Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1955-09-25
.Ry GRAHAM M0yEY

BY GRAHAM HOVEY
LEoKoRN. Italy.-An outstand-
ing follr-year record Of tact and de
plomacy By an American organiza-
tion not always noted for these
qualities b getting increased atten-
ton IA Italy these days.
It Is the record Of the. United
States Arny's support Command
roughly 1000 officers and men.
who have been stationed since 1851
In and near this tough. Red-ruied
port city Of Legfiorn. where Italian
communism was born.
This exceptional record Is getting
more attention lately because It u
now evident that between 1000 and
5000 additional American troops
win be stationed In Italy with the
end Of the Horsepower occupation
Of Austria.
(The creation Of this new OUTFIT
the Southern European Task
Force-waS announced two weeks
aRo ii Rome. It's commander viii
be Brig. Gen. John x. Michaeliz.
one Of the first heroes Of the
Korean War and former CONF
mandant Of cadets ct West
Point.)
Under the Austrian peace treaty.
all occupation troops American.
British, French. Russian - must
leave that country BY October rs.
The $4,000 Americans viii come UNI
der the NATO command. and
roughly one third Of them are ex-
pected to come to North Italy 70
bolster the gap In Western defenses
created BY the naturalization Of
Austria.
Reds Protest
Ever since the signing Of the
treaty Nay 10. and despite Mos
cows softer line. the Italian Coma
nnunists and their left-wing Social
1T allies have been loudly prCtest-
ing the coming Of any more uni
formed Americans to italy. They
have received some support on the
issue from Italians otherwise OPP
posed ID communism. It was re-
ported tl1at among these YVES Italy's
new president. Giovanni 0ronchi.
BUT the ncW itaiian rIelnlsI, a.
tonic SegM. met tne issue neau-oi.
He stoutV delenoea s1e sals
American NATO troops In italy and
scored the idea that they could be
called occupatlon Hoops. oesln 5. :
s 49, 80 .ss.,,,. 1890 s,,S s ,,r.ss
= 4 ya;r q sav howeyer that
secr,,s ioh an iris occasion vas
,rsds. ..s,er hv the vi6elv-known
1920 800. ~ the United states Army
corrrand sfIschnrn n i,ad been
,,,erses;rclv harder for the Corn-
,r,,nssts ~ .ffach tl,is record. II
would see,n II - su,,arely ,,p 10 the
Amer,Nan snidiers rfoa,t Ia Is sl,ift-
y, i,,tc Ttalv ~ make every effort
= match IA
peheIIiyg sociaIists founded the
rtsi;ar fsnnmunist partv IA Ier.
horn ..Tan,,arv 81 1o2l The REDS
,rairtainad tieir ra,,Irs cIandestine-
= ,,,.sar Sascis,n an6 a. tl,e end e
wc,IN wey n alIieS vith tne left
scc,sIi.ts thev fastened 4 tirat
~, =, h.div-hattere6 I .ecl1orn n
49, ,sst Ir.sI siert,c,s =, iosI Enc
siI;.d r.rtiss ~ the left vnn ia az
"A seats ON the provincial council
and SO OF 30 seats on tine municipal
council.
Return Under NAT0
This vas the political climate
which the United States Army
found on it, return to Leghorn IN
1851, four years after It's last con-
tingents had sailed away from the
port city to end the occupation Of
italy. The Americans had come
back to reconstruct the port facili-
ties ana build Q great depot Tor z
line OF communication TO support
United States occupation forces ID
Austria.
They had come at the invitation
Of ItalyS democratic. pro-western
government, winch obviously ono
not consus sns Co =. = n, ms ~
snu clty councll0Is q IesIorn. 1n
Conulsts p,olSeu pasnG ~
LOuDie, paLacuaalay - - wa.s 49,.
IIunt' WneIe Mui,L.lvns anu supply
siips WeIe 70 &c u'iloa.
The Record
But today. the American Com
mand ct Leghorn can look back
on q four-year record that includes
these points:
: Not oye strike has beef, called
apainst the American lection Of The
port: not one sabotage attempt has
been uncovered, and pilferage has
been 90 negligible that port officers
can hardly believe 1t.
Q No serious ACCIDENTS have been
recorded during working hours on
the docks despite unloading 81 am
myInition and explosives: not one
refusal to unload shin has &C.
CURED. both steyedores and DOCK
side workers have responded i'm