European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 26, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 14 the stars and stripes sunday june 26, 197? letters of the editor handling a pressing complaint i am new in this army life. I always thought the army went out of its Way to have Sharp looking soldiers in uniform and have each one do his Job Well. My husband is a sergeant and is a super visor Over four men in the Section. He and his men Are Sharp looking and do their Job Well but not from conserving Energy. How can they conserve Energy when they have to heat an Iron to repress their uniforms that just came Back from the quartermaster if they did t do this they would All look like they had just crawled out of a Dempsey dumpster and have you Ever smelled a uniform when you Are pressing it they Are not laundered prop Erly they stink have you Ever sent a new uniform to quartermaster and had it returned full of holes and tears that is if they did t lose it the men have complained with no re sults. What can be done about this Lousy service after no results the Only recourse was for them to do the uniforms themselves. This takes More time and i have looked Ever since i be been Here for the proper starch. Spray starch will not hold up what happened to the people who cared and wanted to do a Good Job if you were a ditch Digger or an operator of a laundry press you did a Good Job and took Pride in doing it properly my husband and his men Are the sharpest looking troops in the com Pany Only because they care they spend lot of their off time spit shining their boots cleaning and ironing uniforms. I will be waiting for a reply. I will be Happy to write to the proper person if i knew to whom i should write. I feel i have the right to complain. I spend a lot of time redoing my husband s uniform after he has paid for the service. Mary , Germany editor s note col. . Morton chief. Services division Headquarters Usa Keur replies you Are right you have every right to complain if your husband s uniforms Are not in ready to Wear shape after they have been processed by quartermaster laundry facilities and returned to him. There is no excuse for a malodorous product improper handling by a unit Laun would like to take this Opportunity to publicly recognize the Fine efforts of the Usa eur react personnel in assisting others in need. Recently my wife and 1 were travelling North along the fran fun Kassel autobahn when our car stalled in a driving rain storm forcing us to move off of the High Way. I had spent some minutes attempting to Correct the problem when another vehicle with Usa eur License plates pulled up behind me. The Driver identified him self As a or. Bob Holt Call sign react 442, and offered his assistance he then preceded to Low my automobile to a Par Piatz and repair it enabling my wife and i to continue Home safely with minimum of delay. The prompt professional help we received under Adverse conditions averted a traffic Hazard on a Busy autobahn and certainly was appreciated by myself and my family. The unselfish dedication of people such As Bob Holt truly makes Usa eur a re warding assignment and greatly increases my awareness of the constant efforts put Forth by units such As react for the Benefit of others. Many thanks for your help. 1st it. Robert w. Mixon or. Bad hers old Germany dry detail can cause or contribute to poor appearance of the finished product eve though it was property pressed by the Laun dry. Since the quartermaster facility sup porting your husband s Mill i not identified let me briefly describe the scope of the Usa eur laundry dry clean ing system. In the Federal Republic of Germany we have seven government controlled plants that Are operated on a government owned contractor operated Coco basis. By the terms of the contract the contractor is required to provide the same Quality and degree of service that an army quartermaster operated Plant u required to provide. These Plant locations by major subordinate command area Are v corps Frankfurt and bad Kre Mach 21st sup port command Kaiser Lautem wad Mannheim Vii corps Augsburg Nurnberg Furth and it Friburg. Surveillance of contractor performance la each of these plants to exercised by a contracting officer s representative Cor. Under the terms of the contract the Cor is the Point of Contact Between the military Community and the contractor i Plant manager. In West Berlin and in Camp Darby Italy the army operates its own laundry dry cleaning plants. In Nord deutschland specifically the brew Haven area great Britain Belgium and Holland Laun dry dry cleaning service is provided under army auspices by commercial contract on a Coco basis. With regard to your question what can be done about this Lousy service and your comment that the men have complained without results the answer l that com plaints should be made to the responsible person. If your husband is a laundry pay Roll deduction Patron. Us laundry is handled through his unit s Supply room. The complaint process should Start with the Supply sergeant and if that gets no results then to the commander. If other army services Are used the complaint can be made to the contract Plant Cor the army Plant manager or the local chief of serv ices. U is emphasized that the most effective response to complaints is generally obtained at the operating level. For your information the Telephone numbers of the contract Plant Cor s and army Plant Man agers Are Frankfort Plant 2311 sm7/7ms bad Kre Mach 2252-6332 Kaiserslautern Plant z221-7472 Mann Heim Plant 21314220 Augsburg Plant 2581-7695 Nurnberg Plant 2821 7021/7037 Wurzburg Plant 2321-6318 Berlin Plant 238-3517/3518 Camp Darbyplant-722i/80m. We Are glad Yon asked and it is hoped the above answers your questions in a useful manner. Individual letters such As yours Are an important Channel of communication and help keep us informed of the level of service being provided to pen pal i met imy underwriter for local Infra race Compa would due to communicate with we Tow from your up i love to have Many Friend from All Ower Europe Tarot pen a it. I a y underwriter for local Infra race company. I we one place trough Ester s. Vii Mordel undo associates in Lamitie insurance Orriny United nation Avenue Appeal for letters i m an american wider and i have a poll in Friend a Dwe Art both confined in German prison. Would you Pleat print our Nanns and add Reikes in Roar in in nope to to we May get some a Pait to write to. -pfc.ctcilr. Rituta Gelmor. Vucjak age�1aukmrt-Patmucr str. 90 144strubtng All letters to the editor must contain cull printed name and address of the writer and must be signed. Art Buchwald Washington pity the poor Florida Orange growers. They Are caught in a quandary since Anita Bryant s Victory against homosexual rights in Dade county. The Orange growers pay miss Bryant j100, 000 a year to push Florida Orange juice Ajob that she has done magnificently. Anita Bryant meant Orange juice and Orange juice meant Anita Bryant. It is this instant celebrity identification that Spon sors dream of. When you speak of Bob Hope you re supposed to think of Texaco mention Joe Namath and people arc sup posed to have a vision of pantyhose. Danny Thomas goes together with Maxwell House Coffee and recently when you see a Pic Ture of former sen. Sam Ervin. It is hoped your first thought is of an american express credit problem in Florida is that when people now see Anita Bryant on television the first thing that comes to mind is not As in breakfast but As in homosexual the Florida Orange juice people Are not interested in Selling homosexuals. That s not their business. A majority i would guess Are sympathetic with miss Bryant s stand on the Issue but the trouble with fighting homosexuals is that it does t sell on Inge juice. First of All no one knows How Many homosexuals there Are in this country be cheap land is Philly goal to make jobs Philadelphia api the great Philadelphia land Rush is a Campaign advertising 90 per cent off Market value on 1,300 acres of fully developed Industrial Sites. City officials Hope Selling land on the cheap will stimulate growth and break the steady Drain of jobs and Industry toward the Sunbelt. Philadelphia has lost about 121,000 jobs Over the past decade mostly in manufacturing and mostly to the South and South West. Other Eastern cities like new York and Boston have suffered similarly. The $25,000 nationally advertised land Rush Campaign takes tax Breaks and abatement inducements already tried by most northeastern cities to new Heights. Land valued at $35.000 an acre i being sold for $3.500. Sites in 10.municipal districts Are for Sale and buyers must agree to develop ment densities of 15 to 30 jobs per acre. Some Sites being offered have water front acreage others have rail spurs and All have Access to municipal water and Power. Cheap land has been an attraction in the Sunbelt but our cheap land is in a highly intense said Walter d Alessio. Director of the Philadelphia Industrial development corp. In the South you can almost get land for free but it s in the Boondocks said d Alessio a 43-year-old City planner and former chief of Philadelphia s redevelop ment authority. Another prime Selling Point of the land Rush is an immediate discount for new businesses looking for a place to locate or older firms looking to expand. Usually about 10 per cent of Industrial development costs Are for land acquisition so we can save somebody 10 per cent right off the d Alessio said. And this is fully improved ground. You Don t have the Cost of extending any utilities or Road to the place and you might save another 4 to 5 per cent there. We know we can achieve develop ment said d Alessio. And we d like to sell a couple of Hundred acres Over the next 18 to 20 jobs Are the main goal of the land Rush said d Alessio. Cause despite All the publicity Many of them have still not come out of the closet. Secondly there Are no figures on How Many of them drink Orange juice. But there Are presumably enough of them to Hurt the Sale of Florida oranges. A sudden switch to California Orange juice by laypeople in this country could Cost the Florida Orange Grove owners millions of Dol Lars. At the same time the Florida Orange juice Industry is aware that if Anita Bryant is tired there could be a backlash from the heterosexuals in this country who would Boycott Florida oranges in protest. Market surveys indicate that heterosexuals Are still the largest Consumers of Orange juice and drink if not Only for its taste but also for its vitamins and the Sta Mina it provides them. The Florida Orange Industry can t afford to lose the heterosexual Orange juice drinkers if they expect to stay in business. There is a solution to the problem which i hesitate to suggest since i Don t want to get involved in the controversy. But 1 will because i believe the Florida Orange grow ers need All the help they can get. What the Florida Orange Industry could do is break Down its to budget. Half of it would go to miss Bryant to continue push ing Florida Orange juice to the straight people and half would go to a Gay spokes person who would Appeal to the homosexual drinkers. It would mean cutting miss Bryant s fee to $50,000 a year so the Gay person would get paid the same As she does. But at the same time miss Bryant would Only be required to make half the number of to commercials. It seems to me that this would satisfy everyone. The heterosexuals would be pleased to Sec that miss Bryant was still Selling Orange juice and the Gays would be delighted to have finally broken through on big time television. Florida Orange juice consumption would have to go up because the to commercials would Appeal to everyone regardless of race religion or sexual preference. Of course the advertising Agency for the Florida Orange growers would have to find a Gay spokesperson who could sing As Wellas miss Bryant. But that should t be a problem. Many of our finest performers come from the Gay Community and would be Happy to supplement their income by doing Orange juice commercials. I would do it myself but unfortunately ican t carry a tune. U lot Angl to time thes i Pupil Ciao Rel to Sun my si., p., " � in Conlu Cllon Ltd a Arm forum pro sum of Utt Umpir Tomt m mum. Tanumi m rom so no mull in. A .7 muh news bureaus k4im.rll.ulm,. 0rmn�, find Harrington Bui Uina -,1m1 2"" " circulation offices i
