Edward L. Rownv
dealt with a letter delivered to
the prime minister of Turkey
in Ankara eight hours after
the time it was signed. That
took considerable doing.
Another
was a letter
personally delivered by me to
the chairman of the British
chiefs of staff.
This would have not been too
difficult had it not been for
the unexpected closure of the
British military airfield near
London. I was dropped off at
an airport 60 miles from
London at 10:30 a.m. and
was to deliver the letter at
noon. I had to commandeer a
British Army vehicle, "in the
name of the Supreme Allied
Commander," to drive me to
Edward and Rita Rowny 20 April 1985.
London.
I arrived at high noon, the time the letter was to be delivered, just as the changing
of the guards began. I ran through the ranks of the guards to deliver my letter to
the chairman of the British chiefs. He didn't expect me to arrive on time after he
heard that the airport had been closed. He complimented me on my "Yankee
ingenuity- for commandeering the British vehicle.
Another humorous incident I recall was when General Gruenther came in one
morning and saw that not all of the 14 NATO flags were up. One flag was stuck
several feet below the top of the mast. He called in Colonel Wood, then secretary
of the general staff, and said, "When I came in this morning, I noticed that one of
the flags was not fully up at the top of the mast. I expect the secretary of the
general staff personally to supervise these important things."
Colonel Wood answered, "Sir, at the time we have to come to work, it's not yet
reveille and the flags have not yet been hoisted. 9
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