MILITARY COLD WAR EDUCATION AND SPEECH REVIEW POLICIES MONDAY, MAY 14, 1962 U.S. SENATE, SPECIAL PREPAREDNESS SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES, Washington, D.C. The special subcommittee met, pursuant to recess, at 2:45 p.m., in room 224, Old Senate Office Building. Present: Senators Stennis (chairman), Thurmond, Bartlett, and Saltonstall. Also present: Special subcommittee staff: James T. Kendall, chief counsel. Senator STENNIS (presiding). The subcommittee will please come to order. You gentlemen will stand and be sworn, please. Do you, and each of you, solemnly swear that your testimony at this hearing will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so held you God? Captain CUNHA. I do. Colonel TARWATER. I do. Senator STENNIS. Have a seat, gentlemen. I think the subcommittee has been able to get into the question that was raised just as we were taking a recess. We have had a brief discussion here with reference to the possibility of some classified points which we think now will probably not arise at all. Therefore, we will not have to have an executive session of any kind. CUNHA AND TARWATER BIOGRAPHIES I have a biography here of Captain Cunha of the Navy and also a statement by him, and a biographical sketch of Lt. Col. Benjamin Wylie Tarwater. Will you put these in the record at this place, Mr. Reporter? (The biographical sketches of Captain Cunha and Lieutenant Colonel Tarwater, previously referred to, are, as follows:) OFFICER BIOGRAPHY SHEET, APRIL 18, 1962 Name: Cunha, George Daniel Martin, Captain, U.S. Navy. Hometown address: Providence, R.1. Date of birth: December 25, 1911. Place of birth: Providence, R.I. Father's name and address: Anthony Martin Cunha, 175 Crystal Avenue, New London, Conn. Mother's maiden name and address: Augusta Cunha (deceased). Official (permanent) address: Providence, R.I. Date and place of marriage: November 1939, Yuma, Ariz. Maiden name and former home of wife: Dorothy Grant, Boston, Mass. Names of children: George Daniel Martin Cunha, Jr., date of birth April 9, 1942. Suzanna Elizabeth Cunha, date of birth, September 1, 1943. Special civilian achievements, societies, clubs, athletics, hobbies: U.S. Naval Institute, Peabody Museum Associate, (member) Society for Nautical Research (British), Naval Historical Foundation (member), Boy Scouts of America. Schools or colleges attended prior to entering Navy: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Date began naval service: September 13, 1937. Date commissioned: November 1938. Grade commissioned: Ensign. Special Navy designations and dates: November 1938, aviator. Special Navy achievements, advanced Navy schooling: Special weapons employment course, Sandia Base, N. Mex.; General Line School, Newport, R.I.; Naval War College. Brief biography of career: (a) Occupation and outstanding experiences in civilian life: Chemist with Vultex Chemical Co., Cambridge, Mass., prior entering Navy. (b) Newsworthy data on personal life: 1. Active in Boy Scouts since 1924. Member board of directors, Narragansett Council, Rhode Island, 1947-49 and 1955-59. President, Canal Zone Council, BSA, 1960-61. 2. Son at Naval Academy. Will graduate in 1963. (c) War experiences: Participated in following battles: Iwo Jima, Okinawa, Luzon invasion, Leyte operation, first carrier raid on Tokyo, Battle of the Atlantic, South China Sea operation. (d) Decorations: Distinguished Flying Cross, Presidential Unit Citation (with star), Navy Unit Commendation, Philippine Presidential Unit Citation, Air Medal (with star). (e) Campaign and service medals: American Defense Service Medal, American Area Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Area Campaign Medal (with four stars), World War II Victory Medal, Philippine Liberation Medal, National Defense Service Medal. BIOGRAPHY ON LT. COL. BENJAMIN WYLIE TARWATER Name: Tarwater, Benjamin Wylie, Lieutenant Colonel, USAF. Present assignment: Staff officer, Joint Chiefs of Staff. Home address: Murrieta, Calif. Date of birth: July 16, 1919. Place of birth: Murrieta, Calif. Special civilian achievements, societies, clubs: Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi. Schools or colleges attended: University of Southern California, B.A. (international relations); Stanford University, M.A. (international relations). Special Air Force designations: Command pilot. Service schools: B-17 instructor, Lockbourne Air Force Base, Ohio. Instrument flying instructor. Bryan Air Force Base, Tex. Information education staff officers course, Carlisle Barracks, Carlisle, Pa. Field officers course, Air Command and Staff School, Air University, Maxwell Air Force Base, Montgomery, Ala. Academic instructor course, Air Command and Staff School, Air University, Montgomery, Ala. Middle East orientation course, American University, Beirut, Lebanon. Representative service assignments: B-17 aircraft commander, lead crew, World War II, 8th Air Force, Europe. Squadron commander, Sheppard Field, Wichita Falls, Tex. Information education officer, Keesler Field, Biloxi, Miss. Wing intelligence officer, troop carrier pilot, Japan and Korea. Instructor, Air Command and Staff School, Maxwell Air Force Base, Montgomery, Ala. Chief Middle East, North Africa, Europe, intelligence estimates branch, Headquarters, USAFE, Wiesbaden, Germany. Chief Indications Center, Air Intelligence Directorate, Headquarters, USAFE, Ramstein, Germany. War experiences: Participated in the following battles: World War II; Southern France, Air Offensive, Europe, Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Korea; United Nations defensive, United Nations offensive. Decorations: Army Commendation Medal, Air Force Commendation Medal, Air Medal with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters, Bronze Star, and Distinguished Flying Cross. CUNHA STATEMENT Senator STENNIS. Captain, you have a prepared statement. Are you ready to proceed? Captain CUNHA. Yes, sir. Senator STENNIS. All right, Captain, you may proceed. TESTIMONY OF CAPT. GEORGE M. CUNHA, U.S. NAVY, STAFF OFFICER, JOINT STAFF, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF, AND LT. COL. BENJAMIN WYLIE TARWATER, U.S. AIR FORCE, STAFF OFFICER, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF Captain CUNHA. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, I am Capt. George M. Cunha, U.S. Navy, and I am pleased to respond to your request that I appear before you today. It is my understanding that your interest in having me here stems from my experience between 1959-61 as a member of the staff of the commander in chief of the Caribbean Command. My duties on that staff, in my capacity as chief of plans for the Caribbean Command, did involve collateral cold war activities. One of these activities was the planning and the conduct of a cold war symposium for active duty officers in the Caribbean Command area. It was my responsibility to develop the plan for that symposium and to supervise the preparations for it. I played an active part in the actual conduct of the symposium by functioning as the chairman. This symposium in my opinion proved to be entirely successful in that it: (a) Brought together for a discussion of current problems U.S. military personnel assigned to duty in every Latin American country, except Cuba. These personnel were assigned as attachés, mission chiefs, or as members of the staffs of component commanders of the Caribbean Command. (b) Provided the participants with information on the nature of the threat of communism in the Latin American area; and (c) Was well received by the participants who regarded the symposium as constructive and beneficial. My staff responsibilities did require that I become familiar with current problems in all the Latin American areas and to consider means by which military personnel within the Caribbean Command could cooperate with and support activities of the U.S. ambassadors in those areas. As a result of these activities I have become firmly convinced of the importance of conducting carefully developed and carefully coordinated activities by all U.S. personnel in oversea areas in order to effectively meet the Communist threat which involves all facets of human activities, including the use by the Communists of every subversive tactic in the book and the utilization of every available resource to achieve their objective of world domination. That concludes my statement, Mr. Chairman, and I hope that it provides a sufficient basis for such questions as the committee may care to address to me. Senator STENNIS. All right. We were planning to hear you gentlemen together. I do not know just how much of your testimony may be together or overlap, so to speak. Colonel Tarwater, did you have a statement? Colonel TARWATER. No, sir; I did not. Senator STENNIS. Did you gentlemen work together, or have you just worked on the same subject? Captain CUNHA. We worked on the same subject but in different areas of the world. Senator STENNIS. All right, Mr. Kendall, do you have some questions, sir? COMPARISON OF TROOP INFORMATION AND EDUCATION PROGRAMS IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE UNITED STATES Mr. KENDALL. Yes, sir, Mr. Chairman. Captain, when you were in Latin America, did you have an opportunity to compare the troop information and education programs of the Latin American military with our own? Captain CUNHA. Yes, sir; I did. Mr. KENDALL. How do their programs compare with ours? Captain CUNHA. Well, actually, Mr. Kendall, there is no comparison, because, except for one or two exceptions, there are no troop information programs according to our standards in Latin America. In the U.S. Armed Forces we have a well-established program for our GI's and sailors and airmen that gives them an honest, factual appraisal of the difference between communism and democracy, what their country means to them and what they should do and owe to their country. Such a program, coordinated and well established, does not exist in Latin America, except on a hit-and-miss basis in one or two countries. ARGENTINA AND ECUADOR USE WRITTEN INFORMATION MATERIALS Mr. KENDALL. Do they use written materials in their programs? Captain CUNHA. Two countries do, to my knowledge; that is, Argentina and Ecuador. Mr. KENDALL. And have you seen any of this material that was used in these two countries? Captain CUNHA. Yes; I have. In fact, just the other day some material came over my desk that is currently in use in Ecuador. Mr. KENDALL. What was the nature of that material, generally? Captain CUNHA. Two of the items were comic book types of troop information, used in comic book form, because it is easily understood by even the most illiterate Ecuadorian military man. Some of it was a little more sophisticated. These were pamphlets on communism written for the younger officers and the officer corps who can understand the written word. TROOP INFORMATION MATERIALS USED IN LATIN AMERICAN PROGRAMS Mr. KENDALL. As I understand you, because of the literacy level of the countries, generally speaking, their troop information program materials are far below ours from the standpoint of sophistication, literary content, and intellectual appeal and so forth? Captain CUNHA. You asked me if their program is below ours because of the literacy level? Mr. KENDALL. Yes, sir. Captain CUNHA. I do not think that is the main reason, sir. I think the reason they do not have a program that is effective is because nobody has been able to help them establish such a program. However, if such a program was established, it would have to be addressed to the educational background and the capability of these people to understand. It should have to be simple. The troop information material that we use in the U.S. Armed Forces is much too sophisticated for the Latin American services to use. DISCUSSION ON MILITANT LIBERTY PROGRAM Mr. KENDALL. You are familiar with the militant liberty program as developed by Mr. John Broger, are you not? Captain CUNHA. Yes, sir. Mr. KENDALL. Did you have any connection with an effort to implement that program in a foreign country? Captain CUNHA. When I first reported to the Caribbean Command in 1959, Mr. Broger came through the command headquarters on the |