JFK HEARS OPTIMISTIC & PESSIMISTIC REPORTS ON VIETNAM
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On September 10, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was briefed by General Victor Krulak* of the United States Marine Corps and Joseph Mendenhall** of the State Department after their return from a "fact-finding" mission to Vietnam.
General Krulak told the President that progress was being made against the communists but Mr. Mendenhall said the Ngo Dinh Diem regime was near collapse.
The contrast between an extremely optimistic report by Krulak and an extremely pessimistic one by Mendenhall led JFK to ask if "they had visited the same country."
South Vietnam President Ngo Dinh Diem was overthrown in a coup in early November 1963.
*General Victor H. Krulak (1913-2008) USMC served in WWII, Korea and Vietnam. He was born in Denver, Colorado and graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1934. Among his many awards are the Navy Cross, the Legion of Merit, and the Purple Heart.
**Joseph Mendenhall was born in 1920. He continued work in Indochina under LBJ and in 1965 became director of the United States Agency for International Development and from 1972-75 was US ambassador to Madagascar.
General Victor Krulak
United States Marine Corps
