Los Banos Rotary Club History
Bill Stearman Tells Of Commie Threat

First hand information on Russia and its satellite nations, gained through seven years of actual experience in ferreting out and studying news and information from within the Iron Curtain, was given to members of the Los Banos Rotary Club Tuesday noon by William Stearman, an assistant to the Chief of the Information Branch of the American Embassy in Vienna, Austria. Stearman, who is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd Stearman of Dos Palos, is, with his wife, spending a two-month vacation with his parents.

Far from optimistic as to the future, Stearman said everyone is preparing desperately for war, with compulsory military training for both men and women, starting with youngsters 11 and 12 years old. Following the death of Stalin the new Russian government is making efforts to appease the people with improvements in agricultural and business economy, and the people are more satisfied today than any time in the past. Stearman scoffed at rumors of threatening revolution within the Iron Curtain, saying such a possibility is indeed remote. It is his personal opinion that the threat of war is far greater today than it was during the regime of Stalin.

Stearman spoke briefly of his work in the information, service of means by which his unit secures information from within the iron curtain, and related a few of the stories that come from the occasional refugees that manage to escape across the border. The border, he said, is well guarded by barbed wire, land mines, explosives, and border guards who maintain a 24-hour watch. Of the many who try only a few manage to get through.

January 27, 1954

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