860d.24/21
The Finnish Minister (Procopé) to the Secretary of State
Excellency: I have the honour to inform Your Excellency that my Government pending the proposed nomination of a Military Attaché to this Legation, have decided to send an Officer of the Finnish Army, Colonel Paavo Talvela, to Washington on a special mission. The purpose of Colonel Talvela’s mission is to study the possibilities of arranging for future deliveries from the United States to Finland of certain materials and commodities.
I shall be very grateful if through Your Excellency’s good offices Colonel Talvela be permitted to establish contact with the competent United States Military and other Authorities and to obtain from them the assistance which is necessary for the fulfillment of his mission.6
Colonel Talvela will arrive in Washington about May 1st and will stay here for two months.
Accept [etc.]
- Assistant Secretary of State George S. Messersmith, in his acknowledgment of April 26, 1939, assured the Finnish Minister that “this Government will be happy to assist Colonel Talvela in the fulfillment of his mission.” (860d.24/21)↩