Traveling Show

Western Europeans last week got a reassuring glimpse of America, embodied by three of its topflight fighting men. For ten days, homely, lean-flanked Army Chief of Staff General Omar Bradley, boyish-looking Air Force Chief of Staff General Hoyt S. Vandenberg (he is 50), and earnest, bespectacled Admiral Louis Denfeld, Chief of Naval Operations, toured the Continent in Harry Truman's blue and silver plane, Independence, reviewed troops, placed wreaths, and did some top-secret chatting with leaders of the Atlantic pact nations. The visitors' chief task was to show Western Europe that they took an interest in its defense.

The chiefs of staff first flew to Frankfurt, where they conferred with representatives of Luxembourg (military strength: two battalions) and Italy. Then they went to London, where brief staff talks with British, Norwegian and Danish military leaders were sandwiched between a reception at Buckingham Palace and an air review by 24 U.S. Superfortresses.

In France, while French Communists shouted "Bradley Go Back to New York!", Bradley & friends drove to Fontainebleau to meet the Western Union commanders:Field Marshal Montgomery, General De Lattre de Tassigny, Air Chief Marshal Robb and Vice Admiral Jaujard. To counteract reports that he does not get on with his French colleague, Monty seized De Lattre by the arm, led him to the waiting guard of honor and pushed him ahead, right next to Bradley.

For an hour and 50 minutes the brass consulted in Fontainebleau's "secret room." Main point of the discussions was what to do with the existing Western Union military organization (TIME, Aug. 1): scrap it for a new overall Atlantic Treaty setup, expand it to include all Atlantic Treaty countries, or make it one of four regional defense groups under an Atlantic Defense Committee? Presumably the Americans also heard arguments on the long-standing dispute between the British and French on whether or not the European continent could be defended against possible Russian attack.

Next day, before taking off for a trip to Vienna, the joint chiefs conferred with representatives of The Netherlands, Belgium and Portugal. Said Admiral Denfeld: "We had a fine exchange . . ."

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