INTERNATIONAL

THE NATIONS The Siege

The incessant roar of the planes--that typical and terrible 20th Century sound, a voice of cold mechanized anger--filled every ear in the city. It reverberated in the bizarre stone ears of the hollow, broken houses; it throbbed in the weary ears of Berlin's people who were bitter, afraid, but far from broken; it echoed in the intently listening ear of history. The sound meant one thing: the West was standing its ground and fighting back.

The crucial battle for Berlin was being fought in the hearts and minds of Berliners--but first & foremost in their bellies. The Russians were attempting to starve into submission 2 1/2 million people in the city's Western sectors. They had been driven to employ a weapon which disgraced them before the civilized world. The Americans and the British were trying to feed the Berliners--by air.

At Tempelhof Airport the occasional shiny C-54s and many battered C-47s landed at the daylight rate of one every three minutes. Scores of ten-ton trucks rolled out to meet them. One hundred and fifty G.I.s and German workers labored 24 hours a day to get them unloaded. In the orange and white control tower, 13 G.I.s worked around the clock, surrounded by Coke bottles, cigarette smoke, and the brassy chattering of radios. The chaotic chorus of American voices was tense but happy; America was in its element. "Give me an ETA on EC 84 . . . That's flour coming in on EC 72 . . . Roger . . . Ease her down . . . Where the hell has 85 gone? Oh yeah, overhead . . ."

With these voices in the battle of Berlin mingled many others. In Washington, U.S. Secretary of State George Marshall said: "We intend to stay."

The man who, along with his G.I.s, had to do most of the staying was a general from Georgia with sad brown eyes, courtly manners and a steel-trap will. He was General Lucius DuBignon Clay, Commander of U.S. Forces in Europe, and he had already made his voice heard. When the Russian squeeze on Berlin first began, he said: "The American troops under my command will use force of arms if necessary. I have firmly made up my mind that I will not be bluffed."

Overhead, the roar of the planes continued day & night.

SAINTS & HEROES

Of Truth and Shame

A stocky young man in grey slacks, a blue pullover and khaki bush jacket stepped forward and knelt at Gandhi's feet. He was Nathu Ram Vinayak Godse, editor of the extremist newspaper Hindu Rashtra, which had denounced Gandhi as an appeaser of Moslems. "You are late today for the prayer," said the murderer.

"Yes, I am," said Gandhi. Godse suddenly pulled out a tiny Beretta automatic pistol. He fired three times. One bullet ripped into Gandhi's chest, two into his belly. With hands folded, as if welcoming the blow, in the gesture that is both the Hindu greeting and the Christian attitude of prayer, Gandhi fell backward. He murmured, "Ai Ram, Ai Ram" (O Rama, O Rama), in invocation to the gentle hero of the Hindu pantheon, Gandhi's favorite. This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.