on invitation of the University of Kentucky, lectured on military cold war subjects. Are you familiar with the aftermath of Captain Francis' lecture there? Mr. SYLVESTER. Never heard of Captain Francis. Senator THURMOND. I have information showing that Mr. Arthur Schlesinger took a personal interest and personal action to have Captain Francis removed because a professor at the University of Kentucky appealed to the White House aid to "discipline this Air Force officer." I have been told that Mr. Schlesinger consulted you as to the forms of coercion and compromise to bring to bear on Captain Francis, is that correct? Mr. SYLVESTER. I have no recollection of that. Senator THURMOND. He did not confer with you? ACTIVITIES OF HUGH B. HESTER Senator THURMOND. Mr. Secretary, let us look at this from the standpoint of pro-Communist organizations and individuals attempting to promote anti-U.S. military propaganda in the United States. These are the agencies whose mission it is to create the controversy referred to just now. Has your office done anything to document such activities so as not to aid, for example, Gen. Hugh B. Hester in his continuous anti-U.S. military agitation? Mr. SYLVESTER. General who? I did not get the name. Senator THURMOND. Hugh B. Hester, a retired brigadier general. Mr. SYLVESTER. The name means nothing to me. Senator THURMOND. You are not familiar with his name and you are not familiar with his agitation, the speeches he has made following his visit to Cuba in behalf of Castro and so forth? Mr. SYLVESTER. No, I am not. I do not think he has much impact. Senator THURMOND. How is that? Mr. SYLVESTER. I doubt that he has any impact. I am not familiar with him. Senator THURMOND. His record has been incorporated in these hearings. You might be interested in reading that. General Hester has drawn nearly $100,000 in retirement pay and has continuously promoted disarmament and antimilitary propaganda against this country. I am wondering if your office has taken any steps in compliance with paragraph II (2) to bring some sort of influence to bear upon General Hester and his anti-U.S. expressions? Mr. SYLVESTER. I take it that General Hester is a retired officer. If he is, the Department of Defense has no control over him, anyway. I would say, second, that whatever his attempts have been, they have been so unsuccessful that he is completely unheard of. Senator THURMOND. If you have not heard of him and his activities, of course, you would not know how successful his activities would have been, would you? ACTIVITIES OF LINUS PAULING How about Dr. Pauling, who, like General Hester, has for some time promoted anti-U.S. military propaganda in the United States and more recently in West Germany? Mr. SYLVESTER. Dr. Linus Pauling? Senator THURMOND. Yes, sir. In our inquiries, it was found that the U.S. Government has taken no action, has sent no information to the West German Government, nor has any influence been brought to bear on Dr. Pauling, though his international propaganda tours concentrate on anti-U.S. military and anti-NATO propaganda. If he is concentrating on anti-U.S. military and anti-NATO propaganda, it would be of interest to you in your position, would it not? FUNCTION OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE CONCERNING INFORMATION AND PROPAGANDA Mr. SYLVESTER. Senator, I think that, as I listen, that you are under the misconception that our office is a propaganda office. The Congress has been very, very sensitive to the Department of Defense or any other public affairs office of Government dealing in propaganda, and to do the sort of propaganda effort that you seem to be talking about would require an entirely different intent and an entirely different action on the part of Congress. I doubt that the Congress could do it, and I suspect they are right in not doing it. Our office is going to put out information, not propaganda. There may be a place for that sort of office some place else. Senator THURMOND. Would your office be interested Mr. SYLVESTER. In what? Senator THURMOND (continuing). In propaganda that is being used against our military forces and against ÑATO, in which we play such a vital part? Mr. SYLVESTER. I would be very interested in propaganda, any serious propaganda of any weight that has any impact against the Defense Establishment of the United States. As to NATO, again, I would be putting my nose into something that is not my business. We have to be very careful in our relationships with NATO. Senator THURMOND. You do not construe that your duties would embrace any action along the line that I mentioned? Mr. SYLVESTER. Well, the lines that you mentioned, Senator, are so vague to me that I cannot respond precisely, but, as I said, what you seem to be talking about is the propaganda office. We are not a propaganda office. Senator THURMOND. I understand that, but you are interested in anything that affects the Military Establishment, are you not? Mr. SYLVESTER. In the public affairs field, indeed, I am. Senator THURMOND. In the public affairs field you deal with the civilian population, do you not? Mr. SYLVESTER. And the relationship between the military to the civilian. Senator THURMOND. And what I said here was that Dr. Pauling, who, like General Hester, has for some time promoted anti-U.S. mili tary propaganda in the United States, and more recently in West Germany-in our inquiries it was found that the U.S. Government has taken no action, has sent no information to the West German Government, nor has any influence been brought to bear on Dr. Pauling in his international propaganda tours concentrating on anti-U.S. military and anti-NATO propaganda. You do not consider such problems to come in the purview of the directive establishing the duties of your office? Mr. SYLVESTER. No, Senator. I would certainly not be the communications source to the Government of West Germany. When you get into government to government, those relations are through the State Department. And, of course, I think we are rather anxious Senator THURMOND. Does not your directive provide that such activities will be carried out at home and abroad in collaboration with the Department of State and the U.S. Information Agency? Mr. SYLVESTER. In collaboration with them, but the method of calling to the attention of the German Government would be not through me or not by me. I would be way out of order if I considered myself to be in that field. DOD INTEREST IN ACTIVITIES THAT ARE DIRECTED AGAINST THE MILITARY Senator THURMOND. Who informs the Secretary of Defense of these cases and who, in turn, informs our NATO allies of the pro-Communist activities of General Hester, Dr. Pauling, and people like them, both at home and abroad? Mr. SYLVESTER. I would assume, and my understanding is, that Dr. Pauling and whoever this General Hester is are exercising their rights as citizens, whether we agree with them or not, and I do not believe that the Defense Department, again, is tracking down individual citizens and reporting them Senator THURMOND. The Secretary of Defense would be interested, and I thought you would be interested, when such activities as this take place, when directed against the military, would you not? Mr. SYLVESTER. Oh, if there was any substance Senator THURMOND. Whether you can do anything about it or not, you are interested in these activities that are directed to hurt the public relations of the military, are you not? Mr. SYLVESTER. If there is any substance to it, I think Dr. Pauling, in this field, has been going on like this for a long time. I doubt that he has any impact on anybody. I do not think anybody pays any great and serious attention to Dr. Pauling in this field. QUESTION OF MILITARY ASSISTANCE GIVEN TO HAROLD M'DOWELL Senator THURMOND. I understand that in 1960 a Mr. McDowell requested transportation to the Special Warfare Center and elaborate interviews at the school through the New York office of the Chief of Information. I realize you were not in the Defense Department at that time. Mr. SYLVESTER. I was not there in 1960, no, Senator Thurmond. Senator THURMOND. But do you know whether or not your office determined this man's accreditation, his qualifications and status, or are you familiar at all with this information? Mr. SYLVESTER. No, I am not familiar with this case, Senator. Senator THURMOND. If you are not familiar with it, could you provide the Department of Defense Public Affairs action on it for the record? That is a Mr. McDowell in 1960 who was provided transportation to the Special Warfare Center and elaborate interviews at the school through the New York office of the Chief of Information. Would you provide the answer to that for the record? Mr. SYLVESTER. I will look it up, certainly, Senator. Senator THURMOND. Did you say you would provide it for the record? Mr. SYLVESTER. I said I would certainly look it up, Senator, yes. Senator THURMOND. I did not say look it up. I want you to pro vide it for the record. Mr. SYLVESTER. If they can turn it up on the basis of the information you have given me, of course, I would be happy to provide it for the record. It is a little vague. Senator THURMOND. If you cannot provide it, would you get in touch with the committee, and we may want to call you back. Mr. SYLVESTER. To explain why we cannot; yes, sir. It would be very helpful if we could have Mr. McDowell's name with a little more identification than what you have given. Senator THURMOND. After this session. Mr. SYLVESTER. We will certainly run it down and, of course, supply it to you. It is a little difficult to tell whether he is a newsman or what. (The information supplied is as follows:) The Office of Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs), Department of Defense, has no record of any contacts with Mr. Harold McDowell. DOD REPORT TO SUBCOMMITTEE ON ACTIVITIES OF HUGH B. HESTER Senator THURMOND. Did you process the information recently provided by the Department of Defense to the subcommittee dealing with General Hester? Mr. SYLVESTER. I beg your pardon, sir? Senator THURMOND. Did you process the information recently provided by the Department of Defense to the subcommittee dealing with General Hester? Mr. SYLVESTER. I think not. Senator THURMOND. Are you familiar with the fact that information on Hester's pro-Communist activities had been classified secret by the Department of Defense? Mr. SYLVESTER. No, I am not. Senator THURMOND. Let me read from the Department of Defense's directive of May 31, 1961: It is essential to avoid disclosure of information that can be of material assistance to our potential enemies, and thereby weaken our defense position. It is equally important to avoid overclassification. When in doubt, underclassify. In no event should overclassification be used to avoid public discussion of controversial matters. The information furnished to this subcommittee by the Department of Defense on General Hester was classified secret. Mr. KENDALL. Part confidential and part secret. Senator THURMOND. The overall classification was secret. I obtained other information about General Hester from unclassified sources, the same thing that DOD marked "Secret," and I just wondered why there was such an overclassification, especially when this directive here says: "When in doubt, underclassify"? Mr. SYLVESTER. That, I take it, would be one of the reasons why Mr. McNamara had issued that admonition and suggestion, assuming that what you said is correct. I think you have also touched on the fact that although material may be classified secret, we find that does not necessarily prevent it from getting in the newspapers, so this situation that you mentioned here that it was classified secret and you read it in the newspapers is something that is really not new to us. Senator THURMOND. These activities by General Hester have been known for months and months. We have this information and, yet, when we call for the Department of Defense to give us the information, the overall classification is secret, though some of the items were confidential, much of which has been appearing in newspapers for months. Mr. SYLVESTER. We do have that problem. Senator THURMOND. You do see the point of overclassification of information dealing with General Hester does, in fact, restrict knowledge about this man's activities against the military and is diametrically opposed to the objectives of the Defense Department, I presume? Mr. KENDALL. Senator, may I correct my statement for the record? Of that information submitted on General Hester, part of it was unclassified, part of it was classified confidential, and part of its secret. Senator THURMOND. Thank you. RELEASE OF INFORMATION ON WALKER -CLASSIFICATION OF INFORMATION ON HESTER Have you taken any actions to encourage distribution of information of this type to the public news media by making it available on an unclassified basis? Mr. SYLVESTER. I do not think I understand by "this type," Senator-I do not understand that part. Senator THURMOND. Intelligence data concerning Hester. I could provide several other examples of a similar nature in which overclassification is used to restrict information on communism, thus precluding distribution to the American public. I have seen many examples where the Communists have been provided a sanctuary of classification, whereas anti-Communist efforts are exposed without hesitation. Perhaps the most obvious example of this is the case of General Walker in which our office provided the transmission belt to the news media for much of the information assembled by the Department of Defense, including every detail of General Walker's military activities while in command of the 24th Infantry Division. |