ROBERT C. RICHARDSON III
Incredible content T.L.S. on Dept. of the Air Force letterhead, 3pp. 4to., Washington, May 15, 1961 to Air Force Gen. John K. Gerhart, first deputy chief of staff, plans and programs and appointed by Kennedy to head NORAD on Aug. 1, 1962. One month after the abortive Bay of Pigs invasion, a year before the Cuban Missile Crisis and as American involvement in Vietnam increases, Richardson advocates the use of tactical nuclear weapons. In part: "...The attached article by James Reston sets forth...choices open to the Kennedy Administration...there are two other alternatives, both of which are far superior...Full exploitation of limited atomic warfare, with low yield counterforce weapons. Full exploitation of non-conventional warfare...in conjunction with the threat of nuclear response. I do not understand why the idea of using low yield tactical nuclear weapons against enemy troops has invariably been either avoided or...assumed to lead to immediate escalation to general war...there is a very high probability...[it] would cause an immediate return to the conference table and at most a propaganda battle...a nuclear counterforce effort of a limited nature would result in a local stalemate...". Richardson also recommends further study of the potential use of the neutron bomb. File holes at top, docketed by a reader at bottom.