Word: schiltz
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...Luxembourg's tiny army of fewer than 2,000 men, the only general is the husband of the reigning Grand Duchess, and a lowly major is "Commander of the Troops." Stocky Major Aloyse Schiltz, 41, a World War II paratrooper who escaped from the Nazis and saw action with the British, was also Luxembourg's chief representative at NATO's Central Europe headquarters in Fontainebleau. On last Feb. 29, for one day, he became one of the key men of the entire Western world...
That day in Fontainebleau he was operational duty officer, assigned to a tiny group who must wait for the fearsome word that the enemy has launched an attack. Had the word flashed over the "Red Telephone," it would have been Schiltz's responsibility to set all the land forces of Central Europe into action. But that night at dinner-it was carnival time back home-the major had a few too many glasses of wine. He did not get back to sitting beside the Red Telephone...
French General Jean Etienne Valluy, commander in chief, Allied Forces Central Europe, summoned him to explain his dereliction, but Major Schiltz could not. The Luxembourg government in turn summoned him to explain, but still the major could not. Finally last week a grand-ducal decree announced that the whole lamentable affair would be placed in the hands of a special court. Sighed one Luxembourg official last week: "There we were, a small nation, permitted to participate in NATO. But who will take us seriously...