TO MRS. JOHN J. SINGER February 18, 1948

48.02.18 (375w)

TO MRS. JOHN J. SINGER February 18, 1948 [Washington, DC]

Dear Marie: I just received your letter on my return to town.1 You were aware through the radio of my being forced down in Knoxville, Tennessee. I had endeavored to pick up Katherine at Fort Bragg near Pinehurst but heavy fog made it impossible for me to land there. So she had to return to Pinehurst, but the fog was so heavy it took her three hours to make the 30-mile trip. She was going with me in order to see Molly. I was to spend Friday night in Des Moines, making a speech there to 5,000 members of the National Farm Association, and then the next morning we would make the 45-minute flight over to Fort Leavenworth, spend that day and until noon Sunday with Molly and then fly back to Pinehurst Sunday evening. Naturally Katherine was much disappointed.2 I had a close squeak because when we were unable to land at Fort Bragg we found that the airfields had closed in pretty much all over the country. The only places at which I could land were the field in New Hampshire, one in southern Oklahoma, one in Knoxville and Des Moines. We flew into Knoxville to get gas for the remainder of the trip but 30 minutes after landing a terrific storm came up with gale winds and it was utterly impossible to take to the air. The storm cleared up very suddenly about 9:30 the following morning, Saturday, and I got off at a quarter of ten for Pinehurst. With the assistance of a 70-mile tail wind I made the trip in one hour and five minutes and then had a pleasant week-end there, returning to Washington early Monday morning. I expect to go back to Pinehurst Friday afternoon though all my plans are rather tentative now on account of the difficulties involved in the Greek and Palestine problems as well as hearings on the Chinese proposal. Affectionately, 2

GCMRL/G. C. Marshall Papers (Secretary of State, General) 1. “I heard on the Radio you were grounded at Knoxville,” Marshall’s sister had written on February 15. (Singer to Marshall, [February 15, 1948], GCMRL/G. C. Marshall Papers [Pentagon Office, Selected].)

2. Stepdaughter Molly Brown Winn had given birth to her third child, Ellene Westmoreland, on January 18, and the Marshalls were eager to see the baby and rest of the family. Molly’s husband, Major James J. Winn, was a student at the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. “It is very important that no one have any previous knowledge of my visit,” Marshall had written to Molly. “Otherwise, I will be overwhelmed with embarrassing pressures from Kansas City and other nearby places.” (Marshall to Mrs. James J. Winn, February 9, 1948, GCMRL/G. C. Marshall Papers [Secretary of State, General].)