REAGAN HINTS U.S. WANTS HELP IN PATROLLING GULF President Reagan said he would discuss the Mideast Gulf situation with allied leaders at next week's Venice economic summit and hinted he would seek their help in preserving free navigation. In a speech prepared for delivery as the United States made plans to protect 11 Kuwaiti oil tankers from Iranian attack, Reagan said the American people were aware that "it is not our interests alone that are being protected." Saying that allied dependence on gulf oil was no secret, Reagan declared, "During the upcoming summit in Venice, we will be discussing the common security interests shared by the western democracies in the MIDEAST Gulf. "The future belongs to the brave. Free men should not cower before such challenges, and they should not expect to stand alone." Reagan will meet the leaders of Britain, France, West Germany, Italy, Canada and Japan at the economic summit, which will take place in Venice June 8-10. The 13th annual top-level meeting of the major industrial democracies will take place against a backdrop of rising congressional concern over Reagan's plan to protect gulf shipping and demands that the allies do more. These concerns were heightened by the May 17 Iraqi missile attack on the U.S. frigate Stark which killed 37 seamen. "They died while guarding a chokepoint of freedom, deterring aggression and reaffirming America's willingness to protect its vital interests," Reagan said. In a pre-summit speech celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Marshall Plan, Reagan, who spoke to an audience of foreign affairs experts, also pledged to push for economic expansion by West Germany and Japan to bolster the world trading system. "While the vibrancy of the U.S. economy has contributed enormously to the world expansion, preserving a growing world economy is the business of every member of the world trading community," he said. "It will be made clear, especially to our friends in Japan and the Federal Republic of Germany, that growth-oriented domestic policies are needed to bolster the world trading system on which they depend." Reagan coupled this appeal with a call for compliance with allied accords on exchange rate stability. "Economic policy decisions made last year in Tokyo and at this year's meetings of Group of Seven finance ministers in Paris and in Washington cannot be ignored or forgotten," he said. "The commitments made at these meetings need to be translated into action."