Dornheim, Germany, Sep. 29, 1951: Dwight D. Eisenhower discusses maneuvers with some French troops during Operation Jupiter, a French-led multi-nation NATO exercise in the Rhine river area.

A Stars and Stripes article reported that Ike had stopped to question a French tank crew and inspected a French half-track. When one soldier hesistated when asked the firing range of the 50-cal. machine gun, Ike answered: “You’d better know. Your life may depend on it some day.”

The SHAPE commander is in Germany to observe the three-day French directed war games. The exercise has some 150,000 Allied troops — including 45,000 Americans of the Army’s V Corps — enact a mass counterassault across the Rhine against “enemy” troops dug in on the east bank.

Looking for Stars and Stripes’ historic coverage? Subscribe to Stars and Stripes’ historic newspaper archive! We have digitized our 1948-1999 European and Pacific editions, as well as several of our WWII editions and made them available online through https://starsandstripes.newspaperarchive.com/