The G.I. Problem

"We finally decided we had a problem," admitted an officer at U.S. Air Force headquarters in Ruislip, near London, last week. The decision came none too soon. For months London's sensational Sunday press and gossipmongers in Britain have been feeding a smoldering resentment on the part of Britons against the 35,000-odd U.S. airmen now stationed in their country. The age-old criticisms of the visiting American--brash boastfulness, too free spending, a careless contempt for local manners & morals--have been heard again on every side. Chief source of irritation: loose behavior of a few airmen and the hordes of British prostitutes who pursue them in every liberty city.

Last week Major General Francis H. Griswold, Third Air Force commander, dropped in by plane at nine of the 16 major U.S. air bases to give his men a straight-from-the-shoulder talk. At each base the airmen were lined up at attention on the runways, as the general warned them that 1) Communists and other anti-Americans, aided by the sensational press, were doing their best to "spread dirt" and create bad feeling between the allies; and 2) it was up to the U.S. airmen themselves to make sure it was not justified.

Plans are also being made to tighten Air Force discipline and to recruit personable British entertainers to supplement the well-meaning but uninspiring professors who up to now have borne the burden of instructing the Americans in the ways of the British.

Far more important, however, is the spontaneous good will of many on both sides. Ruislip headquarters last week proudly reported that the number of Britons who have invited U.S. troops to share their family Christmas dinners already far outnumbers the troops available. G.I.s at Mildenhall antiaircraft base are busily raising $3,000 to give a party of their own for local British kids, during which Santa Claus will arrive by helicopter.

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