Starting in October 1954, and for the next seven years, prominent Americans were flown to Europe to visit Radio Free Europe (RFE) locations in Germany and Portugal, the Czech-German border, and the cities of Berlin and Paris. This was in conjunction with the domestic fund raising activities of the Crusade for Freedom in support of RFE. Those who participated in these “study tours” were given the nickname “Trippers” and were expected to brief their respective state and local Crusade chapters and national organizations on “Radio Free Europe’s role in the fight against Communist propaganda.” Below we briefly will look at some of these trips.

Aggressive, intimidating, and unfazed by the truth, Joe McCarthy single-handedly whipped 1950s USA into a frenzy of anti-communist fear and paranoia.

It was near the beginning of the Cold War: the Soviet Union had surged ahead of America in the arms race, Chairman Mao had not long come to power in China, and Americans everywhere feared the presence of 'Reds Under the Beds' within their own communities. In stepped Joseph McCarthy to shock the nation with a sensational announcement that confirmed their worst fears.

The temperature was below freezing in Munich and snow covered the grounds around the sprawling two-story headquarters building of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. No one observed the terrorists as they left their car that was parked nearby. They quickly and quietly walked over the frozen ground in the shadows of RFE/RL carrying a bomb and placed it in the corner of one wing of the building.

There was no warning of what was to come. A guard making his rounds of the exterior of the building was exactly in the corner of the building at 9:18 PM and did not see anything unusual. 46 people were working in the building that night. Just above the area where the terrorists placed the bomb, three employees of Czech Language Broadcast Service were busily preparing a news program scheduled for 10 PM that was never aired.

Soviet Intelligence officer Viktor P. Gundarev defected to the West in Athens, Greece, on Friday, February 14, 1986. The first media reports of Gundarev's defection appeared a week after his defection. He was about fifty years old and a Colonel in the KGB.

The following night, Athens police detained four men from the Soviet Embassy as they apparently were staking out the American Embassy to prevent his departure to the United States. Media reports said they were “armed to the teeth” with automatic weapons and hand grenades. The four men claimed diplomatic immunity and were released from custody.