Stuttgart, Germany used to be an unusual environment, militarily.  There were six or seven major Kasernes in the immediate area and as many in Ludwigsburg, just a few miles north of the city.  This in itself was not so unusual;  Frankfurt am Main for example was a bigger city with many more Army and Air Force bases around it, but Stuttgart was unique in that it was home to two major commands:  the U S Army VII Corps housed at Kelley Barracks..(.commanded by a three star Army general supported by half a dozen general officers and civilian equivalents).  And the even larger US European Command housed at Patch Barracks which had a four-star, who was the Deputy Commander (DCINC) of Europe.   The commander doubled as the Supreme Allied Commander Europe and stayed in Belgium most of the time.   The DCINC's staff included about fifteen general officers and civilian equivalents.  There were a lot of stars in the neighborhood,  which  often led to some interesting situations.  For example:

The Patch Barracks Officer's Club had a number of parking spaces right in front of the door for the four-star, the Chief of Staff (a three-star) and a few other general officers (not designated).  In 1977 an Army one-star was the chief of the admin directorate.  One evening as he was entering the club for an official reception (he had had to park a ways off, being the lowest of the generals on post), he saw an unfamiliar car parked in the Chief of Staff's parking place.  The one-star grabbed one of his staffers and demanded they find out who owned that car and have that person report to his office the next morning.  He was obviously very protective of designated spaces.

The next morning as soon as he was settled behind his desk, he called in his staffer and asked if he had found out who owned the car.  The staffer replied that he had.  One-star said "Send him in".  The staffer said he didn't want to.  After a stunned silence, the one-star went into a rage.  The staffer endured it for a few minutes, and then finally got the general calmed down a little.  The staffer explained that the car belonged to Lieutenant General Ott, the VII Corps commander from Kelley Barracks, who happened to be the senior three-star general in the whole Army at the time.  LTG Ott's message was literally, "Tell your boss if he has a stick up his butt about where I park, he can come over and get on my schedule and I will explain the facts of life to him"  or words to that effect.

When Ott retired, he was replaced by Julius Becton, a black three-star general.  General Becton was invited to speak at a special night celebrating Black History Month at the Patch NCO club.  He drove his private car and dressed in a civilian coat and tie;  he was a very low-key kind of guy.  Driving his own car meant that his driver, a young sergeant, would not have to work that evening.  General Becton was introduced and took the podium with a wistful smile.  He started his address by saying that the hardest thing for black people to do was to overcome the stereotypes.  Then he explained that he was still relatively new to the area and hadn't spent much time at Patch so he had asked the gate guard, a young black  Specialist 4, how to get to the NCO Club.  The guard said, "You don't need to know where the club is my brother 'cause it is closed for the night...some kind of big deal for the big shots."  The specialist was arrogant and disrespectful.

General Becton just shook his head.   He told the crowd that this young Specialist now had a new perspective on his duty to represent the headquarters and serve the public...at least for as long as it would take to find him a suitably deserted street corner at which to direct traffic.  General Becton’s talk was informative, educated, and enlightening.  He was positive and encouraging.  And he closed by reminding the crowd that one soldier like the fellow on the gate has the potential to poison the thinking of hundreds of people.  He said that the stereotypes cannot be overcome if they are perpetuated.  He said, "We can do better".  I liked him.

The next VII Corps commander, George S. Patton IV, started a stir in the community.  The VII Corps commander doubles as the Greater Stuttgart Military Community Commander which means he is basically the mayor of the Americans.  At the same time, the mayor of Stuttgart, the German mayor, was Manfred Rommel.   So for a couple of years we had the sons of two great WWII commanders as counterparts.  It was good for a few photo ops but not much else.  Patton had a rep for temper, bull-headedness, and being a sour person.  I only dealt with him one time;  I was tagged to drive him from Patch back to his house on Kelley.  We had little in the way of conversation and the only thing of note that took place was that his black lab was so happy to see the general that he jumped up on me, getting mud all over my greens.  There is a legend that Patton had had his sedan painted Cavalry yellow in Korea, but I don't know if that is true and I didn't ask him.

I spent more than five years at Patch Barracks.  I worked in the Protocol Office where I had close contact with the command and staff as well as all the VIP visitors that came through the Headquarters...and there were a lot.  Stories like these were not unusual, in fact they were quite common.  You could never be sure who you were dealing with.