Evening star., 1955-02-27
DuteIine: Paris
CONTINUED From Page D-s.o

Continued From Page D-8.)
to the presence Of HRH, The
Duke Of Kent, Kitzbuhel is
the place to be. For those who
don't like the winter sports
there's the Riviera, specifically
Nice at this season during their
magnificent Mardi Gras cele-
brations. Unfortunately the
the last days have been nearly
washed and blown out leaving
visitors with little to do but
patronize the gypsy fortune
tellers to find out what's left
of their futures. If one is
really posh, like Movie Director
John Huston. one signs UP as
q paying guest and goes of
to shoot tiger in Bengal with
the Maharajah Of Cooch Be-
har.
+ X y X
The only glamorous aspects
Of SHAPE are the people in it.
With the IA nations of NATO
contributing their best brains
and personalities the atmos-
phere is impressive, to say the
least. officials might like to
deny that personality has any,
thing to do with it, but it takes
diplomacy and charm if so
many different national tenn
peraments are to get on to-
gether. However, and accord
ing to the then Gen. Eisen-
hower's original plan. the
headquarters itself is delib-
erately austere. A board con-
stantly tours all NATO install
lations examining their budg-
cts. "They are frugal" says
Cor r. j. Connolly, who runs
the physical SHAPE and is the
last of Eisenhower's original
command staff.
1t. Col. Biswanger and Maj.
Irene Munster, WAC, are the
ones who decide the fine line
between national and interna-
tional supply. Is it national
or international gas that goes
into q bus carrying a football
team to a game? Where can
the sturdiest flags be bought
because the present ones are
wearing out too fast? They
know that Italy makes the best
mattresses at the best price.
that the NATO group in
Turkey can't get rugs and
have to have some sent from
SHAPE. that the best
buy for sofas is Greece.
that French soldiers must have
their wine, the British their
tea and American Mons"
will write their Congressman
If their boys are not issued
beautiful white sheets.
It was in AZ that pretty,
blond Irene Munster, then
Irene Van Houten, left the
University of Oregon and
joined the Army, to be sent
at once to Texas where she
heard, What do you think Of
Texas .. wonderful, isn't it?"
A year later, still in Texas,
1t. Van Houten was considered
q junior officer by the colonel
who expected and. needless to
say, got her to open his doors.
She was always lady to bar
tenders who sometimes refused
to serve her.
At the end of hostilities she
was sent to Gen. Clay's Office
in Berlin. "I arrived in that
open city in an open jeep,"
she says with a shiver, but
she discovered that Russian
sentries can't always read
Russian and are vastly i'm
pressed by ribbons and seals,
even those made of lingerie
straps and sealing wax. This
often worked where the writ
ten word didn't.
AS a captain in 80 she mar
ried 1t. Col. Daniel Munster
in the chapel at Ft. Mead
and they set up housekeeping
in "a darling little row house
in Alexandria," while Irene
recruited in Washington for
two years. Then Dan came to
Paris and The Seine Area Com
mand. Fortunately the Army's
policy Is to keep couples to-
gether when possible and Irene
who flunked French in college,
was sent to SHAPE where she
must speak it at least half the
time.
Both MINISTERS are intensely