Turkish overflights
While I was stationed in Izmir as Director of Communications for the Allied Tactical Air Forces (ATAF), the three-star general in charge of the ATAF would frequently report on the overflights of the Greek islands. He would tell us in his staff meetings when, how many planes and how many passes the Turks made. He would also report the Greek response to the overflights. Then everyone (except me) would have a good laugh, including the senior American officers attending the meeting. The American officers had identified with the Turks. They agreed that the whole problem was caused by the Greeks. They thought the islands close to Turkey should be Turkish, as if that gave them the right to do whatever they wanted to do. I made an enemy of myself by trying to explain the error of their reasoning to the Americans. I soon learned to keep quiet for fear of the consequences. HUBERT C. WALKER, Col., USAF (Retired).
