deputy commander. On that day, the U.S. Army headquarters at Heidelberg, formerly known as EUCOM, became Headquarters, United States Army, Europe. It remained in Heidelberg under the temporary command of General Handy (who wore two hats in both USEUCOM and USAREUR for a while). As Cold War tensions continued to escalate in 1952, General Williston B. Palmer commanding the 2nd Armored Division authorized the founding of the Seventh Army Symphony Orchestra in Vaihingen-Stuttgart under the direction of Samuel Adler in support of U.S. cultural diplomacy throughout Europe. In 1953, the Korean War Armistice was signed, and tensions began to ease in Europe. About 13,500 soldiers manned each of the USAREUR divisions. New equipment fielded at the time included the M48 tank, the M59 armored personnel carrier, and tactical nuclear weapons. On 25 October 1955, the Southern Europe Task Force (SETAF), a logistical command, was formally activated in Italy. The headquarters, commanded by Maj. Gen. John H. Michaelis, was temporarily established at Camp Darby, near Livorno, Italy with units additionally stationed in Vicenza and Verona. Shortly after activation, SETAF moved the headquarters to Caserma Passalacqua in Verona, Italy. An airborne battalion eventually joined SETAF. On 15 July 1958 USAREUR forces were ordered to assist the Lebanese government. Task Force 201, the Army component of Operation Blue Bat rapidly deployed more than 8,000 Soldiers from Europe to Beirut by air and sea. As the situation quickly stabilized, all U.S. forces redeployed from the country within 4 months. Although the Korean War – open East–West conflict – had ended, political tensions remained high in Europe. Particularly troublesome was the impasse over the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany, the former British, French and U.S. zones of occupation) and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany, the former Soviet zone of occupation). East Germany [the DDR] was considered by many countries over the years to be nothing more than the Soviet Zone of Occupation; this changed in 1973 with the UN recognition of both Germanies. Berlin posed an additional problem; it was surrounded by East Germany, but Great Britain, France, the United States, and the Soviet Union all occupied sectors in the city. In the early years, travel between the sectors was unrestricted. At the time Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev announced in June 1961 that the Soviet Union was planning to conclude a peace treaty with the East German government, 3,000 East German refugees flowed