THE STALEMATE in Indochina was of growing concern to Washington because the United States, having long ago abandoned a posture of neutrality, was now paying 80 percent of the bill for the French war effort. In 1953, the Joint Chiefs of Staff decided to send Lieutenant General John W. O’Daniel, commander of the U.S. Army in the Pacific, to Indochina to assess whether the French had adequate war plans and, if not, to assist in the creation of better plans.
