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Rhein-Main was a postwar gateway to Europe for the famous

Stars and Stripes
European edition, Monday, October 10, 2005
In the years following World War II, Rhein-Main Air Base was the gateway to and from Europe for many actors, politicians, military leaders and other celebrities. When famous passengers arrived, they were often met by Stars and Stripes reporters and photographers. Here are a few of the notables who passed through Frankfurt over the years.

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 Alfred Morrissey ©Stars and Stripes
May 17, 1949: Comedian Chico Marx, the piano-playing member of the Marx Brothers, arrives to begin a five-day tour in which he and a group of English entertainers were to perform at military bases.

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©Stars and Stripes
July 19, 1953: Rep. Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. (D-N.Y.) arrives at the Rhein-Main airport from Paris, on his way to two weeks of rest in Austria and eventually to the World Government Congress in Copenhagen.

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©Stars and Stripes
July 10, 1953: Eight months after losing to Dwight D. Eisenhower in the 1952 presidential election, Adlai Stevenson arrives in Frankfurt on the start of a European tour.

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Red Grandy / ©Stars and Stripes
February 4, 1951: The twelve staff members of the EUCOM Baseball and Softball Coaches and Officials Clinic arrive in Frankfurt, Germany, on February 4, 1951. In front, Capt. Russell Sarff greets Dick Butler. Behind Butler, in pairs from front to back, are Red Sox manager Steve O'Neill and umpire Larry Goetz; former Cubs manager Charlie Grimm and umpire (and NFL referee) Charlie Berry; players Jerry Coleman of the Yankees and Dizzy Trout of the Tigers; Athletics player Elmer Valo and clinic instructor Joe Frannicola; and players Jim Konstanty of the Phillies and Stan Musial of the Cardinals. At top is former Giants and Cardinals star Frankie Frisch, who along with Musial is in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

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©Stars and Stripes
April 18, 1956: Two of the legendary military figures of World War II are reunited at the Rhein-Main airport. Gen. Maxwell D. Taylor, Army chief of staff, left, was welcomed by Gen. Anthony C. McAuliffe, USAREUR commander-in-chief.

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©Stars and Stripes
March 19, 1954: Composer and songwriter Cole Porter, famous for such songs as "Anything Goes," "Don't Fence Me In," "Night and Day," and "I've Got You Under My Skin," relaxes during a stopover at Rhein-Main.

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Gerald Waller ©Stars and Stripes
May 10, 1948: Father Edward J. Flanagan, founder of the famous Boys Town children's home in Nebraska, is welcomed to Rhein-Main Air Base by Mrs. Clarence Huebner, wife of the EUCOM deputy commander.

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Maria Kiehl ©Stars and Stripes
July 5, 1954: A few days after winning her third straight Wimbledon tennis championship, Maureen Connolly arrives at the Rhein-Main airport on a flight from Berlin. With her are two tennis notables from Down Under — Nell Hopman, who teamed with Connolly to win the women's doubles at the 1954 Australian Open, and Mervyn Rose, the 1954 Australian Open men's champion.

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Harold Briggs ©Stars and Stripes
March 22, 1949: Already on the outs with Joseph Stalin, Dmitri Shostakovich probably would've sunk deeper into the mercurial dictator's doghouse if this photo had found its way back to the Kremlin. The noted composer is posing beneath a poster urging support for Operation Vittles, the U.S.-led effort to send supplies to Berlin in spite of the Soviet blockade of the city. Shostakovich and six other writers, artists and scientists (including film director Mikhail Chiaureli, at right) stopped at Rhein-Main on their way to a world peace conference in New York City.

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Henry Compton ©Stars and Stripes
November 14, 1948: James V. Forrestal, the United States' first secretary of defense, is greeted by U.S. military officials at Rhein-Main as he arrives from Berlin.

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©Stars and Stripes
December 12, 1951: Singer Frank Sinatra and his wife, actress Ava Gardner, arrive at Rhein-Main.

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©Stars and Stripes
November 22, 1954: Former President Herbert Hoover, left, is welcomed to the Rhein-Main airport by West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer.

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Ted Rohde ©Stars and Stripes
September 22, 1953: Edward R. Murrow, front, and his CBS News team pose on the steps of their plane during a short stopover at Rhein-Main on their way home from Berlin.

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Red Grandy ©Stars and Stripes
May 4, 1955: Composer Igor Stravinsky, left, his wife, Vera, and conductor Robert Craft prepare to board a plane for the trip back to the U.S. at the end of a European tour.

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Roger Ruhlin ©Stars and Stripes
February 7, 1952: Major league baseball umpire John "Jocko" Conlan reacts to the paperwork as he arrives with a group of baseball notables taking part in EUCOM's annual baseball clinic at Garmisch.

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Gus Schuettler ©Stars and Stripes
January 4, 1963: Electric guitar pioneer Les Paul, right, clowns for the camera on the tarmac at Rhein-Main Airport as his wife, singer Mary Ford, and son Gene watch. In the background is technician Earl Davis.

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Ted Rohde ©Stars and Stripes
September, 1962: Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara arrives at Rhein-Main Air Base. McNamara's mission was to check the readiness of U.S. forces in West Germany.

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