NOTICE
These are transcripts of tape-recorded interviews conducted for the Harry S. Truman Library. A draft of each transcript was edited by the interviewee but only minor emendations were made; therefore, the reader should remember that these are essentially transcripts of the spoken, rather than the written word.
As an electronic publication of the Truman Library, users should note that features of the original, hardcopy versions of the oral history interviews, such as pagination and indexing, could not be replicated for the online version of the Bendetsen transcripts.
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These oral history transcripts may be read, quoted from, cited, and reproduced for purposes of research. They may not be published in full except by permission of the Harry S. Truman Library.
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Additional Biographical Information
(submitted by Karl Bendetsen)
During World War II during the administrations of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and of President Harry S. Truman, Bendetsen was an officer of Field Artillery of the United States Army on active duty from August 1940 through December 31, 1945 in the grades of Captain through Colonel. While detailed to the War Department General Staff, he served in various capacities among which were Special Representative of The Secretary of War to General Douglas MacArthur in the Philippines and to Lt. General Short, Commanding General of the Hawaiian Department. In February of 1942, he was assigned to the Western Defense Command and Fourth Army as Assistant Chief of Staff and Commanding Officer of the Wartime Civil Control Administration, an agency of the Fourth Army. In this latter capacity, among other duties, Bendetsen directed the evacuation and relocation in 1942 of persons of Japanese ancestry who were then resident along the Pacific Sea Frontier of the United States.
During the administration of President Truman, Bendetsen served as Acting Deputy to the first Secretary of Defense (Mr. Forrestal) during the initial phases of the Berlin crisis. Later that year he established the Office of General Counsel of the Army and served as its first incumbent also in 1948. From 1949 through 1952, he served successively as The Assistant Secretary of the Army and The Under Secretary of the Army. During this period, in addition to his other duties, he served as Director General of the U.S. Railroads and as the first Chairman of the Panama Canal Company.
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Appendix
The Facts about the Proposed Panama Treaties: A Summary of the Historical Background; An Analysis of the Consequences of Ratification; Separating Myth from Fact,, by Karl R. Bendetsen, First Chairman, Panama Canal Company, no date (Truman Library Verticle File Collection: Bendetsen, Karl R.)
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List of Subjects Discussed
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Acheson, Dean, 198, 202, 203, 220
Adjutant General, 9
Alamogordo bombing range, 180
Alaska 92, 117-119
Aleutian Islands, 66, 67
Alien Exclusion Acts, 67, 68
Aliens, enemy, 115-117
Allen, Levan, 123
American Legion, 187
Ardennes Campaign, (World War II) 126-130
Armed Forces Policy Council, 213, 214
Armed Services Committee, U.S. Senate, 9
Army, U.S., equipment of, in 1940-41, 16-18
Army, U.S., organization chain of command, 140, 142
Army, U.S., strength of, in 1940, 16
Army-Navy Staff College, 82, 83
Assembly Centers (War Relocation Authority), 78, 81, 86-88, 94, 96, 102, 109-112
Atomic bomb, possible use of, in Korean War, 259, 260
Attlee, Clement, 260, 261
Auer, Harry, 5, 7
Banana River bombing range, 181
Barnett, Allison J., 74
Battle of the Bulge, 126-130
Blair House conferences (Korean War), 202, 204-206, 211, 216, 217
Bradley Foundation, 125
Bradley Library, 125
Bradley, Omar N., 120-128, 133
British navy, historical background of, 139, 140
China, People’s Republic of, 254-258
Clark, Tom, 69, 71
Class I railroads, 236, 237
Class II railroads, 236, 237
Cold War, 193-195, 196
Collins, J. Lawton, 201
Corps of Engineers, 13, 14, 118, 119
Dairy industry, 148, 149
Dawson, Donald S., 182, 184
Defense budget, 185, 186, 190-192, 214, 215, 219
Defense Management Committee, 189-192, 213
Devers, Jacob L., 125
Dewey, Thomas E., 177
DeWitt, John, 62, 63, 65, 66, 68-71, 73-77, 82, 83, 89-91, 111, 115, 116
Early, Stephen T., 225
Eightieth Congress, 179
Eisenhower, Dwight D., 120, 122, 124
Eisenhower, Milton S., 94, 95
Enemy aliens, 61, 62
European Theater of Operations, U.S. Army, 131, 133, 135
Executive Order No. 9066, 62-66, 73, 74, 77, 84, 91, 92, 106
Executive Order No. 9102, 62-64
Executive Order No. 10155, 227, 228
Forrestal, James V., 137, 138, 150, 152-154, 156-162, 172-176, 180, 185
Ft. Lewis, Washington, 2, 5
Ft. Shafter, Hawaii, 30, 31, 37, 43, 45, 56, 59
442nd Regimental Combat Team (Nisei), 100-102
“Four O’Clock Club”, 244, 245
Fulton, Hugh, 10
General Dynamics Corporation, 274
General staff, War Department, 18-21
Geneva Convention (POW’s), 41, 42, 62
Gray, Gordon, 180-184, 188, 213
Greece, 194, 210
Gullion, Allen W., 5, 12, 28, 29, 30, 71
Haig, Douglas, 50
Haislip, Wade H., 11, 18, 20
Hawaii, 30-32, 35-38, 40, 41, 43-48, 51-54, 56-61
Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty, (1903) Appendix Pages 3-5, Appendix Page 17, Appendix Page 18
Heller and Associates, 191
Hodges, Courtney H., 121
Hull, John E., 201
Iran, 193, 194, 279
Japan, 37, 38, 41-43, 46-49, 53-56, 58-60, 66, 68, 70, 131, 132
Japanese-Americans, relocation of (World War II), 62-92, 93-115
Johnson, Louis A., 185-187, 189, 191, 192, 213, 214, 221-226
Judge Advocate General, 5-8, 12
Kimmel, Husband E., 31, 32, 35, 36, 38, 39, 40, 44, 46, 52, 53, 54, 56, 57, 58
King, Robert D., 272, 273,
Korean War:, 197, 198, 201-213, 215-222, 254-261
-
- atomic bomb, possible use 259, 260
Chinese intervention in, 254-258
MacArthur, Douglas, Commander role in, 253-258
38th parallel, decision by U.S. to cross, 257, 258
Truman, Harry S., leadership in, 202, 204, 205, 207, 210, 211, 219, 254
- Korth, Fred, 230, 243
Lovett, Robert A., 176, 271, 272, 277
MacArthur, Douglas, 30, 31, 39-41, 43, 48-51, 54, 55, 57, 131, 253-258
McCloy, John J., 71, 73-76, 93, 100, 107, 111
McGrath, J. Howard, 232
McNarney, Joseph T., 189-190
McNeill, Wilfred J., 217
Macy, John, 272
Malik, Jacob, 209
Margarine sales, barriers against, 147-150
Marshall, George C., 33, 34, 36, 38, 39, 45, 46, 49, 55-59, 66, 70, 73-75, 93, 100, 154-157, 176, 222, 226, 227,
Midway, Battle of, 54
Military Affairs, Committee, U.S. Senate, 9, 10, 12, 17, 18, 21
Miller, Edwin, 270
Mitchell, Billy, 50
Montgomery, Bernard L., 120, 123, 124
Morgan, Sir Frederick, 120
Murphy, Charles S., 243
Myer, Dillon S., 82, 95, 96
Nash, Frank, 259
National Defense Act of 1940, 4, 8, 12, 17
National Guard, 2, 4, 215
National Military Establishment, 150-167, 174-176, 180-188, 213-215, 217, 219-223, 271-274
National Security Act of 1947, 9
National Security Council, 219, 220
Navy, U.S.:
- organization chain of command, 140, 141
tradition status, 139, 140, 143
unification of the Armed Services, and, 138
Normandy invasion (1944, 83, 93, 120, 121
NSC-68, 219-221
Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff, U.S. Army, 18-21
Officers Reserve Corps, 1, 2
Omaha Beach, 120
Operation Olympic, 131, 132
Pace, Frank, 213, 253, 262, 273, 274
Panama Canal, historical background of, Appendix Pages 1-5
Panama Canal Act of 1912, 263
Panama Canal Act of 1950, 263-265, 268, 269, Appendix Page1
Panama Canal Company, 262-271, Appendix Page 1
Panama Canal Treaties (1977), Appendix Pages 5-8, Appendix Pages 14-17
Panama Railroad Company, 264
Panama, Republic of, Appendix Page 1, Appendix Pages 4-19
Patton, George, 121, 122, 124-126, 129, 130
Pearl Harbor, 31, 32, 34-38, 40, 44, 46-49, 51-54, 56-60
Pershing, John J., 142
Persons, Wilton B., 21-28, 135
Philippines, 30, 31, 40, 41, 43, 45, 48-51, 53-55, 59, 60, 70
Presidential election of 1948, 177-179
Press, the, 79, 80
Price controls, 282
Prisoners of War, 41, 61, 62
Protocol of 1914 (Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty of 1903), Appendix Page 13, Appendix Page 14
Provost Marshal General 20, 21, 28, 29, 61
Public Law 96, 4, 8, 17
“Quasi-judicial” proceedings (legislation), 13, 14, 17, 18
Railroads:
Rayburn, Sam, 23-28
“Red Alert” status, 35, 36, 37, 40, 45, 52, 56, 57
Relocation Centers (World War II), 78, 81-84, 87-89, 94, 96-115
Richardson, John O., 47, 51
Roosevelt, Franklin D., 35, 36, 47, 132, 133, 134
Root, Elihu, 142
Rowe, James H., 69, 71
Royall, Kenneth C., 162, 165-168
Rusk, Dean, 203
Salt Lake City conference, 85, 86, 109
Selective Service, 3, 4, 22-28
Selective Service Act of 1940, extension of, 22-28
Short, Walter C., 30-33, 35-41, 43, 44, 46, 47, 52-54, 56-58
Smith, Walter Bedell, 33, 34, 37, 39, 123
Soldiers and Sailors Civil Relief Act, 8, 10-12
South Korea, 197-200
Soviet Union, 193-197, 209, 210, 220, 279
Spooner Act, Appendix Page 3
Stars and Stripes, 146
Steelman, John R., 238-244
Stiles, Kenneth, 273, 274
Stimson, Henry L., 24, 25, 27
Sullivan, John L., 162, 163
Sutherland, Richard K., 55
Symington, Stuart, 162, 163
38th Parallel (Korea), 257, 258
Thompson, Clark W., 263, 265
Trade barriers (domestic), 146-150
Truman Doctrine, 278, 279
Truman, Harry S.:
- accomplishments as President, 278-280, 283
atomic bomb, considers use of in Korean War, 260, 261
Bendetsen, Karl:
- appointed Assistant Secretary of the Army by, 183, 184
first contact with, 9, 10, 12
resignation from Department of the Army accepted by, 275, 276
bipartisanship in Government appointments, 277, 278
criticism of, 281, 282
Forrestal, James V., relationship with, 173, 174
Japanese-Americans, and relocation of in WW II, 71-73, 106-108, 112, 115, 118
Johnson, Louis A., appoints Secretary of Defense, 186, 187
Korean War, leadership in, 202, 204, 205, 207, 210, 211, 219, 254
military affairs, interest in, 15-17, 21, 30
Panama Canal Company, appoints Karl R. Bendetsen chairman of, 262
President, first days as, 133-135
Presidential election of 1948, and, 177-179
Railroads, and seizure of, 1950, 227, 228, 233, 235-238
Selective Service Act of 1940, favors extension of 23, 28
Unification of the Armed Forces and, 156, 157
Universal Military Training support of, 136
Tule Lake, California, 98-101, 103
Unification of the Armed Forces, 137, 138, 151-162
United Nations Security Council, 205, 208, 209, 210
Universal Military Training, 136, 137
Utah Beach, 120
V-E Day, 131, 132
Wiley, John, 268
Wage controls, 282
Wake Island Conference, (1950) 254, 255
War Department, U.S., Judge Advocate General, 5
War Department, U.S., personnel section, 11
War Relocation Authority, 62-65, 73, 79, 82-92, 93-115
Wartime Civil Control Administration, 62-82, 85-88, 94-97, 102, 103, 109-116
Washington State National Guard, 2
Yamamoto, Admiral Isoruku, 54
“Yellow Alert” status, 35, 36
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