Aug. 9, 1961 - Gen. Walter Bedell Smith, Dwight D. Eisenhower's chief of staff in Europe during World War II, died of a heart attack today at Walter Reed Hospital. He was 65. Gen. Smith was involved in negotiating the armistice between Italy and the Allies in 1943, which he signed on behalf of Gen. Eisenhower. In 1944, he negotiated successfully for food and fuel aid to be sent through German lines for the cold and starving Dutch civilian population. In May 1945, Gen. Smith met representatives of the German High Command in Reims, France, to conduct the surrender of the German Armed Forces, and he signed the German Instrument of Surrender on behalf of Gen. Eisenhower. He later served as an Under Secretary of State under President Eisenhower, an Ambassador to Russia in the Truman Administration, and as director of the C.I.A. from 1950 to 1953.
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