◆ SpookStack

General Shoup: One of the main features relating to the ultimate success of this was not whether you could put the ships in here and unload this military equipment, [but] whether the people were properly trained to fend off a reasonable enemy effort. Statement: Your idea of the plan is entirely different than some other peoples' idea of the plan. General Shoup: I'm telling the truth as I know it. Statement: I don't think there is any doubt about that. Statement: The idea that the people would land on the beach and then take off into the swamp is a new one to us. Admiral Burke: There was great emphasis on the uprising and we spent hours and hours determing how to get additional equipment. We ended up with equipment for 30,000 people. The only slight difference I have with General Shoup is that it was my understanding that this group had to be able to hold the beachhead for some. time, for several days. Statement: It's very significant that the Commandant of the Marine Corps, whom the President of the United States and the Secretary of State thought had approved this plan had an entirely different idea of what the plan was. It seems that something has gone wrong some- where along the line. General Shoup: This whole thing was a function of time. . Statement: But when I asked you, you said that they were going to get out of there the same day. They were only going to hold the beachhead long enough to unload the equipment. There wasn't any possibility of anybody coming down there. There wasn't anybody around there. Their idea 119