European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - June 9, 1980, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday june 9, 1980 the stars and stripes Page 11 Russell i Baker i went to a mail order Giorc to order o tire pressure gauge. I want to order a tiie pressure  i said 10 a woman at a computer terminal. What is your Tele phone number she asked. "218-2676," i said. She played the phone number on the key Board then studied the results on the com Puter screen. Your name is Herman  she said. How did you know thai i cried. You live at 723 film Street she re plied. Astonishing i said. She looked pleased. Ill bet you could gel that machine to Tell How old i was when i had the mumps and whether my liver is enlarged i said. She played the keyboard again. You veneer had the  she said. Just Mea Sles whooping cough and Scarlet fever. Appendix removed when you were 17. Eight Een stitches to close a bad Cut resulting from an automobile Accident when you were 39. Afterwards you were charged with Drunken  i smiled boys Fly. We were All Youn Gonce i said. Privately my mind s alarm system was going off. Here was something about her Man Irving i had t known. Drunken driving at 39, he thai was a bit late in the Day for a Man to be operating machinery with . How s my credit i asked. What do you want to order she asked. A Tiro pressure gauge. The catalogue lists the Price at $4.19." she tapped the keyboard then studied the screen. You re Good for the s4.i9," she said but Don t try to order anything Over $4.99." you mean pm not Good for $5?"  she said considering that the surgeon who took your appendix out when you were 17 is still wailing for his payment and that you bounced three checks just last week at the Acme liquor store Ned s Auto repair and the patience of Job dry cleaning shop i m surprised we re willing to Trust you for the $4.19." let me Sec thai screen i demanded. She touched a Button and the screen went Blank before i could vault Over the counter. Computer Bank information is thes or mucin manager cd Rommel mount held in the strictest Confidence for your Protection she said. We cannot permit Roulo look at  i did not make a scene but stalked out of the shop walked across the parking lot and got into my car. Herman Irving was waiting on the front scat. Did you gel the Money he asked.  i thought you were going to the   i said i did nol go to the Bank. I just walked around and consulted my Navel. It has advised me not to lend you inc 50 Bucks which you promised to pay Back at the end of inc  Herman said he was desperate for the Money. Not a  i said. Something tells me you re a dead Cal Herman. Some thing  if i Don t get that 50 Bucks by Sun Down said Herman there arc two Guys who Are going to fracture Trie Knuckles on my betting  i m sorry  think How much sorrier you d be if your wife found out you bought a Zircon necklace three years ago on the six month  Herman and i studied each other. J your wife does t have a Zircon necklace her Man said. I look the trouble of asking her. Now what kind of woman would a Man buy a Zircon necklace for you can t prove a  pal said Herman i know for a fac you made the Purchase at Benny s Cut Glass jewelry Bazaar in Chicago because Benny had to complain to the credit Bureau that you were 90 Days behind on your payments. I did nol feel so Good. You must have ordered a lire pressure gauge recently i said. A Jack handle actually he said. All they asked me for was my phone num Ber. I gave them yours. I never knew you d been arrested As a kid for shoplifting Bobby pins at the five and disc he said. I wanted to give my Mother a Christmas present i  Veall got our painful Little  he said and fortunately they re All in the data Bank. And speaking of Banks " i Slid out of the car and walked Over to the Bank and withdrew $50, which was electronically recorded while i was being photo graphed by the seeing Cyc camera for the record. European edition col Rose stauber Usa Edt for in a melt. Col. . Taylor Usan Deputy Edmor a chm Mert Phoc Toh managing Etter Elmer 0. Frank Henry s. Epstein. This newspaper is an author lied unofficial publication for . Armed forces overseas. The stars and stripes is published in conjunction with the armed Force information program of one department of defense. Contents of the Start end stripes Are nol necessarily the official View of the the . Government depart ment of defense or Lite . European command. The appearance of displays in tyls newspaper concerning commercial publications does not constitute an endorse ment of the department of defense. Including the my tar departments. Military address the stars end stripes Apo owi1. International Mal the stars end stripes. Postrach ii 10 34. Delos Darmstadt 11.Germany. Tel Giles Nelm 1c pref miss Iii in Darmstadt Alrtle rep Prell 237 741. Telex 0419-m new York office room 401. 2s2 seventh ave., Newyork 10001, Tel area code 1111 att us. Second class postage paid at new York. . News bureaus Bremerhaven Germany. Rudl Williams. Bunding  Sunun Cavern Bremerhaven military Tut or Bremerhaven Civ 0471 m717 kaisers Laudorn Ger Many Roy Adams building 2tt7. Plasm  Mularz Esq or Kalvert Lelent Civ 06 1 s1i04 Nuernberg. Germany. John Savard bunding 21.wlllam o. Darby Cavern. Nuernberg Muller 7is4 or Nuernberg Civ. 7i1su Shilt Oart. Germany. Edh too. Of. Mcgee Barrack. So Ulgart Wiery 7001 or Skull Gan Civ. Mis. . Jim Arylne ant Gary Harris. Big. Of Cess us Raf mme Hal. Apowii7, Minary Auto on at-1110, attentions Msi-27m. Or civilian Mude Hal lot 7i3m2-i1mu. Teh ii jews Waifung Fidfl. . Grece Blanc. Oas a a in Pentagon room e7e, West Melon Jodi. Tel. 17071 etmoes. Cut elation offices Germany Berlin. Civilian Shiue. My Ell Bremer Haven. Chi Sivu. Mil lilt frent Furt qty t20u keen Laurn. Civ 0117. My Vogel Weh my  to Oison or c1w4, Mil most. Nuernberg Civ 7i75m my flit. North German Region a Neon Mam a 7103 or hat Stuttgart. Ctr ii4sm. My a Greece Athens. Civ to Tanto. Llev Vicente Civ Soma. Spain Madrid Civ ms7su or Torreon air base my 7ul Turkey it Anbu Civ Ubl Tetti �i74 sans to. United kingdom Green Nam common Civ Newbury i04jsi 447u. Muiter no Bury Sousi 4474 tax letters to the editor on standing up to the russians where has All he Power gone years ago no one would have thought the . Would be the number two Power in the world. But not since 1969 has the . Been Able to stand up to the russians and say take  and i really Don t consider Landing men on the Moon a show of Force. A it did prove to the commies is that our technology was a bit Superior to theirs for the time being. But Many years have passed by and we can no longer hide behind the fact that our technology has since been equated. Is it any wonder c a Gross and the White House have had an extremely hard time controlling inc amount of classified technology that we sell to the russians each year. I really Don t Sec Why we sell them anything but imagine the big  t find a buyer in this country. Let it be known i a i a big company in the southwestern . Agreed to build a factory outside Moscow which was to produce Oil Drill bit pieces in Large quantities. Wow everybody said  that a Short while Back i read that the same factory built solely with american technology is now being used by the soviets to produce Armor piercing projectiles which will be Able to penetrate inc latest american Lank. I also got interested in an article that said the russians Are now using an american weather satellite which we sold to them to make a few dollars to guide their military forces. Heck we might As Well sell them a few million m-l6s. I imagine the average Soldier would enjoy How Light it is compared to the ak-47. Last but not least As i read further 1 came to the real Eye opener. Again another american firm decided to be Friendly and make a few Bucks building the russians a factory to mass produce giant Earth moving vehicles. Today if what 1 read was True it was discovered that the very same factory is used to piece together soviet tanks. Already being outnumbered by a four to one margin i Sec no reason at All for us to build them any More tanks Well our missiles arc much More accurate than theirs one might say. Of course they were 10 years ago. And even if they still arc does that really make a difference when they pack each of theirs with twice As Many warheads and have twice As Many missiles from doing a Little studying have come to realize that the soviet ss-18 just about makes our outdated minuteman missile useless and we still count on the minuteman. The cruise missile fantastic if you can count on it not being wiped out in a soviet first strike. But i guess we can count on our second strike capability if the russians Promise nut to use their  Hungary. Czechoslovakia and Afghanistan Down the Drain i la predict that it will be no More than seven or eight years before Yugoslavia gets thrown into the sink and follows them Down. We be experienced Vietnam and now 200-and-some-Odd-Days in Iran. Somewhere along inc line we Are going to have to Start spitting Back. I m sick of being spit on. Spec. 4 Ron Ohnmacht Frankfurt Germany worried about Security leaks new York times checks and charges is there someone out there who can explain by what authority american express military banking facilities May demand return of unused checks purchased by the account Holder not the Jbf without a reimbursement before they will Clear inc account Holder for pcs arc these checks not personal property regardless of need or Lack thereof for them after the account is closed also How does american express justify levying a monthly service charge on an account with a Zero balance for what service is this charge name withheld Rifen Wocher Germany editor s note Deborah p. Adamy Public affairs assistant for american express replies Community banking facilities request the return of unused checks in an Effort to protect the client against fraudulent use of those checks Afler the account is closed. Often checks Art stolen or lost and later submitted for payment against the closed account. Since unused checks on a closed account Are not valid and Are unusable Lor any other purpose reimbursement pay ments Are not made on Check turn ins. Monthly record maintenance and statement processing is necessary Eten on an account Vilh a Zero balance for this reason a Venice charge is i  i am very angry with the news Media and some of our commanders on a matter of important National Security. There should never be any stories on the training of our armed forces. We in the military arc doing our Job Welland training to stay proficient we Are taught Many kinds of Security tactics to keep information from being leaked to the enemy. These news reports make our Job very hard to do. How can armed forces personnel keep Security when All an enemy spy has to do to gel important bits of information is watch television read a newspaper or listen to inc radio telling inc enemy How Well our training is going will not scare them one bit. It will Only make them braver because the news Media is telling them a lot of what they want to know. Our commanders must Stop allowing military news reports to be made. An example is the Neucom report. Which is important to show America How military Money is being spent or to keep the enemy on the dark Side of the Moon Billy French Heilbronn Germany editor s note a he used com spokesperson replies the writer of this letter has put his Finger on one of the thorniest issues con fronting our military services the prob Lem of keeping the Public informed and at the same Lime protecting sensitive information. We share the writer s concern Over the a Moo frequent appearance of apparently sensitive information in unauthorized channels. But it also must be recognized that news and feature reports on military matters Are an important aspect of our military profession and represent the very foundation of our open and free society. Reports carried by Neucom report Are not gathered without the knowledge or guidance of persons closely associated with the subject being covered. While some sensitive information May be Dis closed inadvertently our goal is to keep it. To a  most elaborate Security proce dures developed Are Only As Strong As the weakest link in the system. The weakest link is the human link. Neither an the stars and stripes nor any other military news organization is in a position to Stop All potential Security leaks. In contrast each of us in uniform pos cases unique knowledge relating to our  of that information is marked with a Security Label and easily identifiable. Some information May not be marked. With a Security Label Bat test or own unique Vantage Points we May recognize a need for that information to be protected. News and feature information on the armed forces will continue to be provided to the Public. The nation expects and has a right to know. The delicate Job faced by those of us in uniform is to maintain a balance Between informing the Public and not jeopardizing our National