Top Soviet general gets taste of wild west in US visit

The Soviet Union's top-ranking military officer saw traditional Indian dancing and an old-fashioned cowboy shoot-'em-up Saturday on a whirlwind visit to Oklahoma. Soviet Marshal Sergei Akhromeyev and his group also got to see cattle roping, trick roping, and square dancing. The week-long tour of several cities is designed to show the Soviet officers typical American life in addition to visits to military installations.

``The times really have been changing for the better, and are changing for the better, because of the politically courageous decisions by our two political leaders,'' Marshal Akhromeyev said shortly before the evening ended. ``We need to carry out and maintain a stable and friendly relationship.''

Saturday morning, when the Soviet delegation was at the Alamo in San Antonio, two demonstrators told Akhromeyev that he did not belong at Texas' most famous shrine. But Akhromeyev's visit there was more peaceful than the greeting he received upon his arrival in San Antonio on Friday night, when about 50 demonstrators chanted ``Go home, murderers!''

Earlier in the day, Akhromeyev and US Adm. William Crowe, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, toured the University of Oklahoma.