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situation, the US Navy was directed to fly a reconnaissance mission over the beach on the afternoon of 0+1, reporting about 1900 that there was no evidence of fighting at Blue beach where the beach- head apparently had a depth of about 10 miles. This was the last indication of the situation ashore which the President received until the following morning when he received the message that the beachhead had collapsed and that men were fighting in the water." 18/ This portion of the Taylor Conunittee report raises more interesting questions. It is stated that the President, the Secretary of State, and "others" had insufficient knowledge of the situation to react; and at another point it says the President and his advisers were generally in the dark about important matters concerning the situation ashore. There would seem to be a contradiction between these statements and the previous conunents in Memorandum No. 1 which indicated that there was extremely close liaison between the Central Intelligence Agency and the Department of Defense. Inasmuch as one of the President's principal advisers was Secretary of Defense McNamara, it is difficult to understand how the President could have. been uniformed. Similarly, on at least one occasion during the course of the Taylor Conunittee hearings, -Robert Kennedy specified that during the invasion Mr. Bissell was in constant contact with the President. That either the 197