European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 10, 1981, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 8 the stars and stripes january 1981 group aids understanding bereaved parents help each other by Roy Adams Kaiserslautern Bureau chief Germany for most the death of a close relative is an extremely painful exp especially if the loved one is an but for some the parents feel they May have been at As is often the Case in crib the tragedy can also become the cause of considerable Long term grief and guilt As Well As family Dis according to the sudden infant death syndrome Side foundation in More commonly called crib is one of the leading causes of death among claiming about lives each infants younger than six months Are the most frequent victims of this mysterious the foundation re but while medical science seeks clues to the causes and prevention of other concerned individuals and groups Are working to treat the emotional aftereffects that Side parents frequently expert members of the military Are not exempt from the tragedy of crib said sue a registered nurse and red Cross Volunteer at the army 2nd general Hospital in Townsend works closely with new Moth ers in the maternity following up most births with Home it was on one such visit that she recognized the need to provide some kind of help for families who have lost a whether to crib Accident or sponsored by the red and with the cooperation of the Hospital Chap jains and social Townsend organized the bereaved parents group Here in october to help bring the parents deep seated problems to the talk about them and show them that there is no need for the group now numbers six who meet each week to discuss Side and the associated personal there Are similar groups in the United said but to my no such resource has been available for americans in Europe talking with other parents who have lost a child per the Best kind of treatment these peo ple could Buck a group de scribed the group As a self preservation program for they have helped us to take those first few Steps to work out our guilt feelings and to reestablish communication in our he also considers the group to be some what of a substitute As towns i he Pilot and Crew of an ea3b sky Warrior Jet returning from an Indian Ocean deployment celebrate their Home coming to their Home base in Spain with a traditional Champagne wetting wet Welcome the effervescent ceremony was held at Rota naval stations Fleet air reconnaissance so two Pic tured Are flight Crew members from Terri vq2 for by ph2 Jeff Willheim detachment officer in charge Rich Schwenk Marine gunnery Robert Eisenhower John vq2 executive officer and Rick vq2 flight travel promotional material Navy wives Selling America abroad by Jim Arwine Bureau chief Wales using homemade movies and travel slides As a group of Navy wives Here has developed a travel America the travel ambassadors take viewers on a 90minute trip through the Back roads and Large cities of the explaining and showing what can be found in various re Gions of the the presentation is geared to Welsh who Are potential tourists to the or just you would be surprised As to How Many Welsh people have been to the loved it and plan to go said group organizer Nancy the first request for such a travel presentation was registered in the summer of a Welsh women club asked Ameri cans at Raf Bradys naval facility to talk with them about travel in the the base women pooled their Supply of family travel films and hit the More requests soon came now we have More requests to do the show than we can Davis the 10 women involved in the project travel to various towns and villages in Western they present the travel show on an average of twice a we do it very Down to were not she the travel log has been split into eight each speaker takes a Region where she has lived in to Tell they Tell potential travellers what to Wear when visiting an what places of interest Are near and what kind of dishes Are native to the As a the women have compiled a recipe Book Fea Turing dishes from All regions of the which they give to 1 to improve on the Quality of the travel the group wrote various states asking for travel information and most states sent promotional mate end crib death can be that much More traumatic for the american whose family and friends Are Back in the but even a family Comfort is no real substitute for talking out the problems with others who have shared the Townsend said Between 80 and 90 per cent of those who have lost children to crib death will eventually experience problems with their marriage and family this can Range from Over protectiveness or resentment surviving to a Complete breakdown of a she failing to Deal with the repressed guilt feelings and the grief properly can cause problems or even years after the another group air Force Patrick said his involve ment with the group has helped him and his wife to talk about their it was something neither of us was willing to talk he but the members make us talk about and they wont let you get off the sub i have gotten a much greater insight into the feelings of and i find that through i am looking deeper into my own although not an Active participant in Hospital chaplain Jim Thompson stressed the importance of group involvement for the social withdrawal is a common symptom in crib death he the group helps them to understand that they Are not alone that it want their to carry that kind of unresolved guilt inside for so Long can be a seriously crippling Thompson has helped Start similar groups in san and prefers to let the group run while he re Mains an outside available for consultation when although i work almost daily with death and i am by far no expert on the theres so much More exper Tise within the group than i could Ever Hope to crib death is still a medical said it happens without and there is apparently nothing that can be done to prevent most parents continue to feel they did something wrong that they could have prevented their baby Rita Filen Felt that she was at work and her Mother was babysitting when her child i  help thinking that i should have been Home taking care of my she i blamed myself for a Long it was Townsend who brought Filen into the group when she Learned of the death during a Home sue came to see me three or four times before i agreed to join in a said it took More than just a couple of sessions to draw me but the group is very much like a family to me and they make me feel very i still have my Down but these people wont let me stay that helping Townsend As co facilitators Are Ken a Hospital social and George Henderson from the Ramstein a social actions together with the members of the they Are inter ested in seeing More Side groups started in we Are All available to help any Community get said the emotional problems associated with crib death can spread like cancer to the Job As Well As within the we think this kind of treatment is proving to be a very successful Townsend invites interested Community officials to Contact her for help in getting she can be reached by calling while Thompsons phone number is Lan Stuhl military and Henderson is at Ramstein Mili tary