THE NETHERLANDS: Soldiers, Unite!

Aside from the comic-strip troops of Al Capp's Lower Slobbovia or the G.I.s who stumble through maneuvers at Camp Swampy with Beetle Bailey, the 70,000-man army of The Netherlands is probably the raunchiest-looking fighting force in the world. In startling contrast to the red-jacketed guardsmen who stand stiffly at attention outside Buckingham Palace, the honor guards in front of the royal palace on the Dam Square in Amsterdam usually have unkempt uniforms, straggly beards and lank shoulder-length hair. In fact, they look more like refugees from a rock group than members of...

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