Word: gruenther
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...desk Gruenther moves through the prepared pile of papers with the efficiency of a high-powered threshing machine. He grips each paper tightly, as if it were a living thing that might get away from him. Each one gets a flash of concentration that is complete and immediate. He raps out his decision and flips the paper to a waiting aide without looking up. These chores over, Gruenther browses through six British newspapers (flown over early every morning), and several U.S. and other weeklies...
...hear your sergeant-major had a baby yesterday. Boy or girl?" (The general will write a letter of congratulation.) "Please get me by noon some anti-religious quotations from Marx, Lenin and Stalin." "What was I thinking about yesterday when I talked to so-and-so?'' Gruenther's insatiable demands for information keep his staff in a state of palm-sweating nerves all day long. But they accord him a rare loyalty and devotion, tending him like some dangerous but tremendously precious machine which must be kept running at all costs...
...demanding perfectionist, Gruenther seldom is more than gruff to erring allied officers. He saves the rough side of his tongue for his U.S. aides, a painful process known as being "Gruentherized." It consists in a detailed itemization of all the unfortunate officer's weaknesses, punctuated by explosive cuss words. Few escape. One sufferer remembers the time Gruenther wheeled on him for some minor blooper and snapped: "Ordinarily you're a pretty smart cookie, but this is the god-damnedest foul-up I've ever seen." Said the officer later: "I felt like falling on my knees...
Mindful of his mission, Gruenther lets no group that might influence opinion pass through Paris unnoticed. Whatever the group, he whips off a G-gram demanding information. ("I should like to know more about that Machine Tool Association whom we are briefing on Friday. What are some of their problems?") By the time he has to speak, he knows that the group comprises 29 manufacturers from eight countries, is highly interested in developing and adapting standardized equipment for NATO needs, and that he can warmly commend them on their interest. With such a preface, he swings into his discussion...
...Gruenther personally briefed 175 visiting groups totaling 7,000 people. Outside his office is a card file of visitors, noting the time of their last visit, a brief biography, whether it is "Mr. Fairfield" or "Jack." Once, flying to Britain for a meeting with Members of Parliament, he had aides get out photographs of the 120 M.P.s who had visited SHAPE and thumbnail biographies of each. Said an awed Englishman: "When he walked into Parliament, he knew every damn one of them, greeted them by name, adding remarks like 'How's your new daughter...