg",
"largeImageUrl": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/presidential-libraries/truman/hst-psf/602194/976111/976111-44-001.jpg",
"imageCount": 15,
"hasImages": true,
"source": "import",
"hasTranscription": false
}
Context sent to Scholar
Document identity
{
"localId": "229036512",
"label": "Memorandum from Ralph J. Watkins to Karl Bendetsen",
"core": "doc",
"dtoType": "document",
"citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/229036512"
}
Document source metadata
{
"id": "229036512",
"sourceUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/229036512",
"contentType": "document",
"title": "Memorandum from Ralph J. Watkins to Karl Bendetsen",
"citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/229036512",
"collections": [
"President's Secretary's Files (Truman Administration)",
"Korean War Files"
],
"iiifBase": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/presidential-libraries/truman/hst-psf/602194/976111/976111-44-001.jpg",
"thumbnailUrl": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/presidential-libraries/truman/hst-psf/602194/976111/976111-44-001.jpg",
"largeImageUrl": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/presidential-libraries/truman/hst-psf/602194/976111/976111-44-001.jpg",
"imageCount": 15,
"hasImages": true,
"source": "import",
"hasTranscription": false
}
Document source extras
{
"url": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/229036512",
"naId": 229036512,
"levelOfDescription": "item",
"productionDates": [
{
"day": 28,
"logicalDate": "1952-08-28",
"month": 8,
"year": 1952
}
],
"recordType": "description",
"ocrSource": "nara-archive"
}
Page context
{
"seq": 2,
"pageIndex": 0,
"type": "photo",
"url": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/presidential-libraries/truman/hst-psf/602194/976111/976111-44-002.jpg",
"mediaId": "5aec1b88de8626c2",
"ocrText": "In Korea, Com Zone:\nBusiness-like 400 performance of supply functions\nTroublesome problems of Korean inflation\nDifficulties involving relationships with UNCURK and\nUNKRA\n3. General Clark impressed me strongly as a great fighting\ncommander as well as a wise and experienced military statesman. The\nstamp of his leadership is to be seen at every hand. There was evidence\neverywhere of excellent discipline and high morale, and evidence also of\nthe effectiveness of leadership in indoctrinating American personnel\nwith their changed position in Japan under the Japanese Peace Treaty and\nSecurity Agreements. I was impressed with the evidence everywhere of\nthe friendly attitude of the Japanese toward Americans; and the experts\nat FECOM informed me that, on the basis of their surveys, they believed\nthat between 80 and 90 percent of the Japanese people were pro-American\nin their orientation. As a minor indication, I was informed that FECOM\nhad proposed to the Jepanese that the American street desigrations be\nremoved, but that the Japanese had replied that the Japanese people had\nbecome accustomed to them and had found them helpful and, consequently,\nthat they would prefer that they remain in place, supplementing the\nJapanese street names. (The Americen designations are on a systematic\nbasis, lettered avenues and numbered streets, covering, of course, the\nprincipal streets. Almost everyone I talked to expreased high admira-\ntion for the Japanese people and a very friendly feeling toward them,\nin many cases, in extravagant terms e.g., \"the second greatest people\nin the world\", \"fantastically pro-American in their sentiments\"\n4. The disquieting note pertained to Japanese university\nfaculties and student bodies. I was informed by numerous people,\nFECOM experts, Japanese civilians and ex-military personnel, and\nAmerican personnel generally, that the Communist influence was con-\nfined to a tiny minority of the Japanese people - with the significant\nexception of university faculties and student bodies. And it was\npointed out that an alarmingly high percentage of faculty members and\nJepanese students had become infected with the virus of Communism, based\non their feeling that Japan could have no secure economic future except\nin association with the Communts powers on the Asien mainland, that\nis, USSR and Communt China. In my judgment it is highly important\nthat specialized teams be sent to Japan to try to influence thinking\namong their university faculties and student bodies. For example, I\nbelieve that it would be useful to send on such teams some top-flight\nlabor leaders who have proven themselver to be effective spokesmen\nfor democracy. Included also should be a number of effective and\nS.\nTRUMAN\nDECLASSIFIED\nE. O. 11652, Sec. 3(E) and 5(D) or \"\nOSD letter, April 5.3.77 1974\ns ARCHIVES \"NATIONAL SERVICE\" RECORDS AND\nBy MLT- He NARS Date 24.27 2"
}