European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 23, 1981, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 2 the stars and stripes James Reston january 1981 tall in toe Saddle the Unsung heroes behind the liberation this time of transition from one administration to As the last chapter in the tragedy of the american captives in Iran draws to a is a Good time to reflect on who these people arc and who did the do work for their they arc the simple and unknown civil servants of the United states foreign service Marine sergeants who guarded the and the people who worked the hardest to bring them Home again were their buddies in the hated Washington led by private volunteers like by Vance and id music at the state and Lloyd the presidential among in the White we tend to forget that there is a system columns and comments of government fallible but on the whole it staggers and and tolerates political dummies who Stum ble into powerful positions for which they arc not but behind there arc institutions in going Back to the beginning of the that Rescue them from their for the department of it just happens this during the transition from Jimmy Carter to Ronald to be celebrating the 200th anniversary of its on the Continental Congress created the depart ment of foreign As the present historian of the state department that was not a particularly Happy or Joyful in the terrible Winter of the american Mutiny spread through general Washington sol Diers were hanged for and Many people believed that the new conceived in would be strangled in its but it since then we have created a great a we have had 58 secretaries of state from Robert Livingston under washing ton to de music under Jimmy Al Haig will be the in we have had such memorable secretaries of state As Thomas Jefferson under John Marshall under John Daniel Webster under presidents Harrison and Dean Acheson under and Henry Kissinger under presidents Nix on and we have had some who can remember secretaries of state like Timothy Louis Jeremiah Elihu Philan Der or Edward Stettinius yet behind All these Good or there was and still is an enduring company of professional men and women at the state probably the most knowledge Able and objective team of diplomats in the world they will serve As they served and even Nixon in his the new Secretary of Al knows this is he has turned to the professionals of the foreign service for help in his he has called on Wally a former ambassador in Moscow and and on Larry Kissinger administrative colleague at to be among his Prin Cipal and Caspar the new Secre tary of has done the like he knows that he cannot have an effective defense or foreign policy without a respectful agreement Between the two major parties in the and on this he has the approval of the new presi in the last Days of the hostage crisis in there were Many financial and Politi Cal but there was a sense of cooperation Between the the and the politicians about How to get the hostage question settled before the new president took the Central figures in this drama were almost unknown Warren the Deputy Secre tary of who went to Algiers to hold things together Between Washington and Robert at the Treasury depart and Richard general counsel at both obviously critical to the Roberts Owen at the state Legal adviser to Hal and Many others at who played critical roles in the last few Days of the hostage and of the people in this particularly Jimmy Carter and his who were constantly in touch privately with the families of the Carter was a Central figure in this trag Edy and maybe was destroyed by it in the last but in his last few Days in he kept in touch in the most compassionate Way with All the family members of those imprisoned in Jimmy Carter but the institutions go the state department Hast been Here for 200 years for it supported and Vance in their and it will probably support Al if he gives it a c new York times George Mair r 1981 los Angeles times Syndicate handgun fens Shoof off Mouths again its like sitting through the same movie for the some prominent person gets murdered by a killer using a handgun and hand ringing demands sweep the nation to ban the immediately Rushing to the barricades is the gun nut lobby caterwauling about each americans constitutional right to own a handgun and filling the air with bumper sticker rhetoric about handguns not killing if thy offed cot it to people and so on into the the truth is there is no constitutional right to own a the Constitution in the context of a Well disciplined Mili Tia says citizens have the right to Bear note it says nothing about hand Only we have Long recognized that some arms Are too dangerous for the Public safety to allow in private hands and that is Why Pri vate ownership of machine cannons and the atomic bomb is the hand gun is also too deadly to be allowed in Pri vate hands and should be unlike Many other weapons that people use to commit mayhem upon each the handgun is very lethal it has no other useful purpose but to the killer is Al most always a Friend or relative of the Vic and repeated Public opinion polls have shown americans favor Banning or severely restricting so much for the rational argue now lets turn to private ownership of the handgun will never be banned in this the hand gun is an object of love for Many Ameri it represents an Extension of ones masculinity and a great equalizer in these Uncer Tain times for people bedevilled by fears of criminals and it will not be banned because the average congressman has a Macaroni casserole spine and Doest dare vote against wellor single Issue groups such As the gun nut a British Desmond whom i once interviewed on the subject said the solution to the handgun problem in America is to require they All be painted Pink and carried in lace he no one would want c los Angeles times the opinions expressed in the columns and cartoons on this Page represent those of the authors and Are in no Way to be considered As representing the views of the stars and stripes or the United states