As Dwight Eisenhower boarded the cruiser Des Moines at Naples, the Mediterranean was frothing into a bad storm. His green & gold SHAPE flag, flying over a naval vessel for the first time, was whipped to shreds by 60-mile winds. Ike himself skittered across rolling decks, disappeared into admiral's country and stayed there, confining himself to light reading and chats with his NATO commander for southern Europe, U.S. Admiral Robert B. ("Mick") Carney.
Turbulent seas almost washed out the show Eisenhower had come to witness, featuring some 30 warships of the U.S. Sixth Fleet and five Dutch ships. Marine amphibious...