TALES OF FREEDOM FROM AROUND THE WORLD; IN GREECE... A SLAP IN THE FACE

Dan Phelps lives in Cape Girardeau. He is business manager at Van Matre Buick.

I graduated from high school in 1963. I was old enough to have given the Cuban revolution and the Cuban crisis a little passing attention. But I was born into the lap of democracy and freedom of speech right here on the banks of the Mississippi river. The tyranny of the Iron Curtain and Viet Nam seemed as if it existed in another galaxy, and that I would never see it.

I joined the Air Force in 1963. After a stint in France I found myself stationed at the ancient city of Athens, Greece.

Here I was, in one of the playgrounds of Europe, in a land of black olives, ancient ruins and sunlit beaches. The Greeks are intimate, fun-loving people, and they were friendly towards the United States. I could come and go when and where I wanted.

STOP!

Suddenly there is low scale rioting and political unrest. A curfew is established. No one is allowed on the streets after 7 p.m.

The sleepy little neighborhood where I resided suddenly sees armed soldiers patrolling the streets. The little police station down on the corner is now noticeable because of the Browning Automatic Rifle perched atop its roof.

A fellow GI breaks curfew and gets his car riddled by machine gun fire.

The slap in my face came when I saw in the eyes of my Greek friends the realization that their freedom had just disappeared. They absolutely would not utter a word about the situation for fear that they would wind up in a dungeon on Crete.

I felt that my right to freedom of speech had also been taken away. This was in 1967 in the FREE western world.